Bumbu Original Barbados Rum And Others Of Its Kind

I've managed to avoid writing about Bumbu so far, just like I've been avoiding drinking it. But, it came up as an entry in the latest update of the sugar list. The largest update so far! Which sounds like a great marketing slogan, but it really means I simply haven’t updated it in a while.

I like to try different rums for two reasons. Curiosity is the main driver behind everything rum that I do, including the drinking. Next to that, I also like to know what I'm talking about, which isn't possible if you don't try anything. The same applies to Bumbu. I tried it at a rum festival in Toronto, many years ago. Bumbu was the main sponsor, so my hopes of finding an amazing rum to sample weren't high. The good thing about a festival is that you can try different expressions without having to buy a full bottle. In this case, Bumbu Original was one of those. I bought the sample (needed a premium token for it, funnily enough) and smelt it for the first time in my life. Now, if someone had blindfolded me and told me I was going to smell a random product, I wouldn't have guessed this was rum. Banana candyfloss would have been a more likely guess. Not a good start. My body was already giving me a bit of a jerk reaction while smelling it, which basically meant "don't put this in me". But, I'm living life on the edge, which means there is no need to listen to my body of course. I took a sip, swirled it around my mouth for a bit and then spit it out onto the ground. Dreadful stuff! Banana flavoured, chemical tasting alcohol. There's nothing rum about it. Luckily this festival was outdoors. After spitting it out I looked around and saw a couple of massive security guards showing some interest in me. I figured I was about to be thrown out. Surprisingly enough, they left me alone. Maybe they had already tried Bumbu Original and realized it's undrinkable, so they had some sympathy.

Now, everyone should be allowed to drink whatever they want. I’m not too interested in judging someone’s alcoholic beverage choices. Problem is though, it’s not rum. It’s a spirit drink. It has so much added sugar (46 g/L) that it can’t be called rum. So many people and stores all over the place are calling it rum though, which adds to the weird perception consumers have of this gorgeous, angelic spirit. Bumbu is far from angelic. I mean, if you put ten football pitches in a row, multiply that combined distance by 178 and then triple that number……that’s about how far Bumbu is from being good rum…..ahem…from being rum.

It is made by the Bumbu Rum Company though. A rum company makes rum, right?! According to their website it’s an authentic Caribbean legend from Barbados. They even dare to talk about the quality of the water in Barbados, which makes Bumbu Original “light, smooth and remarkably drinkable”, according to them. Of course, the mountain of added sugar and artificial flavouring is responsible for that, not the pure water. They could use water from your toilet to create this product and it would taste the same. That wouldn’t sound great in marketing however. Let’s face it, marketing and packaging is what sells this product. And it sells! It’s an incredibly popular product. I get it. Beautiful bottle with a hint to pirates, cheap premium, candy like drink (“OMG this is so smooth! No burn whatsoever!”) and a fake Barbados heritage story. Those are the best ingredients for sales success. It doesn’t even matter what’s in the bottle. People assume it will be great because it’s from Barbados. They’d be right in most cases, unless Planteray go their hands on it, or it was made at the distillery this French company owns in Barbados. Oh right, Bumbu is actually made there! West Indies Rum Distillery produces this awful liquid.  

That’s a nice bridge to what else is new in the sugar list. You won’t be surprised Planteray has a few new sugary entries. This includes a 2015 single cask expression from Belize that has 9 g/L of added sweeteners and the Planteray Black Cask Barbados & Paraguay with 19 g/L, amongst a few others. The latter being just under the 20 g/L European Union cutoff point for sweetening rum. Above that it has to be labeled as a spirit drink.

If you were drinking Bacardi Limón in your university days and always wondered why the hangover was so bad…..the answer might be the hefty 64 g/L of sugar in that drink. No doubt you added even more sugar to it with mixers.  

One that I find rather disappointing is Havana Club Añejo Especial. I know they sugar their rums in general, but 15 g/L?? What a waste.

It isn’t all bad though. Takamaka, Chairman’s Reserve, Clément, Black Tot and Smith & Cross showing no signs of doctoring.    

Click here for the list, which now consists of 495 products. At the next update we’ll pass the magic 500 number!

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On a side note, I made the mistake to check YouTube. I tend to avoid it for rum reviews, as they are usually as bad to listen to as it is to drink Bumbu. Clueless people “reviewing” something, which typically means they mention what they are smelling and tasting and then talk a lot of nonsense. No knowledge about the product, no knowledge about rum. It’s all for self promotion and for promoting the brands. Here are a few quotes from one of the videos I watched, which was bad, but not horrible:

“I like rum, but I don't love rum.” (This can happen, we all make bad choices in life)

“It looks like bourbon.” (Haha, it also looks like apple juice)

“It's too sugary.” (Fact!)

“I think I would like it better on ice.” (Right, make it colder so you taste less of this horror)

“I find the flavours it has very interesting for a rum.” (Clearly doesn’t love rum!)

He then compares it to honey bourbon, which is one of the better remarks in the whole video. Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXFDEhBSJ-0