The Kraken Spiced Black Rum

[_MementoMori_]

So I was walking through the spirits aisle at a local grocery store a few nights ago, looking to pick up a bottle of Hendricks gin, when a bottle of The Kraken caught my eye. The bottle literally screamed, "LOOK AT ME!" from 10 feet away. I am an absolute sucker for great packaging/product design, and this is one of the most attractive bottles of rum I've ever seen.

It tastes great too. I've only had it neat and in a poorly made Hurricane so far, though. My wife is looking for a great recipe to use it with tonight. Have you gents seen it? Here's a pic of the bottle so you can see why I flipped over it:

 

[KaiserKrebs]

I'm hooked....so to speak. Rum is my favorite distilled spirit, and I'm a sucker for this type of packaging etc. I just checked out the website for KRAKEN rum, and it's very clever. If this rum tastes anything like Gosling's Black Seal, I will enjoy it greatly. Going to be looking for this locally. Thanks for the post, and info.

 

[Mr. Imperial]

Whoa.

Hm...how's my alcohol budget looking right now...

 

[The Nid Hog]

I picked up a bottle the other day but I haven't cracked it yet. I heard it makes a good Cuba Libre.

 

[_MementoMori_]

Nid Hog,

Care to share a Cuba Libre recipe? I can have my wife swing by the grocery store and pick up the ingredients on the way home. Thanks in advance.

 

[The Nid Hog]

Nid Hog,

Care to share a Cuba Libre recipe? I can have my wife swing by the grocery store and pick up the ingredients on the way home. Thanks in advance.

Coke, lime and rum. I think that it's typically made with a light rum, but one of my buddies told me that the Kraken will change your mind about that.

 

[stobes21]

Nid Hog,

Care to share a Cuba Libre recipe? I can have my wife swing by the grocery store and pick up the ingredients on the way home. Thanks in advance.

Cuba Libre is a rum and coke garnished with lime. There is some debate as to whether there should be lime juice added separate from the garnish. So your ingredients would be cola, limes, and rum. Safe ratio is 2 parts cola to 1 part rum with lots of ice. Try one with a squeeze of lime and one without so see which you prefer. I'd also suggest (if you can find it) using mexican or kosher coke made with real sugar rather than the hfcs stuff. You could also use pepsi throwback if that's still on the market.

 

[The Nid Hog]

+1 on the Mexican Coke. And I like my lime in it, but YMMV.

 

[Confilo]

I picked up a bottle the other day but I haven't cracked it yet. I heard it makes a good Cuba Libre.

Do you mean, it makes a good Mentirita? (little lie) Cuba isn't libre yet.

 

[Nerdman]

Great stuff, been hooked since it first came out!!

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=129447&highlight=kraken

 

[MikeyAces]

Need to pick that bottle up for sure. I picked up a bottle of Captain Morgan Tattoo when it first came out, it was good neat, but it was great with ginger ale. Then again The Kraken could be very different, so YMMV.

 

[blary54]

I want to try this rum. Think its a little pricey though.

Check out Kilo Rum too. Its very good.

http://www.crownwineandspirits.com/popup.aspx?src=images/Product/large/kilokai750.jpg

 

[LeverTime]

I don't drink rum, but my co-worker who does swears by Kraken.

 

[Nerdman]

I used to be a Captain Fan, but when I tried the Kraken, I gave my full bottle of Captain away to a freind, and now my go to is Kraken. Its awesome by itself or with coke. Like I said, Good Stuff. Its worth the $22 bucks I get it for.

 

[clubman]

Even though the last time I drank spiced rum was probably 20 years ago (good ol' Captain...), last night I was killing time at the likka store before an engagement and I spied this on the shelf. $18, plus random people on the internet like it, why not?

So, later that night, I crack it open. 94 proof - not bad (isn't Captain Morgan something like 70?). Decent aroma, smells like rum and spices (go figure). Made a rum & coke (which will be how the vast majority of this stuff is consumed, I am sure) that was really, really tasty. Dangerously tasty. Tried it with some ginger ale - equally nice. I seem to remember from my misspent youth that Captain & 7-up was a great combo, I'm sure this would work equally well. I can't really think of any fancy drink recipies that call for spiced rum, but that's not really what it's for, of course.

In summary - this is good booze for drinking. It's not some finely crafted, lovingly aged spirit that will lend nuance and sublety to your mixological endeavors, rather, it's a reasonably priced spiced rum that's better than the competition (at least what I remember of it). Not for sitting in front of a fire with a snifter, but for enjoying yourself while drinking rum & cokes at the club/bar/party/sofa/limo/alley/beach/campfire/hottub/pool/theater/lake/cab/hotel/river/porch/backyard bbq... you get the picture!

 

[an0nymous]

I've had a few bottles of the stuff now and it quite agrees with me.
Lately my wife has had me make Dark and Stormy's with it, a task for which it is perfectly suited.

 

[_MementoMori_]

TC here. I grabbed some Boylan's cane sugar cola on the way home from work today. The missus and I will be enjoying genuine Cuba Libres this evening.

Say, what's a Dark and Stormy? You can't just go mentioning drinks in my topic without posting recipes, you know. I have a lot of rum left.

 

[an0nymous]

simple syrup made with a couple slices of ginger in it. seltzer, dark rum, garnish with a ginger sliver and a wedge of lime.
Gooood stuff. And the kraken seems uniquely suited for it. I've tried the ginger beer version, but I firmly believe this version is better:


Ingredients

* 1 cup sugar (I always use turbinado/sugar in the raw)
* 1 cup water
* 1 (4-inch) piece ginger, sliced, reserve 4 slices for garnish
* Ice
* 1 liter seltzer water
* 4 shots dark rum
* 4 lime wedges, for garnish
* 4 small skewers

Directions

In a small pot over medium heat, combine the sugar, water and the ginger. Bring to a boil then shut off the heat and let cool to room temperature.

Fill 4 glasses (I use old fashoned glasses) with ice. Pour seltzer water into the bottom third of each glass. Add 1/4 cup of the ginger simple syrup to each glass and gently stir. Put a teaspoon upside down over the glass and pour 1 shot of rum over the spoon, so that the rum stays separated from the seltzer.

Put slice of ginger and lime wedge onto each skewer. Garnish each drink with the skewer and enjoy.


It's been our favorite cocktail for maybe 6 months now. I am pretty sure the Dark and Stormy name is due to the clouding of the rum in the top of the glass.

 

[blary54]

It consists of dark rum and ginger beer over ice...pretty easy and tasty. I prefer 7up though to ginger beer.

 

[_MementoMori_]

anonym0us, thank you for the recipe. It sounds and looks delicious. Looks like I'll be making another trip to the grocery store for supplies...