5 Cocktails With Rum

Possibly because rum drinks are the ultimate vacation guilty pleasure, there are a lot of them, making it difficult to narrow the field down to the best 5 cocktails with rum. Rum cocktails also tend to have more ingredients than a French menu, but these five rum cocktails focus on the classics that you might actually attempt to make at home. Let the experts handle the rest.

1. Rum and Coke. Simple, sweet and refreshing, a rum and Coke is probably the easiest mixed cocktail with rum. Mix one part rum to three parts coke, and serve without a garnish in a highball glass over ice.
2. Painkiller. Mix four parts pineapple juice, two parts dark rum, and one part each of cream of coconut and orange juice. Mix well, pour over ice in a highball glass, and garnish with a dusting of nutmeg.
3. Blue Hawaiian. Combine two parts pineapple juice, one part light rum, one part Blue Curaçao, one part cream of coconut with one cup of ice per serving in a blender and mix on high speed. Serve in a highball glass with a cherry and a slice of pineapple as garnish.
4. Piña Colada. You could just use a mix, but what's the point when this is actually one of the easier rum recipes? In a blender, combine equal parts light rum, cream of coconut and crushed pineapple. Add two cups of crushed ice per serving, blend on high speed, and serve, ungarnished, in a collins glass.
5. Mojito. While the other drinks can be made in batches, a Mojito should be made one drink at a time. Start by placing 12 bruised mint leaves in the bottom of a highball glass. Fill the glass one quarter full of crushed ice, add 1.5 oz of spiced rum, 1 tbsp. of sugar, 0.5 oz of lime juice, and then top off the glass with soda water. Stir and garnish with unbruised mint leaves.