It’s hard to remember now, but not too long ago, people just didn’t get excited about gin. Sure, you’d be able to find a bottle of Beefeater behind the bar of every pub in Britain – but until 2009, when Sipsmith opened its first distillery in London, the juniper-based spirit was widely perceived as rather fusty and old-fashioned.

We all know what happened next, of course. Over the last 12 years, gin has exploded in popularity in the UK, creating an entire industry that simply didn’t exist at the turn of the millennium. By 2018, there were more than double the number of distilleries in Britain than there had been five years earlier. And in 2020, as we were collectively shut out of our favourite bars and pubs, gin sales in shops, supermarkets and online topped £1 billion for the first time.

Despite this, it wasn’t gin that was dubbed the “drink of lockdown” by the Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WTSA). That honour was bestowed on rum. Between April and June 2020, the equivalent of 1.3 million extra bottles of rum were sold in the UK, with the sugarcane-based liquor enjoying the biggest boom in sales of all spirits.

Our love for rum hasn’t abated as the pandemic has dragged on, either. Drinks retailer The Whisky Exchange has seen rum sales spike by almost three-quarters (71%) over the past year – and it’s now tipped to be one of the biggest drinks of 2021. 

“The fact that rum as a category is very versatile and many consumers are ‘ginned out’ means their willingness to experiment with rum has increased,” Donna Waite, co-founder of monthly subscription box Craft Rum Club, tells Stylist.

“Rum also offers excellent value for money when compared to other dark spirits such as whiskey or bourbon, in terms of quality production, tropical ageing – up to three times faster in tropical climates as opposed to continental climates – [and] modern, appealing branding.”

Rum’s resurgence didn’t come out of the blue. Market researchers Euromonitor predicted that luxury rum sales would increase by almost $230m between 2015 and 2020, and the number of rum brands on the UK market was rising steeply long before the pandemic hit. In Cornwall – where rum has deep roots, thanks to the region’s Poldark-famous history of seafaring and smuggling – there are now plans for a new £10m carbon-neutral rum distillery and visitor centre, based in an Eden Project-style biome and powered entirely by geothermal energy. All the signs suggest that we’ll soon be as into craft rum as we are discerning about gin.

The question is: how should we be drinking rum now? Lighter varieties might make you think of synthetic coconut-scented alcopops and cheap mixed drinks – but the new breed of high-end pale blends will make you forget all about that time you drank too many £2.50 rum and cokes at a student club night. Light-coloured rums are best used in summer-ready cocktails such as daiquiris and mojitos. Taj Sanghera, founder of new British-Indian rum brand Five Rivers, recommends shaking two measures of the clear liquor with ice, lime juice, sugar syrup, a dash of egg white and orgeat syrup or amaretto for a cross between a daiquiri and an amaretto sour.

At the other end of the colour spectrum are dark rums, which tend to be spicier, richer and more complex in flavour. These can be sipped slowly on their own, just like you’d take your time over a measure of Mexican mescal or Italian amaro. And somewhere in the middle are golden or amber rums, sales of which have been rising steadily in the UK in recent years. These have a mellower, fruitier taste than white rums and a crisper, more refreshing feel than dark varieties, and are equally at home drunk neat as they are in a cocktail.

Ready to invest in a bottle of seriously good rum? Find Stylist’s picks below.