Spirits

Demerara Rum

Demerara rum is rum from Guyana, named after the Demerara river, heavy with burnt sugar, dried fruit and a note of smoke. Standard bottlings are 40% ABV; some overproof ones reach 75.5%. Part of it comes from wooden stills at Diamond that their owner describes as the last of their kind, and it is the weight at the bottom of our Zombie.

Quick Facts

ABV40% ABVMost bottlings are 40%; the overproof is 75.5%.

Legal categorySpirit

Flavour Strengthvery bold

Our keeping timeIndefinitely unopened. Once opened, years if kept sealed and upright out of the light, though the aroma fades slowly.

Storage

Upright, cool and dark, tightly sealed. The overproof expressions are flammable in a way ordinary spirits are not, so keep them away from a lit float and treat the 75.5% bottle with the respect it deserves.

Allergens

None of the 14 listed allergens.

The ingredient

About Demerara Rum

Flavour Profile

Primary Flavours

Burnt sugarWoodsmokeMolassesDried fruit

Tasting Notes

Deep burnt sugar and molasses with a distinct woodsmoke note through the middle, finishing dry, dark and considerably less sweet than the aroma promises.

It is named after a river in Guyana

Demerara rum is rum from Guyana, made from molasses on the land around the Demerara river. The Diamond distillery, on the river's east bank, has gathered stills from other estates over the years, some of them wooden.

The style is heavy and dry: burnt sugar, dried fruit, liquorice and smoke, without the bright fruit of Jamaican rum.

Wooden stills give it part of its weight

Most stills are copper or steel. Diamond still runs wooden ones, and its owner, Demerara Distillers, describes them as follows.

The wooden stills at Diamond, by their owner's account

Port Mourant

Type: Double wooden pot still
Owner’s description: Over 250 years old; one of the last two original wooden pot stills

Versailles

Type: Single wooden pot still
Owner’s description: Over 250 years old; greenheart wood with a copper neck

Enmore

Type: Wooden continuous (Coffey) still
Owner’s description: The last fully working example of its kind

Still	Type	Owner’s description
Port Mourant	Double wooden pot still	Over 250 years old; one of the last two original wooden pot stills
Versailles	Single wooden pot still	Over 250 years old; greenheart wood with a copper neck
Enmore	Wooden continuous (Coffey) still	The last fully working example of its kind

The company bottles rums from single stills, which lets you taste the difference; most Demerara rum is a blend across them.

It is the floor of a three-rum drink

Our Zombie takes 30ml of Demerara at 40% under 45ml each of Jamaican and gold rum, and the Pearl Diver takes 22.5ml. The Jamaican rum gives fruit and aroma; the Demerara gives smoke and weight underneath. Overproof Demerara at 75.5% is a different ingredient, used in smaller measures and covered on the overproof rum page.

For our two recipes, buy a standard Demerara at 40%. A dark rum from elsewhere matches the colour but not the smoke or the dry finish, and an overproof bottle changes the drink's strength, so neither is a like-for-like stand-in.

Using it

Using Demerara Rum

Usage

30ml in our Zombie and 22.5ml in the Pearl Diver, the heaviest of the three rums each time. We count it at a standard 40%; overproof Demerara is a separate ingredient with its own measures, on the overproof rum page.

Pro Tip

If a three-rum tiki drink tastes muddy, take 5ml off the Demerara before touching anything else. It is the rum most likely to sit on top of the others.

Top Tips

Read the strength before you pour. A recipe written for 40% Demerara becomes a very different drink with a 75.5% bottle.
Use it in smaller measures than the lighter rums beside it. It carries further than its volume.
A dark rum is not a like-for-like swap. The colour matches; the smoke and dryness do not.
Taste it neat once before mixing. The burnt-sugar note is what you are building the drink around.

Possible Substitutions

Aged Rum: A heavy one keeps the weight but loses the smoke
Dark Rum: Sweeter and flatter; the burnt-sugar note goes

Go further

More to explore

Common Questions

What is Demerara rum?

Rum made in Guyana, named after the Demerara river region, from molasses. It is heavy and dry, with burnt sugar, dried fruit and smoke, partly because some of it comes from old wooden stills at the Diamond distillery. Standard bottlings are 40% ABV.

Is Demerara rum the same as dark rum?

No. Dark rum is a colour and a weight, and can come from anywhere. Demerara names a place, Guyana, and a heavy, smoky style. A recipe that asks for Demerara wants that smoke; swap in a dark rum and the drink usually tastes sweeter and flatter.

Why do the wooden stills matter?

They are part of the flavour. Demerara Distillers runs a Port Mourant double wooden pot still and a Versailles single wooden pot still, both described as over 250 years old, and an Enmore wooden Coffey still. Wood behaves differently from copper in a still, and the company bottles rums from each one separately.

Is Demerara rum the same as demerara sugar?

Both are named after the same region of Guyana, and that is the link. Demerara sugar is a light brown cane sugar; Demerara rum is a heavy rum made from molasses there. Our recipes use demerara sugar and syrup in some drinks, but neither stands in for the rum.

Do I need overproof Demerara rum?

Only where a recipe asks for it. Both our Zombie and our Pearl Diver use a standard 40% Demerara. Recipes that want overproof Demerara say so, use it at 75.5% in a smaller measure, and count their units at that strength. Using one in place of the other changes the drink's strength sharply.

What can I use instead of Demerara rum?

A heavy aged rum keeps the weight but loses the smoke. A dark rum is sweeter and flatter. There is no close substitute for the burnt-sugar character, so in a tiki drink it is usually better to make the recipe with a bottle of Demerara than to improvise.

Make something

Made with Demerara Rum

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Updated 10 October 2026

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