Neiburg: Get ready for rum

We are a copycat society and always have been. Probably always will be, too.

We’re mostly trend-happy consumers who are easily influenced by advertising and word-of-mouth marketing — especially in the digital, Google-it-before-you-ask-a-question age we live in. 

A lot of that applies to how we eat and drink these days (and extends well beyond, but that's a different topic for a different day). We latch onto trends in the food and beverage world like nothing else. I promise, if I see another Boomerang Instagram post of a hip popsicle, frosé cocktail, oversized milkshake or macaron this summer I’m going to put another crack on my iPhone screen.

I’m saying all of this to say: All of this has been actually really cool for the food and drink industry. That may depend on who you ask, but I’m doing the asking and telling here, so I’m saying it’s a good thing.

It’s allowed us to go from trend to trend and try new things in ways and speeds we may not have before, which finally brings me to my point: Now that we’re almost over the whole whiskey revival, what’s next? What will be the drink trend that carries similar weight and history to guide our palates into the next wave.

All signs point to rum.

So allow this to be a word-of-mouth advertising campaign to help people put down the bottle of Bulleit Rye (not forever) and pick up a bottle of aged rum this summer.

The sugarcane distilled beverage never really went anywhere too far, as it's always been a popular summer base to cocktails like mojitos, punches, breezes and Piña Coladas (do people still drink those?) But rum has gotten a bad rap through the years for mostly being featured in those headache-inducing sweet drinks that look good in pictures but leave you with a sense of regret the morning after. 

However, it's a much more versatile spirit than people give it credit for. In fact, it shares a lot of similar qualities to whiskey. Both are distilled from a raw product and are aged in oak casks to mature. They both have different styles and variations.

Rum, however, hasn't seen a whiskey-style boomof late. 

The last decade — a lifetime in today's society — has seen a whiskey revival chauffeured by education of history and heritage as it became hip to transport to the old world and bring back old trends and make them new again, albeit in a different way.

It's about time rum gets the same treatment.

Mintel, a market research firm, reported volume and value retail sales of dark liquors up four and two percent, respectively, in 2016. That growth came from whiskey, rum, brandy and liqueurs. 

The report stated: "The strong appeal of rum among young consumers is fueling growth in this category... Market leader, Captain Morgan is helping to raise the profile of rum, and small, premium brand, The Kraken, is a rising star in the community."

The Kraken, a Caribbean black-spiced rum, makes a killer Dark 'N' Stormy cocktail, made with rum, lime juice and ginger beer.

Rum has a deep-rooted history in the Caribbean and Latin America. Like whiskey's variants of rye and bourbon, rum has variants that change its color, ABV percentage and flavor profile.

READ MORE: Embrace the fizz. Seltzer drinks are just fine

Añejo (old) rum, mostly associated with Spanish-speaking islands and countries, is regarded as a premium aged product and tastes nothing like the Jamaican rum you may be used to.

That's where another parallel lies. Fan of an Old Fashioned cocktail? Next time you're at the bar, ask the bartender if the bar carries an añejo rum and ask for that instead of whiskey. 

Online at seriouseats.com there's a listicle with 15 different "not-too-sweet rum cocktails" that may give you some ideas on where to start.

Looking to keep your money local? Seacrets in Maryland (the place that has given many of those morning rum headaches) is distilling spiced rum, gold rum and white rum. In Delaware, Dogfish has available at its brewery and Rehoboth restaurants only its Barrel Honey Rum, a smooth sipping rum that needs no other ingredients.

Cheers.