The Best Rum Bars in Brisbane
Be transported to Tiki shacks, Cuban shores and illicit speakeasies.
In the past few years we have seen the reputation of rum go from a rugby spectator's drink of choice to a sophisticated, essential ingredient in many an innovative cocktail. Be it white, golden, spiced or aged, rum is back in the best possible way.
Here are the best places in Brisbane to give the new generation of rum drinks a try.
COBBLER
While this bar is crafting its reputation as a go-to for a fine single malt whisky, Cobbler's also where you'll find one of the classiest rum cocktails in town. Meet the Richard Nixon — a mix of Appleton 8yo, Oloroso Sherry, grape honey and Peychaud's Bitters, served on a sophisticated single rock of ice and dressed with an orange peel. Consider this a gateway to Don Draper-esque sophistication and you'll be discussing social politics in no time.
7 Browning Street, West End
LONGTIME
Rum, Frangelico, orange-strawberry juice, sesame soy honey reduction, Hellfire bitters and Thai basil. Are you with us? Good. They'll shake this bad boy up, serve it with dehydrated orange triangles, sesame meringue tea drops and more Thai basil. The only remaining question after finding out about this marvellous creation is: what are you still doing here? Run, don't walk, to Longtime on Ann Street, pronto.
610 Ann Street, Brisbane
THE WALRUS CLUB
At the end of the day, sometimes all you want is to sink into a fine leather couch in a dimly lit bunker and sip away on a quality drop of rum. This is the winning charms of The Walrus Club; while their cocktail list is seemingly endless and rotating, their 300 choices of rum will take you back to Prohibition-era drinking den. Why not sample the Old Fashioned with your cigar?
Under the Regatta, Coronation Drive, Toowong
DUTCH COURAGE OFFICERS' MESS
Though garnering a name as Brisbane's go-to for gin lovers, Dutch Courage in fact offers a smattering of rum-based drinks to satisfy the thirst of the more adventurous or for those looking for something a little different. Why not try the pear and almond martini, wherein "the Empire has reached Barbados", or opt for rum muddled with orchard fruits and aromatic spices in the Sailors' Plantation? All hail the Fall Maple Sangria, where Caribbean goodness comes by the jugful.
51 Alfred Street, Fortitude Valley
SUBSTATION NO. 41 RUM BAR
For the true rum aficionado, where better to go than Australia's largest rum bar, housed nicely in Brisbane? Substation no. 41 — an arm of the Breakfast Creek Hotel — is where it is about quality and quantity. They boast more than 500 varieties from around the globe, including one of the six bottles of Havana Club Maximo found in Australia, alongside the world's oldest, the Appleton Estate 50-year aged Jamaican Rum. Here you will decipher the the fruity from the spiced, and learn the difference between the French and British Caribbean.
Breakfast Creek Hotel, Kingsford Smith Drive
JUNGLE
Rum can be a fitting drink for any time of the year, but the choices at Jungle in West End will have you dreaming of summer with their fresh palates. The fittingly-named Beachcombers Gold is a sweet and sultry choice with lime juice, house-crafted white grapefruit and cinnamon orgeat to give greater body to the double dash of rum. Here is where you will find a number of rum drink reinventions, with watermelon coolers, punch and daiquiris aplenty to get you in the spirit.
76 Vulture Street, Brisbane
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