DropWorks Funk Drop Rum Review
DISCLOSURE -THIS ITEM WAS GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW. ALL THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS ARE THE REVIEWER’S OWN.
Reviewed by Dottie Rood
DropWorks Funk Drop Rum is a “Bold rum with explosive fruity flavours” from the largest rum distillery in Europe and is exclusive to this British distillery. The label comes with an ‘OVERPROOF’ warning, written twice, and an explanation of what this rum is all about: “THIS IS FOR THE FUNKSTERS!”, “For the rum lovers who love to love rum. Every drop goes supernova with funkiness (the pro-rum nerd’s term for the spirit’s complex yet distinctive, intensely ripe, fruity aroma). Funk drop is designed to make your Daiquiris go nuclear, your Hurricanes rage and your Zombies come to life. Let’s funk!”
How is it made?
DropWorks uses their own ‘three strain symbiotic yeast’, unique to DropWorks Distillery and is cultivated in house, this is fermented to turn the sugars into alcohol, it is then distilled in their double retort still (the first in England) with cane/juice/syrup organic honey and molasses based dundar (stillage – the leftover liquid from distillation, which is rich in yeast, grains and natural microorganisms, there are no additives in Funk Drop rum). It is said to have ‘intense’ ripe fruit flavours including pineapple, guava, orange marmalade and mango.
And now to the taste:
We were having a family birthday so had just the right opportunity to try Funk Rum, I also have rum drinkers in my family who were more than happy to help me with my review.
We started by tasting the Funk Rum on its own without any interference from other flavours and to see what ‘tastes’ we could experience. The rum drinkers had a mixed reaction as one of them enjoyed the flavour but the other two felt it was a bit harsh and overpowering however they loved the smell saying, “it has a strong, lovely vanilla smell” and would be nice to sip. When we added ice, it calmed the harshness down and it was even better when we added coke for a good old-fashioned rum and coke. This was enjoyed by everyone except the ‘Bacardi’ drinker who said it reminded her of the drinks she used to get when they didn’t have proper Bacardi! Maybe it was just her palette as she still drinks Bacardi and had never drunk anything else?
Next came the afore mentioned cocktails:
Classic Daiquiri:
60 ml rum/25 ml Lime juice/15 ml simple syrup.
This had mixed reviews from the family, I found it a bit intense in flavour, but the rum drinkers really liked it and even the cocktail drinker found it, “a nice drink that warms all the way down”.
Hurricane:
2 oz light rum/ 2 oz dark rum/ 1 oz lime juice/ 1 oz orange juice/ 2 oz passion fruit juice/ ½ oz simple syrup (sugar and water heated until the sugar dissolves, and it’s left to cool) ½ oz grenadine.
Again, I found this a little overpowering, but it was easy to add a little more of the sweet elements that made it much more palatable and again the rum drinkers and the cocktail drinkers enjoyed this one.
Zombie (my version):
45 ml Dark rum/ 45 ml white rum/20 ml freshly squeezed lime juice/45 ml pineapple juice/5 ml grenadine/2.5 ml sugar syrup.
This one was everyone’s favourite, “this gives a lovely holiday vibe, I can see myself drinking it when I’m on the beach”, “this one is much more ‘drinkable”, and the cocktail drinker said it was, “very tasty, I’ll have another one of these!”. This could be the mix of flavours or the fact that this was the fifth drink we had tried!
I think this would be a lovely Christmas present for both the rum ‘connoisseur’ and the rum drinker in your life and as it is a little expensive it would be really appreciated for birthdays, anniversaries and even as a ‘thank you’.
DropWorks offer several other rums in their range:
Clear Drop rum/Barrel Drop rum/Spice Drop rum plus various specialist ranges including Distillers Drop # 001 and Coffee Drop Rum Liqueur.
They also offer tours around their rum distillery, https://dropworks.co.uk
The ‘OVERPROOF’ as seen on the bottle is a good description of this rum and it’s 63% APV (Alcohol by Volume) also supports this, so it’s probably not an ‘everyday’ drink but definitely one for the rum connoisseur/ rum lover and maybe for the special occasions in your life.
Rating: 4/5
RRP: £46.50 / £37.50
This product can be purchased from: https://dropworks.co.uk and a number of other retailers.