Event: Rum Curious Club & Kuleana Rum Works

Recently, Lulu and I officially joined a new monthly cocktail event: The Rum Curious Club. The name is clever, and the occasion is casual, informative, and fun. I’m excited to give you a virtual tour of their most recent gathering.

July’s sponsor was Kuleana Rum Works. Their co-founder, Steve Jefferson, and the brand’s California ambassador Chad Yoho gave an entertaining and informative talk about the brand, their history, and the spirits we tasted. Kuleana prides itself on producing an artisan line of Agricole* style spirits with zero added colors, sugars, or artificial flavorings.

*Rhum Agricole is distilled directly from pressed cane sugar instead of fermented juice or cane by-products like molasses. The terroir is very present, often with a grassy, pleasantly funky flavor.

By the way… for those of you daunted by the impression of a rum tasting (or any other spirit) being snotty, stiff, or only for “refined palates,” I assure you, these events are NOT international sommelier training and do NOT require you to speak “propah” cocktail jargon, or even to know anything about the spirit being tasted. These are super fun and informal events supporting the idea that tasting is a personal thing. You can experience the vast range of flavors to form your opinions, descriptions, and preferences. There are no “wrong” tasting notes. You should definitely sign up for one (obviously, we’re partial to Rum Curious Club) and have fun!

– Ty

The first tasting introduced everyone to Huihui, an unaged white rum blend. My first impression was light grass on the nose, with a slightly hot (mostly meaning “feeling of alcohol”) on the palate – surprising for a 40% ABV spirit. Huihui had a reasonably full flavor, no heavy sugar weight, lovely stone fruit tones, a dry finish, and an acceptable linger with a pronounced bright grain taste. Overall, Huihui was quite friendly, with nose and palate not necessarily mirroring each other but complementing nicely.

Other activities kept the entire event light and “spirited” during all the tastings. Kuleana and the second event sponsor, Liquid Alchemist, incorporated a fun trivia giveaway with branded swag as prizes. The sponsors also ran a cocktail creation contest where randomly selected attendees formed competing teams to dream up off-the-cuff cocktail recipes.

Throughout the event, Bryan (a very friendly, enthusiastic, and gregarious guy) walked among the rum-curious attendees, discussing and sharing tasting notes. The crowd was excitedly chatting and comparing notes.

The next tasting was Nanea, which Bryan described as full-flavored, similar to fermented Haitian Rhums, and suitable for mixing and sipping. Nanea had considerably more molasses in the nose and on the palate, presenting wood notes from variously aged rums (eighteen months to eight years.) Up front, I tasted very light sugar with yeast and grain notes. The finish* was a slightly lingering dried fruit. Nanea was a bit too simple for me – caught between big molasses and funky agricole while not committing to either.

*“Finish” refers to the length of time the taste of a spirit lingers in your mouth when you’ve swallowed it. The length of the finish can be described as short, medium, or long. The best spirits will have a lingering and enjoyable finish.

The third tasting was slightly more focused and detailed. After all, the club felt quite practiced and confident after the two previous rounds! Kuleana’s signature Agricole was handed out. Crafted entirely from their own heritage sugar cane, the sample we tried had a big fermented fruit nose of green banana and plantain and some yeast and bread notes. Kuleana’s agricole is a little hot on the palate, with warm plum notes. Agricole’s finish is as it should be – a lush, long, and classic linger.

Jefferson talked a bit about the method that makes Kuleana’s Agricole unique. While other brands’ rums are often distilled to a high 90%+ ABV before dilution and barrelling, Kuleana distills to only 75%, diluting to bottle strength, thus retaining more of the original character and texture from the fermentation.

We moved on to the fourth and final tasting: Kuleana’s top-of-the-line spirit – a premium aged (eighteen months to eighteen years) seven-rum blend called Hōkūlei. My nose was treated to a waft of wheat and bran – not unlike rye – that opened up to bright sugar on the palate. I was impressed by the lovely transition of what the maker calls “…a sublime sipping rum to rival the world’s finest spirits.”

A fine time was had by all. After the club ended, some folks joined the rest of Tonga Hut’s usual Sunday denizens in the grotto and lanai, but Lulu and I headed to La Cuevita in Highland Park – but that’s a story for another blog post.

Oh… so you want to know which drink won the cocktail contest? It was a nutty concoction using a split base of Kulana’s Huihui white rum and Nanea gold rum, combined with Liquid Alchemist’s macadamia syrup for depth and sweetness, coconut for body, pineapple for tart, and lime for astringence.

To me (remember when I said that tasting is a personal thing?), the spirited potion was dominated by macadamia – quite the flavor beast. It’s an ingredient I find very difficult to work with, and I use it judiciously in my cocktails. Many others were delighted by it (Hi, Megan!), so no surprise it won.

Lulu and I will definitely join other rum-curious tasters at future events – in fact, just next month, on August 13th, they are hosting Callisto Botanical Rum (2nd Sunday of the month because of Tiki Oasis). Thanks to The Rum Curious Club, Tonga Hut, Kuleana Rum Works, and Liquid Alchemist for inviting us!