1. We recommended this delicious rum last year, and we will again this year. Santa Teresa 1976 is an excellent sipping rum for anyone who loves the dark spirits. $35
2. When mixing and shaking, you might need a little kick in your cocktail. We recommend Brooklyn Bitters Spicy Charred Pineapple bitters to add some fire to your libation. Buy local! $20
3. We're smitten with Owney's white rum, made right here in Brooklyn. Buy local, ya'll. Sips great, and mixes well too. (Read us wax on about our lady crush on founder, Briget Firtle, here) $35
4. Want to take that Dark n' Stormy to a new level? Use Cruzan Black Strap Rum - it's Navy Strength and guaranteed to put some hair on your proverbial chest. $18
5. Dark chocolate rum cordials? Yes, please. $35 for 5 lbs
6. It may be kitch, but we love all things tiki. We love coconut cocktails, anything with an umbrella in it, and fabulous retro tiki dresses and hawaiian shirts.
7. People, tiki drinks are delicious. Add Bittermans 'Elemakule Tiki Bitters to your rum cocktails, manhattans, or even a light cocktail of sparkling water. Instant happiness. $25
8. The best cocktails have fresh squeezed juices in them, so a juicer is essential. Get a good one, like the Breville 800JEXL (sounds professional, no?) $225
9. Cacao Prieto in Red Hook, Brooklyn is making an incredible chocolate liqueur made with a rum base. It's got a hint of coffee to compliment the chocolate and the round sweet notes of the rum. Buy local! $52
10. Rum was definitive in the formation of both New England, and America. It was a main player, once considered to be matched with the gold standard. How's that for liquid gold? Learn about the History of the New World (and rum) through ten cocktails. $11
11. Plantation White Rum is a delicious white rum made from a white rum from Barbados, a 3-year aged Trinidad rum, and a Jamaican rum that is 12 years old. It's a nice, light rum with flavors of sugarcane, vanilla, tropical fruits and banana. $25
12. What says holiday better than Rum Cake? Nothing. Serve with fruit or vanilla ice cream. $36
13. Looking for a good white rum that you won't feel guilty about mixing? We love Denizen - smooth from aging in bourbon barrels, a bit of funk from the Jamaican rum, and it mixes like a champ. $17
14. Goslings Old Rum - the ultimate sipping rum packaged in old champagne bottles and dipped in that extra sexy black wax. Swoon. $90
15. Ok, maybe we're tiki obsessed (can you blame us?), but we love vintage tiki mugs. They come in so many different shapes, themes, and colors, they are sure to liven up any bar.
