At The Bar: 10 Cane Rum

We have a special guest reviewer today for 10 Cane Rum. Rachel Godfrey has sat beside me tasting all the other alcohols reviewed for AmericanMadness and since she is a die-hard mojito drinker, I figured she would be the go to person for a review of 10 Cane Rum.

RG:

I enjoy good food, but as my husband will tell you that when left to my own devices, I can feed myself for an entire weekend with a jar of peanut butter and whatever I find in the pantry. (If need be, I will nuke a hotdog or two for a better balanced meal.)

I’m pretty much the same way about alcohol. College years where I happily drank whatever was handed to me because it was free still have a lingering effect. Now that I am paying for drinks, I at least have a preference—mojitos have become my summer go-to drink, despite the fact that I always get a scowl from the bartender because of the extra work involved. But when he would ask while muddling away if I had a brand preference for my rum, I generally shrugged and said whatever. In my mind, outside of my closet, brand names mean very little.

But it was because of my mojito obsession that Matt asked me to write the 10 Cane review. And I wanted to try it, actually, ever since I had seen the highly-stylized black, white and orange ads plastered around the Lower East Side.

The bottle itself is not only pretty snazzy looking, it’s also pretty sizeable. So it was with much glee that we carried it down the street to A Casa Fox to add to Melissa’s already incredible mojito mix.

What I like about the mojito is its simplicity: the mixture of sweet and tart and mint. And what makes 10 Cane so great for this drink, is that, like its name implies, you can actually taste the sugar cane. If you’ve ever chewed on a piece (sometimes Caprinias have a stick added in for flavor), this is the same taste, sweet but not overpowering. You know, sugar cane-y. This is also apparent it its color. Unlike most light rums that are clear, it’s slightly yellow. So while it may not look crisp like other typical rums, I think it lends itself well for any drink that highlights rum, and it’s pretty good with just ice too.

However, I wouldn’t suggest it for rum and cokes, since the sweetness would be a bit overpowering. I’m thinking of trying it in pina coladas next, just to see. And as pretentious as I may sound now, I have taken to specifying 10 Cane when ordering mojitos.