A Paradise of Profits

Great Flavors and New Recipes Are Creating Cool Rum-Runnings On-Premise


By Mike Hanley


Next to vodka, rum is the happening spirit category in bars, clubs, casino resorts and other on-premise venues today. If vodka and flavored vodka in particular is the great white father of spirits, with sales in the many tens of millions of cases globally, then the rum category now spiking up the charts worldwide with phenomenal success in the flavored category in its own right surely make it the great white and brown mother of spirits from which to profit and prosper.


Because of the availability and universal appeal of rum, many of the newest cocktail recipes are being created with the popular spirit. Recipe flavors are being developed by master mixologists in the finest hotels, by bartenders in every bar, tavern and nightclub and even by weekend party planners for their upcoming family reunion. From these innovative recipes come an equal mixture of tasty flavors and hangover lessons learned.


Desert-Size Thirst

In Las Vegas, the club scene is like no other and consistently produces the best new concepts, bars and nightclubs. There is a new ultra-lounge at the top of the Mandalay Bay Hotel called Club Mix. "Mookie," an avid club-goer who knows his way around The Strip, says, "The drinks there come from heaven."


His favorite concoction is made with a couple of flavored rums and is called the "Nectar of the Gods." It is made with two of the most popular flavored rums — Captain Morgan Spiced Rum and Malibu Coconut Rum — and is usually made as a drink but could be served as a shooter.


Moving on from "Sin City" to even more sinful recipes on the East Coast is a drink from the Blue Martini in West Palm Beach, Fla. Garrett Hagan, the general manager there, says, "Martinis aren't just made with gin or vodka anymore and one of our most popular is called 'The Naughty.'"


At the Blue Martini, the Martinis are served with three ounces of alcohol and The Naughty is sold for $12. "Flavored rums make up a large portion of our sales down here in Florida which may be disproportionate with the rest of the nation, but when people come down here on vacation they are looking for rum." Hagan says.


Consumer Challenge

Consumers are constantly challenging bars and nightclubs to provide drinks with new flavors and rum has now joined the vodka market in fulfilling this current demand from the consumers.


Most rum companies have increased their portfolio to include at least a couple of flavored rums, and all seem to be doing well. Cruzan Rums Ltd. has eight flavored rums coming from the island of St. Croix, including mango, pineapple, banana, orange, vanilla, citrus, coconut and a raspberry flavor that came out in September 2004. They have the largest flavored rum portfolio of anyone. Cruzan also sponsors the Kenny Chesney Tour and has many great flavored rum recipes on their Web site at cruzanrum.com.

One of the featured recipes is the Cruzan Confusion, a Kenny Chesney celebrity favorite featuring an ounce each of Cruzan Coconut and Cruzan Mango and filled with pineapple juice.


Although many flavored rums go just fine added to soda or Sprite, specialty drink recipes are the key to superior sales for swanky clubs and upscale dining establishments alike. Indeed, flavored rum cocktails have the same appeal as flavored vodkas drinks but an added advantage is their ability to be used in standard frozen drinks.


Daiquiris and Piña Coladas can be served with flavored rums to give them a broader spectrum of tastes. The rum flavor still comes through but with softer fruit and spice tones embedded throughout.


Fresh Fruit Exposition

Of late, possibly the best-flavored rum recipe came from the winner of the 2004 ShowTenders World Bartending Championship, Randy Ruiz. Bringing the flavor tour full circle back to Las Vegas, Randy works at the new iBar in the Rio — where cocktails are not just invented but sculpted by artisans devoting their lives, well, weekends, anyway, to making the most exotic drinks anywhere.


The Fresh Fruit Explosion is a $12 Martini at iBar. When in Vegas, stop in to the iBar, meet one of the best bartenders in the world, and enjoy the Fresh Fruit Explosion. Or make up one of your own concoctions with these new and upcoming flavored rums. NCB


Michael Hanley is global accounts manager for ShowTenders Inc. ShowTenders is a beverage-consulting firm headquartered in Tampa, Fla. The company helps nightclubs, bars, lounges, restaurants and other hospitality-related venues with everything from drink concept development to on-going and new rollout initiatives. For more information, e-mail ShowTenders at showtenders.com or call (813) 282-8240.