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Specialty cocktails, tropical drinks spur suburban rum revival

Rum is a staple of tropical drinks and bartending basics, but the spirit had faded from cocktail menus in the past five to six years as whiskey became dominant. Now it's starting to make a comeback.

“Whiskey is great, but I think now it's time to talk about the other spirits,” said Don Jewell, head mixologist of The Craftsman by Two Brothers in Naperville. “Rums are easier for people to approach because it has sweetness from molasses and less burn.”

As with whiskey, rum drinkers are looking for higher quality spirits and independent brands. Lake Zurich's Copper Fiddle Distillery has been satisfying that desire for more than a year by making silver and bourbon barrel-aged gold rum using cane sugar and blackstrap molasses.

“You can actually drink our dark rum on the rocks; it's that smooth of a product,” said Copper Fiddle bar manager Ron Roberti. “I really think that enhances any of our rum cocktails.”

You can try the spirit in classic cocktails such as the daiquiri, which blends lime, sugar and rum, and the mojito, a mix of sugar, mint and rum that the distillery added to their menu for summer. But Robert says rum is an extremely versatile spirit that can also be combined with fruit, juice or soda and even added to other classic drinks like margaritas.

  Bartender Ron Roberti mixes a Fiddle Raspberry Daiquiri with Copper Fiddle Silver Rum at the Copper Fiddle Distillery in Lake Zurich. Bob Chwedyk/bchwedyk@dailyherald.com

“For us as a distillery, once we added rum it really doubled our palate as bartenders,” Roberti said. “Before we had the rum, we had the gin and bourbon. For a lot of people who are not spirit drinkers, they had a hard time with that. It was also a challenge for us as bartenders. We did it for almost two years, but we really think the addition of the rum has helped our business. People who don't really enjoy any other spirit think 'I can do a rum drink.'”

The Craftsman is highlighting rum with novel cocktails like the Just Peachy, a blend of Crusoe spiced rum, peach liqueur, fresh lemon juice and peach bitters which is stirred rather than shaken to keep the spirit intact.

“It has that sweetness from the rum and peach liqueur, but the bitters tone it down a bit,” Jewell said.

  Rum drinks are making a comeback, and Copper Fiddle Distillery in Lake Zurich is creating its own cocktails using the classic spirit. Bob Chwedyk/bchwedyk@dailyherald.com

Last month, El Tapeo at Le Meridien Chicago - Oakbrook Center rolled out its spring menu, which includes the Honeynut, a blend of Brugal Anejo rum, Fee Brothers black walnut bitters, local organic honey, egg white, nutmeg and lemon.

“Obviously daiquiris and mojitos and that family of rum has been pretty popular, but there's more that you can do with rum,” said Le Meridien director of food and beverage Elmer Stunkel. “We wanted to embrace a broader take. The main reason that rum has had so much staying power in the market is it's a really broad spirit. It doesn't have just one flavor profile that will be represented in every drink that you mix it with. We decided let's throw the rule book out the window and just make something that tastes good.”

Last month, Oak Brook's El Tapeo introduced the Honeynut, made with rum, black walnut bitters, local organic honey, egg white, nutmeg and lemon. Courtesy of El Tapeo

The Honeynut is currently the only rum cocktail on El Tapeo's menu and Stunkel said it walks the line between “the standard rum plus sugar formula” and the tiki cocktails that have been returning to popularity thanks to bars like Chicago's Lost Lake.

“We're kind of taking it slow with reintegrating rum,” Stunkel said. “Rum's such a weird thing. It's never been totally out of vogue. Vodka got a really bad name in recent years, but I don't think rum ever suffered the same bad PR. But in my opinion, if you're going to have a rum cocktail on your list, it better be pretty incredible.”

Stunkel plans to wait and see what other bartenders are doing with the spirit and consider if he wants to serve more rum cocktails.

“I think (rum's) going to take off this summer,” he said. “The beverage industry is so cyclical. Everything's going to come back eventually. I think it's time for rum's place in the sun.”

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