One of the world's most versatile drinks, rum is also intrinsically linked with the history and culture of its origins in the Caribbean. The earliest references to sugarcane spirit production in the region date back to 1647, and through innovative techniques like oak barrel ageing, rum quickly gained a foothold in global markets and earned its place as a highly sought-after commodity during the golden age of piracy in the years 1690-1720.

Throughout the islands of the region - from Belize right across the Caribbean Sea to Barbados - there is a grand tradition of rum production, with traditional family-owned brands practising a variety of methods of fermentation, distillation, casking and blending just as intricate and distinct as the Scotch whisky industry.

In recognition of this a new three-tiered Authentic Caribbean Rum marque has been established as an assured sign of quality and provenance and as a proud symbol of a heritage stretching back four centuries.

Varieties such as St Lucia's Chairman's Reserve, with its rich aromas of chocolate, raisin, spice and vanilla, or El Dorado 15 Year Old, made in Guyana using a unique wooden Coffey still, are ideal for sipping 'straight-up' or over ice, mixing in cocktails, or with your favourite mixer. In 2007 the Beverage Tasting Institute of Chicago awarded the latter the accolade 'Best Rum in the World', achieving the highest score for any rum ever - 98 points.

Helping us to explore the world of authentic Caribbean rum is Ian Burrell, host of our WebTV show but mostly known as 'Mr Rum'. A well-known London mixologist and organiser of the 2007 UK Rum Festival, there is no-one better equipped this side of the Atlantic to give us an inside track on producing, appreciating and mostly importantly drinking a drop of the good stuff.

Ian Burrell joins us live online on the 15th July from 1500 to 1530 time to discuss Rums of the Caribbean

Described as "Mr Rum", Ian has been a well-known face on the London bar scene for nearly twenty years. As well as being a "mixologist" and managing cocktail bars across London since 1991, and most importantly to become an "Ambassador of Rum", travelling around the world teaching and studying about the wonders of the drink, and organised the 2007 UK Rum Festival. His restaurant and cocktail bar, "Cottons", boasts the largest collection of rums in London and he has personally tasted them all.

For more information visit www.truerum.com

H: Vicky Letch, host
I: Ian Burrell

H: Hello and welcome to this very special live rum show set here in the Victorian Arches at Vinopolis, London, I'm Vicky Letch. Now then, with the summer sunshine out in all its glory, al fresco wining and dining is high on the priority list for most of us, and when it comes to your drink of choice, you need not stick with a frosty beer or a cool white wine any more.  Indeed a drink mixed with rum can be just as refreshing – I've got nodding in the corner here – and ideal for the summer season. Well to prove this is in fact the case, I've been joined today by rum expert Ian Burrell.  Ian, great to see you

I: Great to see you as well

H: How are you doing? 

I: I'm doing extremely well

H: He's very happy. Well I'm looking forward to delving into the finer points of Caribbean rum with your kind self

I: Ok

H: Before we do that of course a gentle reminder that we are totally live today. I've got a feeling we might prove that point a little bit later on

I: Just make a reference to the day

H: Oh I should do that. And the trains of course, I want to point out you're going to hear some rumbling, we are having lots of fun but it's not us, it's the trains going overhead, so don't let that alarm you.  If you have any questions or queries, perhaps you've got some recipe ideas or some recipe-related questions, do pop them into the box below, click submit, and then Ian and myself will get as many of those answered as possible

I: Yep

H: Shall we go back to basics?

I: Back to basics, yes

H: What is rum?

I: Well rum is simply the dissolute made from sugar cane, from sugar cane juice, molasses or sugar cane syrup.  That's what it basically is

H: Ok

I: But I like to think it's more than that – rum is a lifestyle, especially in the Caribbean

H: Yes do you know what I have to say, I agree with you. When I found out I was going to be partaking in this show, first of all I squealed like a girl – I was very excited. And then I thought do you know when I hear the word "rum" I really do associate that with – it's sort of a healthy mix of sophistication, but party as well – it's a fun, lively drink

I: It is a fun, lively drink. It is the party atmosphere. If you close your eyes and think of vodka you think of the cold climate, whisky is the old Scotland, old malts

H: Yes

I: But rum is fun, rum is fun, it's the Caribbean, it's the tropics, and it is a way of life

H: It's sunshine

I: Sunshine

H: And we're actually having some sunshine at the moment in this country

I: Alright, of course

H: It's nothing short of a miracle!  Now I know you are a man that knows everything there is to know about this beautiful nectar – so when I say a brief history, do you think you can cope with bullet points?

I: I can do bullet points

H: Ok, let's just have a little surmise if you like, a synopsis of the history

I: A little bit of the history is that rum has to be made from sugar cane as we mentioned earlier, and sugar cane originally came from Papua New Guinea, and that was brought over to the Caribbean by Christopher Columbus. So Columbus planted sugar cane there, it became – it's from grass so it grows wildly, all the islands in the Caribbean – you crush the sugar cane, you get the juice from there, you ferment that, you distil it and once it's distilled the alcohol comes off the distil, you put that into a barrel. You leave it there to let nature nurture it and give it some love, give it a little bit of colour

H: Ok

I: Then you put it into a bottle and hey presto, you have rum

H: And then you have your rum. We've got a question that's come in actually – this is from Greg Ryan, Greg thank you very much, Ian Greg says "what is it that makes Caribbean rum so special?"

I: Ah. I won't give my biased point of view – in fact I will. Caribbean rum is special because of its diversity, its authenticity

H: Yes

I: When we talk about Caribbean rums we're talking about authentic Caribbean rums, there's various different styles, each of the islands will give different types of flavours. Also with authentic Caribbean rums you also have strict guidelines that actually will give a certain quality and consistency and things like minimum age in Provinence as well, so that's what makes Caribbean rum special, authentic Caribbean rum special

H: Authentic, very important, authentic Caribbean rum. Talking about authenticity, we've got a question here from Emma Michaels, thank you very much Emma; she says "what does a mark mean to someone like me who can't tell the difference from one rum to another?"

I: Well the mark actually means – the marking will actually mean quality. If you see that mark on a bottle – we're talking about if you ever see that on the web page, you know that that rum has gone through some guidelines, minimum ageing, there's no added impurity added into the product, so you're talking about a consistent product. There are some rums out there, and when I'm talking about minimum ageing, the youngest rum within that particular bottle if they put an age statement on the bottle, is for that particular blend

H: Right

I: So if you see an 8 year old on a particular bottle

H: Yes

I: The youngest rum in that bottle is 8 years old, it's not an average age, it's not selera age

H: Right ok

I: So that mark is saying to you this is quality, this is consistency

H: Yes

I: And there's a governing body that's actually said – determined that this is good rum

H: Ok. Talking about the age of rum, obviously if you say whisky I'm sure lots of you at home will agree if you think whisky you think the older the better

I: Yes, yes

H: The more beautiful the drink, the more expensive the drink. Is that how it works with rum as well?

I: Um – age doesn't always equate to quality, but what you can actually find from the authentic Caribbean rums is that when you do see an age statement on there there's a lot of – a lot of tropical ageing going on there. When I say tropical ageing it's because the Caribbean is a lot warmer than say Cognac region

H: Right

I: Or the malt whisky Scotland region.  It actually – products will actually age about two or three times faster in the Caribbean

H: Wow

I: So – my maths is not that great but

H: I'm awful!

I: You stick an – let's use the 8 year old for example. If there's an 8 year old on the bottle of authentic Caribbean rum, that's the same maturity as a 16 or 24 year old Scotch, just because of the tropical ageing, the two or three times faster ageing of the Caribbean climate

H: Yes

I: So that's what we mean by what's called tropical ageing

H: Ok

I: And that's the authenticity, and that's the mark

H: Gosh how interesting. I had no idea, that's really interesting

I: Right, yes

H: So I'm going to tell you something about myself, Ian

I: Right

H: I'm a flavours girl

I: Oh right

H: So I want you to whet my whistle – talk me through some of the different flavours I can expect from different types of rums?

I: Well if we want to try and taste some rums – do you want to taste some rums?

H: Ooh yes! Let's. I was wondering when you were going to offer that!

I: I've got some rums here we can work on the different flavours

H: Excellent

I: Flavours that you'll pick up from rums are quite distinct; you'll normally get vanilla notes and some cocoa, some orange

H: Ok

I: You'll also get a little bit of spice as well, some citrus fruits

H: Yes

I: So there's various flavours, and the way to pick these up are just take in the glass, have a little nose and see if you can pick out some of those flavours naturally

H: Beautiful colour. I must admit when you do look at this you do think of the summer don't you

I: Yes you do

H: It's a really vibrant colour

I: This is what we call liquid gold

H: Liquid – ooh I like it! Ok

I: So now you want to take a nose

H: Ok

I: Just gently rock that. 

H: While we're – while we're gently rocking and smelling – is that – that's probably not the right terminology?

I: Nosing, nosing's the professional way

H: Oh sorry nosing. I've got a question here from Jo and Jo says "what is the main difference between white and golden rums?"

I: Well the main difference is – is colour which is natural

H: Yes

I: Some white rums are un-aged, most are aged, and what they do is they age the rum in oak barrels, it gets a little bit of colour and then they charcoal filter, so they run the rum through charcoal filter, through carbon, and that takes away some of the colour and some of the flavour

H: Ok

I: So that will take it and make it a white rum. The gold rums haven't been filtered, haven't been charcoal filtered so they have colour from the wood. So that's the main difference, one has been filtered through charcoal

H: Yes

I: And the other hasn't

H: Ok. Gosh how interesting –

I: But all rums when they come off the steel, when they start are water white. All rums are water white

H: See I don't know why I would lean towards the golden colour more. Me personally. I have no idea why

I: It's more bling

H: It's more bling baby! Ok so we've nosed

I: Yes we've nosed, we've taken in some of the vanilla and the cocoa and the orange

H: Do you know I can genuinely smell vanilla

I: Ok

H: I'll let you into a little pre-production secret – we were here earlier on having a little chat and I was saying to Ian, because I'm not a professional I was really worried about picking up these different flavours and then being able to identify them, but you absolutely can get quite a strong sense of that vanilla

I: Yes yes, and a lot of that flavour comes from the barrels, the oak barrels that they use as well. So we picked up some of the flavours then we get to taste

H: Right

I: Remembering full well that these rums are 40%, well some are 37.5 but most are 40% alcohol, 43, so be careful, it's not like a wine, little bit wiser

H: Ok

I: You want it –

H: Little sip?

I: Yes a little sip, just to coat your tongue and take in some of the natural flavours. 

H: Right. Cheers

I: Cheers

H: In the eyes – 7 years bad luck

I: In the eyes

H: Yep! Don't know why I was wincing as I was taking that, I was slightly nervous for some reason. That is gorgeous

I: Yes?

H: It's slightly more – it's just like – it's softer than –

I: Right ok

H: Than I thought it would be. I thought it would blow my head off

I: Thought you might blow away

H: I did

I: And that's the image a lot of people have of rums, it's like it's going to be harsh, it's going to be really pungent, and there are some great rums, the authentic Caribbean rums covers a range of rums, they age anywhere from say 8 years old right up to 21 years. So the flavours are just so complex and so smooth, and it is like drinking either a malt whisky or a cognac and a lot of people don't associate that with rums

H: Yes. And from different regions of course and you're getting different –

I: Different regions you're getting different flavours and styles. A Bajan rum is going to be different from a Jamaican rum, which in turn will be different from a Gainese rum which in turn will be different from a Trinidadian rum

H: Ok

I: So you just trying to find what rum you are

H: It's quite an intricate little world isn't it, of rum? I've got a question here from Dennis. Thanks Dennis. Dennis says why the Jamaican rums tend to be more spicy, than others?

I: Oh he's not a Jamaican then is he?

H: No – I was waiting for that! I was waiting for that response, well done

I: He might be drinking a spice rum.  Jamaican rums can be a bit more spicy.  They're definitely much more fruity and more robust and it's the style that Jamaican rums have and the way they actually make their rums. They use pot steels, use some column steels and when I say pots I mean like a kettle or a nice long column. The column steel rums are much lighter; the pot steels have a lot more flavour. So the Jamaican rums have more of the pot steels inside them

H: Ok

I: Which give it spice, its natural spiciness and I mentioned spice rums, spice rums actually try to replicate a naturally spiced rums and Jamaican rums were –

H: Right

I: Those types of rums, they tried to replicate. 

H: Ok. Now if we were drinking rum, as we are now, we're tasting

I: As we are now

H: It I understand – but would you then serve it like this just with ice. Straight up with ice

I: You can have it with ice; you can have it straight up. Have it in a cocktail which is probably the most successful way for people drink rums.  For some of these rums especially the coloured by the authentic Caribbean mark are good enough just to sip by themselves. Or with friends!

H: I have to say I didn't listen to the second half of that sentence because I heard the word "cocktail". I got a little excited! Do you know what we're going to show you a very short film at home that's just going to give you more of an in-depth insight into how we get this beautiful golden nectar from sugar cane to this very glass here. Do stay with us though because on the other side of just a few minutes, Ian and myself will be propping up the bar and tasting some of these glorious cocktails. We'll see you in a mo.

Video footage

H: Hello welcome back to this live Caribbean rum show with myself Vicky Letch and Ian Burrell in the house people!  Actually behind the bar. This is the bit I've been looking forward to

I: Oh right yes the bar

H: We are going to be doing cocktails are we not?

I: We are indeed

H: What are we starting off with?

I: We're going to start – actually start with a simple serve. So some people say it's a cocktail – technically it is – with a simple serve, a nice easy drink to actually make at home or even make in a bar or ask – well ask your favourite bartender

H: Ok

I: We're actually going to use that is quite popular in bars which is now starting to become even more popular because of rum, and that's ginger ale. So we're going to do a rum and ginger

H: Oh lovely. Sounds nice

I: Nice and simple

H: Some people think simple is the best

I: It is. It is. It does make it much easier to actually have a simple drink because not everyone has the skills to start making complicated cocktails, so simple serves sometimes are the best way

H: Absolutely. So I've got to say because we are live today, we've had lots of questions coming in, so thank you very much to all of you at home. Keep them coming in though; we've got a few more minutes with us yet. One of the most popular questions Ian, it's not going to surprise you – many a person wants to know what your favourite rum is?

I: Ooh my favourite rum. The rum that's in my glass

H: Ooh cryptic!

I: Or –

H: Like it

I: Or the next one!

H: Or the next one. Interesting. Ok

I: So we have the rum

H: So the rum goes in

I: And we add the ginger ale again. I guess it's a great alternative to having a rum and coke, which is the most popular way of drinking rums now. It's also the way a lot of people were introduced to rums by having a rum and Cola

H: Yes

I: So ginger ale actually gives it a nice lightness, but the gingers really match well the spices of the rum. Just squeeze a little lime in there and just add a little bitter. Now there's various bitters around that we can use.  Add the bitters inside there

H: I've got to say thank you again for all of your questions. We've had some great questions in today.  In fact I want to point out, I didn't tell you this – it's very exciting. Dennis who submitted a question before we went to the short film, which I hope you enjoyed by the by, is watching us live in Venezuela!

I: Venezuela, oh

H: Ooh which actually makes me think of chocolate, which makes me think of rum and chocolate?

I: Well rum and chocolate is another experience as well, and you have the authentic Caribbean rums as well as I stated earlier have some great age rums, and they match naturally well with the cocoa notes that you get up from a really good chocolate. Chocolates are grown in the naturally rum-producing countries

H: Yes

I: So they marry really well. So a really nice aged rum with a nice quality chocolate. You take a bite of the chocolate first, then a sip of the rum, it's orgasmic

H: Ooh – are we allowed – oh we said it now, we're live – it's out there! This is divine

I: Yes. Nice and simple

H: This is beautiful. This is the sort of drink I think I'd like to have for a meal

I: Yes

H: Sitting down

I: Nice and light. It brings out the flavour, it brings out the juices in your palette just before you go and sit down for a meal. Rum and ginger ale is a – a dash of bitter, a squeeze of lime – is a really nice, easy way to actually get you onto the rum ladder

H: It's gorgeous. You should do this for a job!

I: I should do

H: I'm going to keep fielding these questions through, we've had some fantastic questions and this one is from Isabella Montgomery – that's a great name by the way Isabella – and she says "I only ever drink rum with coke" – lots of people do – "and a squeeze of lime.  What else is good to mix it with and what's the best rum to drink with coke as well?"

I: Well ideally, well the best way, I mean an alternative would be the rum and ginger ale as we were saying. It works well with fruit juices as well.  Another way, when I was in Spain, a lot of Spanish I see love drinking their rums like a little bit of orange just around the edge of the glass, and tonic water. So rum, tonic water, little bit of orange around the glass,

H: I bet that's gorgeous

I: Put that inside there and it's really nice, really nice, refreshing drink. Whichever rum? It's whichever rum you are. There's different styles of rum. Within the authentic Caribbean rum mark we have rums say from Barbados, from Jamaica

H: Yes

I: From Trinidad. Most of the islands in the Caribbean. And they produce different styles. So each of those rums will add a different flavour, a different component to particular drinks. So it's whatever one suits your fancy

H: This is just beautiful I have to say.  I've got a question – I've got a question from John Hermando? I think it's Hermando. He wants to know – why – you can tell we're live – "why do they taste so different?"

I: Why do they taste different?

H: Yes

I: Because each of the rum distilleries and the rum producers have different techniques and different styles to make their rums

H: Ok

I: They all have their own little tiny secrets as well

H: Yes

I: Which gives it a bit of variation.  I mean who'd want to actually taste products that taste exactly the same as the next rum. You need that variation which is why rums are the most versatile of spirits. Especially in a bar, on the back bar because there are different styles, from the big, big flavours to the lighter drier finishing-type rums. Ones with more fruitness to ones with a little bit more wood inside there

H: Ok

I: So there's various different styles

H: So thumbs up for this one

I: cheers, thank you

H: We'll leave that one in the wings for now because I know the crew are probably chomping at the bit to have a taste of that

I: Yes I've seen them looking, I've seen them eyeing it up

H: Eyeing it up! What are we doing now?

I: What we're going to do is probably one of the most popular rum cocktails in the world, and that's the Daiquiri

H: Of course

I: And Daiquiri is actually one of my favourite ways to actually drink rum; it's a nice light, refreshing drink to have simply done. Simply done we're going to have ice, we're going to have lime, we're going to have sugar and we're going to have rum. Three ingredients – three ingredients that are natural in the Caribbean

H: I mean this is sort of iconic in the world of rum. I should think to lots of people if you said rum, initially they would think –

I: They would think of Daiquiri

H: Daiquiri. 

I: Right

H: That looks like some form of torture to that poor lime

I: I know. It's one of our bartender's tools. We actually call it the Mexican Elbow

H: By the way I'm just going to interrupt you because I feel we're probably being slightly interrupted, we are live today at Vinopolis in London so we're underneath the Victorian arches, which is why you can probably hear the trains. See the trains to run on time

I: Yes exactly

H: We knock the system in this country and they are on time today

I: It's the rumbling of the trains

H: It's the rumbling of the trains. I like how you made that work for you. And it's gone again now

I: Ok some fresh limes

H: I've got a question relating to Daiquiri from Susan in Bradford. Now she wants to know why it's called a Daiquiri?

I: Oh the Daiquiri? Well the Daiquiri was actually invented in about 1898 and it was invented by a guy named Jennings Cox in Cuba, and he actually invented it in an area called Daiquiri, and that's where he popularised the drink and that's when it transcended from Cuba to the rest of the Caribbean into the Americas

H: Ok

I: And it became one of the most popular drinks at that particular time. So Daiquiri is actually named after an area in Cuba

H: Oh interesting. You really do know everything don't you?

I: No I'm still learning, I'm still learning

H: Let's see if you can answer this question then, this one is from Lucy in London, thanks Lucy. She says "my boyfriend likes drinking rum." Ooh sorry "Barbados rum. His birthday is coming up shortly and I would like to get him a bottle of rum that isn't his usual. Can you recommend a different one?"

I: A different one from another island or from a different part of Barbados?

H: Ooh I don't know? Answer it however you want to, yes

I: The thing is yes –

H: Freestyle

I: The thing is he's used to drinking Bajan rums and he likes rums with a lot more fruit inside there and great rum flavours, the woody notes and the cocoas. I would recommend either maybe rums from one of the neighbouring islands, from maybe St Lucia, from Guiana as well. Jamaica, they produce similar styles but slightly different – slightly different variations

H: Ok

I: But Bajan rums are good rums as well and if that's what he likes there's nothing wrong with sticking with what you know

 H: Yes ok good. Now I realise this is not about me it's about you at home, but I have a question – do you mind if I pick your brains?

I: Go for it

H: I recently bought someone a bottle of rum as a thank you gift and I really want to get them a really good rum, not knowing too much about it – what sort of price do you expect people to spend, average?

I: If you really want to get a good rum that you want to really impress your friends I would say look fro a rum in a price range of say £20-£30. The beauty of that is most of those rums in that price range have been aged anywhere from 8-15 years old

H: Yes

I: Now remember when we were talking about tropical ageing, and it's 2-3 times much more, if that was a whisky and you paid say for a 12 year old whisky or a 24 year old whisky, you're paying a lot more than £20-30 so these rums that we're talking about with an authentic Caribbean rum mark, probably you have more bang for your buck, there's more value for money

H: Ok

I: And if you're comparing it with the ageing process, so yes I'd say between £20-30

H: Ok. I think mine was £26 so I didn't do too badly

I: You didn't do too bad. So I give it a good shake

H: Talk amongst yourselves

I: Make sure it's nice and cold

H: There you go. Right I've got a question in from Samantha and she wants to know about a rum fest, and she's emailing from America

I: Oh right ok, well

H: Welcome

I: Well rum fest is a little event that I created really just to promote the whole rum experience

H: Yes

I: So as I was saying rum is more than just a spirit in your glass or in the bottle – it is a lifestyle. So you go to the Caribbean, you're seeing people drinking rum while they're playing dominoes, they're listening to music and drinking rum. You find it in the house. You move into a new house in some countries, you pour a little bit of rum on your doorstep and on the foundations. Just to basically get rid of the ghosts,

H: Yes

I: So you've moved into a nice, clean house.  So it is a lifestyle out there, and this is what the rum experience is. It shows rum in its true sense. So you can come and sample 400 different rums, it's over two days in October, 24th and 25th October. Rums from all over the Caribbean and other parts of the world as well.  But that's when you get a real taste of what rum is about. Or come to here, come to Vinopolis

H: Why not

I: Vinopolis is a great place; I mean you can do the rum tour. Learn about rums, the distillation methods, the fermentation methods, get some training from the bartender and you can try some cocktails as well. A range of rums

H: Fantastic ok. We are running out of time, thank you so much Ian

I: No problem

H: This has been brilliant. We should probably toast Samantha who came through with that previous question, all the way from Texas, America. Shall we raise our glasses to Samantha. Just in that camera there. There you go

I: Cheers Samantha

H: Cheers Samantha

I: Cheers Samantha.

H: We'll enjoy this on your behalf.  Ian thank you so much, it's been so insightful

I: No problem

H: Let's give this a taste. Oh I'm in heaven. That's gorgeous. Thank you so much, that's beautiful. If you want to be in heaven too and you're looking for more information then just pop along to the website which is truerum.com – I'm going to stay put for a little while and I'll look forward to seeing you next time. Goodbye