Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Food & Drink

Swill: Coffee & Cigarettes Spiced Rum Tastes Just Like It Sounds

Drew Prindle
By

Swill is our bi-monthly column dedicated to liquor, wine, beer, and every other delicious dram that falls under the broader umbrella of booze. But it’s more than just tasting notes scribbled on a cocktail napkin — Swill is about getting outside of your comfort zone, trying new things, and exploring the big, wide world of libations. One week you might catch us halfway through a bottle of single-malt scotch, and the week after that we might be buzzing on some Ugandan moonshine made from bananas. This column is just one big boozy adventure, so grab yourself a glass and join us for another round.

I’ve tried some seriously weird booze in my day — including plenty of stuff that’s brewed with coffee beans, and even a few drinks infused with tobacco flavor — but never before have I encountered a rum that’s intentionally designed to taste like coffee and cigarettes. So of course, when I came across a bottle of this stuff from Stolen Rum, I had to give it a try.

Recommended Videos

What’s really interesting about it is that it’s a hybrid of two different styles of rum. You’ve probably tried both spiced rum and flavored rum before, but I highly doubt they were served in the same glass. Generally speaking, the two styles are kept separate, which is why Coffee & Cigarettes is so intriguing.

Related

To make the stuff, Stolen starts with its basic spiced rum, and ages it in ex-bourbon barrels for a minimum of two years. After that, it’s blended with natural spices and oils sourced from around the world, including Moroccan fenugreek, Madagascan vanilla, and Arabica coffee beans from Colombia. As a finishing touch, it’s then “passsed through the smoke of American Hardwood”.

We’re not exactly sure how they do that last part, but the result is surprisingly tasty. The most dominant flavor is definitely coffee, but layered in alongside it you get all those wonderful vanilla and toffee flavors from the spiced rum, with a bold, smokey finish to round it all out. It’s definitely not for everyone, but if you tend to like smoke and coffee, you’ll probably love this stuff. Hell, I’m not particularly fond of coffee, cigarettes, or even spiced rum to be quite honest, but I found the mixture of all three to be highly enjoyable.

And at the end of the day, if you give it a try and find it revolting, a partially-drank bottle of Stolen Coffee & Cigarettes Spiced Rum would probably make a great gift for the hipster in your life.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Drew Prindle
Drew Prindle
Drew is our resident tech nerd. He’s spent most of his life trying to be James Bond, so naturally he’s developed an…
Cocktail classics: the Negroni and its millions of variations
Negroni

Of all the classic cocktails that are well-known in bars across the world, one stands out for being both complex fascinating to drink, but also incredibly easy to make: the negroni. This beloved cocktail from Italy consists of equal parts of gin, sweet vermouth, and Campari, and it doesn't even need to be shaken. Traditionally made in a mixing glass, where it is stirred with ice to add water, in practice you can even add the ingredients to a tumbler glass with a large ice cube and stir it in the glass. That isn't really the technically correct way to make the drink, but it works well enough and means that you can make this cocktail with practically no equipment whatsoever.
The negroni is popular for its intense, bitter flavors and its bright red color, both of which come from the Campari. But the addition of gin gives the drink that heavy, boozy note with plenty of spicy juniper, and the sweet vermouth adds a touch of sweetness and more herbal notes. The result is a drink which packs an incredible flavor punch, and which tends to be either loved or hated (mostly depending on how you feel about Campari).
Thanks to its simplicity, the negroni lends itself to endless variations. While in truth I think it's hard to beat the classic version of this cocktail, if you're a long-time negroni drinker and you're looking to try something new – or maybe even if you're not a fan of the classic negroni but are interested in finding a version which does work for you – then we've got suggestions on some of the many variations you can try.

Experimenting with gins

Read more
Gose-style beers are perfect for spring, and these are our favorites
This salty, tart, sour beer is perfect for spring.
Gose beer

As we mentioned in an earlier post, the Gose style might be the best beer choice for spring and summer drinking. This wheat beer is top-fermented and gets a second fermentation with lactobacillus bacteria. This gives it a tart, sour flavor profile similar to your favorite sour ale. The addition of coriander and sea salt adds some spice and salinity to this very unique, refreshing beer.

On top of that, this tart, salty thirst-quencher is usually between 4-5% ABV. This results in a crushable, salty, crisp beer you won’t be able to put down even between horseshoe throws or cornhole turns.
A strange, salty history

Read more
This is how to make a proper Moscow Mule
It's the classic cocktail in a copper mug, and we're going to show you how to make a Moscow Mule
Moscow Mule with a bowl of limes

You know you've made it as a cocktail when one of the most popular ready-to-drink options is made in your name. That's the case with the Moscow Mule cocktail, the classic mix of vodka and ginger beer, preferably in a copper mug.

Here are some pro tips to keep in mind. First, select a quality vodka. The flavor may be mostly buried in the rest of the drink, but you're still after smoothness. In terms of ginger, go with a proper ginger beer instead of ginger ale. The latter is far too sweet. If you're really feeling intrepid, do as Death & Co. does below and make your own ginger syrup to couple with club soda. You'll be amazed at how much more pronounced the ginger qualities are when going this route.

Read more