Five places to drink rum in central London

If you can’t escape the city for a Caribbean sunset this August, could a bar serving rum-laden cocktails be the next best thing? With the Notting Hill Carnival just around the corner, here are five hot choices for sipping rum in the city.

Mahiki, 1 Dover Street, Mayfair

Kitsch and crazy, this Mayfair tiki bar is on many lists of London’s must-visit places. Look out for the odd celebrity or younger royal while sipping a signature rum and fruit-based concoction. If you’ve come with a party, try the famous grog-filled treasure chest which serves eight. Click here to find out more.

Trader Vic’s, 22 Park Lane

For more than 50 years this legendary Park Lane hotel bar has been mixing Mai Tais and numerous other rum-based cocktails and punches. It’s design is based on the California bar where the original Trader Vic created the Mai Tai in 1944. Looking every inch the beach bar, it’s as tacky as it is fun. If you’re after a bar snack don’t miss the sticky ribs. Click here to find out more.

Burlock, 31 Duke Street, Mayfair

With a shabby chic, antique-packed interior, and Havana barber’s shop in the corner, Burlock’s retro atmosphere is matched by a selection of 200 rums from across the Caribbean. For cocktails, try the Off the Hook, with Ron Barcelo Imperial and home-made coconut ice. The tropical bar snacks include loaded nachos or prawns with mango dip. Click here to find out more.

Cottons Rhum Shack

Chilled out chain with hundreds of rums to pick from – it claims to have the largest selection in the UK. There are branches in Camden, Shoreditch, Vauxhall and Notting Hill. Click here to find out more.

Trailer Happiness, 177 Portobello Road

Another tiki bar, Trailer Happiness comes with all the palm trees and cocktail umbrellas you’d expect, not to mention the abundance of rum cocktails. It might seem frivolous but, make no mistake, they take their spirits seriously. For a bar snack, try the salted plantain crisps. Click here to find out more.

Find more rum bars in this story on the Londonist website.