Ian Burrell: World's Best Rum Bars

In the first of a series of World's 50 Best Bars spin-off features, we delve into the world's best rum bars. 

Harnessing The World's 50 Best Bars Academy of global experts, we chose the member that offered the most authoratitive views on the given subject. 

When it came to rum, we couldn't look beyond the global rum ambassador. So, over to Ian Burrell for his take on the world's best rum bars. 


Ian BurrellAs part of my new web page, I thought it would be exciting to compile a directory of all the great rum bars around the world. So if you were travelling to Athens, for example, you would know where to get a decent Daiquiri, a perfect Pina Colada, a memorable Mai Tai or just be able to sip and savour your favourite r(h)um. But the tricky part would be how to define a Great Rum Bar? Is it a bar that makes great rum cocktails? Is it a bar that stocks multiple brands of rum? Is it a bar that has a rum theme, ie Tiki, Caribbean or Pirate? Personally my ideal rum bar should have one important factor. It should be fun, welcoming and have a back bar focused on my favourite spirit. (Well maybe that’s three important factors.)

The staff should have a decent knowledge of the rums they stock and should be able to recommend a rum drink for the most expert rum aficionado or any rum novice who may pass through their doors. I would also expect there to be at least 50 rums on offer, and I don’t mean 50 different flavours or spiced rums. The style of rums that should be on offer are English, Spanish, French, Brazilian, an over-proofed high strength, a 100% pot stilled rum, a several-island blend and an ultra-premium rum that can compete (in packaging) with premium vodkas. And that is just the white rums.

In the gold rum category I would stock a Jamaican style, Guyanese, French, Spanish, a sweeter central or South American rum (for after dinner), a Demerara rum, a Navy rum and one very expensive rum just to let my customers know that the rums are not only for mixing with coke. So that’s 16 rums for starters. Not a bad selection for a basic bar, although some of my favourite bars around the world stock at least 80 rums on their shelves. These bars are a testament to the creators’ passion for and love of rum as a spirit that is more than just an offering to quench the thirst – it is a spirit that is a lifestyle of the past, present and of the future.


Smuggler’s Cove

650 Gough Street, San Francisco, CA 94102, US

smugglerscovesf.com
Smuggler's Cove

If you ever find yourself in sunny San Francisco (well it is sunny in the summer) and you’re in need of a great rum cocktail, then there is only one bar to head to.

Smugglers Cove not only stocks more than 200 rums, it also combines classic Tiki cocktails with punches, Prohibition era drinks, traditional drinks from the Caribbean and, of course, modern creations.

Owner Martin Cates opened the doors in 2009 and since then has won many awards and accolades for his treasure of a bar. 


Mahiki

1 Dover Street London W1S 4LD, UK

mahiki.com
Mahiki

This rum bar/nightclub is as famous for its high-profile clientele as it is known for its Tiki décor and rums. Since its opening in 2006, the club has attracted media attention as a favourite haunt of Princes William and Harry.

Just like the great Tiki bars of the 1950s and 60s, which attracted the rich and famous, Mahiki has no windows, is loud with music and energy and serves some of the most exotic rum cocktails - inspired by the bartenders such as Don The Beachcomber and Trader Vic Bergeron.

With more than 200 rums on the back bar you are guaranteed a great night.


The Liars Club 

19a Back Bridge Street, Manchester, M3 2PB

theliarsclub.co.ukLiar's Club

One of my great ‘spiritual friends’, Dale DeGroff once said: “I don’t go to bars for a drink, I go to see bartenders.” This is so true. You can sometimes find a character behind a bar who, no matter where they worked, you would gravitate towards them because of their energy. 

Lyndon Higginson (formerly of Keko Moku) is one of those bartenders. In 2011 he set up Manchester’s newest Tiki rum bar, which has immediately become one of the must go-to bars in the UK. Typically Tiki, it stocks well over 100 rums and even has a pet goldfish-eating Piranha to amuse you while you sip on a Painkiller or Zombie.

Mojo Manchester

19 Back Bridge St, Greater Manchester, Manchester, UK

mojobar.co.uk

Painfully next-door to The Liars Club, Mojo’s is a bar I always tell myself not to go to when I am in Manchester. But when I leave Manchester I always ask myself: “Why did I go to Mojo’s?” It’s addictive! Rock ’n’ Roll & Rum. They even have a dedicated rum room which stocks more than 200 rums. The original Mojo is situated in Barbados, with offspring shooting up in Leeds and Liverpool, but the Manchester one is the best. 


Baba Au Rum

6 Kleitiou St, Athens, Greece

babaaurum.blogspot.co.uk

Conveniently abbreviated BAR is only three years old, but it has already built a reputation for being one of the best bars in Europe. Situated south of the parliament square in Athens, rum and cocktails are taken seriously here. With 85-plus rums on the bar it is easily the biggest rum collection in Athens, but with most Greek bars only stocking the usual rum suspects, it could be a long time before there is another big fish in this pond. But as the saying goes, you can’t run a marathon without taking the first step.


Hemmingway Bar 

Karolíny Svetlé 279/26, 110 00 Prague 1-Old Town, Prague, Czech Republic

hemingwaybar.cz/bar-praha/

This amazing bar, named after the great writer and drinker, is hidden away in a beautiful part of the old town in the city of Prague. But once you find this Aladdin’s cave, the rum treasures and cocktails are a joy to behold. There are more than 200 rums on offer from the back bar and the rum cabinets that decorate the drinking lounge. You’ll also find the Czech Republic’s only rum club here too. 


The Lebensstern Bar in Café Einstein

Kurfürstenstraße 58  10785 Berlin, Germany

cafeeinstein.com/lebensstern-cocktailbar-im-einstein

When I first drank here in 2008, the Café Einstein Bar stocked impressive 50 rums, even though it was known for its collection of gins. Six months later while visiting, I was amazed to find that the rum collection had grown by 11… TIMES! Not to 61 rums but an incredible 550 rums. Although some of the rums were the same but in different sizes, this was and still is the highest number of rums I had seen within a bar. At last count there were 800 rums within the cabinet walls of the bar’s cigar lounge. Heaven.


Mai-Kai

3599 North Federal Highway, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33308, US

maikai.com

This bar and restaurant is the Mecca for all Tiki lovers. Built in 1956 for a cool $1 million, it was the most expensive bar/restaurant in the US and also sold the most rum. Today when you visit this great bar it is as if time has stood still. You are whisked back into 1960s tropical décor, cocktails and memorabilia. Although you won’t ever see a barman making cocktails here (all the drinks are made behind the scenes just like Don the Beachcomber), the waitresses provide the bar entertainment as they are attired in bikini tops and wraparound sarongs. The sarong-clad serving girls are a Mai-Kai invention.


Artesian @ the Langham Hotel

1C Portland Place, Marylebone, London, UK

artesian-bar.co.uk

Artesian (below) is a bar that is dear to my heart for many reasons. The first is that £1.5 million pounds was spent on redesigning the bar in the world-famous Langham Hotel to become a rum-focused bar. The second reason, I was the first rum guru asked to train the staff on their focused spirit. And the third reason is that one of my favourite bartenders, Alex Kratena, is the head honcho behind the sticks and he makes some of the best Daiquiris and Rum Manhattans this side of Pluto. 


Cottons Camden (London, UK)

55 Chalk Farm road, London NW1 8AN

cottonscamden.co.uk

No rum bar list can be complete without my little cornerstone. More than 300 rums. including the Wray & Nephew 17 year old, used in the original 1944 Mai Tai. Once described as “an oasis in the heart of Camden Town”, Cottons Camden has been attracting rum lovers for 27 years. But it has been in the past 10 years that serious rum drinkers have journeyed from across the globe to Cottons to seek out rum cocktails such as the Reggae Rum Punch or the Killer Doppi, or even to listen to the resident rum ambassador preach the gospel according to rum.