Why a Bite of Chocolate Makes Rum Taste Better

A classic sweet-and-sour daiquiri is perfect for any season and a well-made Mai Tai never ceases to put a smile on my face, but more recently, I’ve fallen in love sipping rum on its own. In fact, my new grown-up appreciation for this spirit comes from my favorite food from childhood: chocolate. Rum and chocolate are a spectacular pairing, and thanks to a rum tasting class I took at the Amanera hotel in Río San Juan, Dominican Republic, the combination has become a regular on my dessert rotation. 

How to taste rum

“In the Dominican Republic, rum is made from cooked molasses,” Angel Guzmán, a bartender at Amanera, tells me. Guzmán has been working with rum for decades, and shared how the sweet and bitter notes of chocolate can help bring out hard-to-decipher flavors in most rums. Unlike the French style of rum, which is made from pure sugarcane juice, Dominican rum starts with fermented molasses and has notes of rich cooked sugar, smoke, and even a bit of spice. 

“Hold the glass beneath your chin and inhale,” says Guzmán, “ Smell it by your lips, then by your nose.” This three-part technique helps show the depth and complexity of rum’s aroma. With the glass held at a distance, your nose catches an alcoholic burn. If you move it closer, the aromas of caramel, honey, and clove open up. Guzmán instructed me to take a tiny sip so that my brain would acclimate to the alcohol before taking an actual sip to taste. “You get the sweetness?” he asked. I sure did. 

You can try this technique with a glass of whatever bottle of rum you have on hand, but for a richer experience, grab a few bottles to compare what more or less age can do to change rum’s flavor, or see how different barrel aging methods can impact the aromas.. 

How to pair rum with chocolate 

When pairing wine and spirits with food, it’s all about finding complementary flavor profiles. A good rule of thumb is to choose a drink that has equal or more sweetness than the food you are pairing it with. For example, while the sugar levels in dessert wine make it a good fit for pairing with sweets like chocolate, rum’s innate sweetness makes it a nice pairing choice, too. 

During my tasting with Guzmán, I tried three types of rum with white, milk, and dark chocolates. The rums ranged in intensity from silky and round Brugal 1880 Double Aged Rum to Opthimus 18-year old rum which was filled with tropical fruit aromas, to E. Leon Jimenes 110 Aniversario rum, a bottle made specifically to be enjoyed with earthy and aromatic cigars. 

Pair white chocolate with high-proof rum

The saccharine, creamy notes in white chocolate bring out the bright flavors in a dark and silky rum like the Brugal 1880. “You feel this rum in your chest,” says Guzmán, “the creamy chocolate helps to tame the alcohol.” A bite of white chocolate suddenly transforms a high-octane rum into something surprisingly easy to sip. 

Milk chocolate goes great with big flavors

While it might feel natural to pair something rich and intense like the E. Leon Jimenes rum with an equally bold chocolate, the smooth sweetness of milk chocolate turned out to be the right match.”

Save dark chocolate for something fruity

Bitter dark chocolate maintains fruitiness since, after all, chocolate is a fruit. Pair it with a mid-weight aged rum that boasts fruit notes. 

Pairing rum and chocolate is by no means a science, and the experience can range from person to person. If you happen to make it to the Amanera, well, lucky you — and be sure to book a guided chocolate and rum pairing. If you’re at home, grab a bite of chocolate, and whatever rum is on your bar cart and taste them together — you’ll never want to have chocolate any other way.