Yo-ho and bottle of rum – Cottons Rhum Shack in Vauxhall

Cottons Rhum Shack in Vauxhall is a great place if you want to taste and drink various rums from across the world and eat great spicy Caribbean food.

A few months back I had the opportunity to sample Cottons Rhum Shack Caribbean food in their Shoreditch restaurant but only recently they have opened up yet another Cottons Rhum Shack in Vauxhall with this now being their fourth (others include Camden and Notting Hill). I plus some other community members of Love Pop Ups London was invited to experience their newest bar/restaurant.

Cottons Rhum Shack in Vauxhall is set on the front of the Thames in which you can see Battersea Power Station and the Shard making it a lovely spot to sit outside on their riverside patio to enjoy a drink or food and watch the boats/ships sail by.

Cottons Rhum Shack in Vauxhall

First impressions when I walked into their latest bar/restaurant was that I was really impressed by the space and I loved that the tables were all spaced out well.

Rum masterclass

Firstly we had the pleasure to experience a Rum Masterclass before sampling some Caribbean food from their starter menu. Me and the community started off the night with a 1.5 hour masterclass. Barry a very joyful rum mixologist and teacher for the night took us through each rum and telling us it’s history. So Memba mi tell yu. We all got to sample various kinds of rums which all were so different in colour, age, smell and taste which really got all our senses going.   

The first rum of the night was the Plantation 5 year old Barbados Rum. The rum is first aged in Bourbon casks in a tropical climate and then it is transported to France to be finished off in Cognac casks. It has a beautiful amber gold colour and has tastes tropical fruits and vanilla along with hints of white peach and coconut. This makes it sweet with fiery spices and gives a lasting taste of sweet caramel. For me this makes this a great rum to have over Summer in particular.

Next was the Angostura 1919 which is specially blended multiple award winning rum from Trinidad. It is called 1919 as it is a reference to the history of the Angostura company when a fire destroyed a large part of the distillery and the aging warehouse. Almost by divine intervention, barrels of rum labelled 1919 were spared and when opened found to be of unusual character. They are aged for 8 years in American Bourbon barrels. It has a lovely brown colour and a taste of vanilla with hints of butterscotch, cocoa and tropical fruit. It is sweet and smooth on the tongue and throat. This is to me is most certainly a great tasting rum that is ideal all year round.

Another rum we tasted was the El Dorado rum from Guyana which has been aged for 15 years. This is pot-distilled and matured in bourbon barrels. It has a lovely copper colour and tastes of candied peel, allspice, cinnamon, ginger and golden syrup which gives it a sweet taste. It tastes slightly spicy so gives a very warm feeling when drinking this drink. It is though very classy and not overbearing. This rum will most certainly leave you wanting more. I personally feel this is a great rum for winter months.

Throughout the masterclass Barry also gave us some of his homemade chocolates. The chocolate was amazing so amazing I wanted to actually steal his whole dish of his lush chocolates. The sweetness of the chocolate took the sharpness and edge off the rums and it was remarkable how it changed the taste of the rums.

After three strong rum we were at this point all getting very merry with some taking it to the next level and having the whole bottle practically. So Barry thought he would show us some additional ones as he could see we were all having such a Maad time. I have not logged these ones as I at this stage am now Frass. I think there is now literally a party happening on my brain and in my belly.

The rum masterclass costs £20.00 which includes a rum cocktail on arrival and for £35.00 per person this will give you a two course meal. Cottons also runs cocktail masterclasses and other rum events. If you want to do a masterclass you must pre-book beforehand. To book any click here.

Caribbean food

Now onto the food, big tings. Staggering joyfully though over to the dinning table out came many dishes. The food is looking crawb. We had sweet potato patties, double chick pea curry, salt & pimiento squid, pan fried king prawns, slat fish fritters, pork ribs and ebony wings. All the food was sticky, delicious and very spicy which made my taste buds dance with delight. For me personally my favourite dishes was the amazing sticky large king prawns and the squid with it’s amazing lemongrass, lime and green chilli dressing but abut then again I do love seafood. My best meat dish was certainly the ebony wings (chicken) they were so sticky, succulent and spicy. The meat literally fell of the bone. To see the full menu click here.

Cocktails

They are also famous for their cocktails so whilst I was eating I had a mocktail. I chose the Strawberry Cooler whilst eating. Why a mocktail well I have had too much rum and I love strawberries. The cocktail consisted of strawberries, grenadine, passion fruit, lemon and topped with lemonade it was so sweet and tangy just what I love. Was Tek. There are so many great cocktails though to choose from alcoholic to mocktails. To see the full drinks menu click here. Plus the great thing about Cottons is that all the drink and food here will not cost you a lot of Cheddar.

Verdict

The waitors/waitresses are also all very welcoming and joyful making you feel comfortable from the off and leaving you very happy at the end of the night.

Here is a video of our time

I truly highly recommend that you do road if you love rum, Caribbean food and a great atmosphere. You will be able to Bill Chill. We all had a Maad time and I personally will certainly be returning.

Thank you to Cottons Rhum Shack in Vauxhall for letting me and other bloggers from Love Pop Ups London community come along to sample your delicious food and various classy rums. All my opinions are my own.

Read all the other community members blogs and/or reviews from below:

Cottons Rhum Shack – Vauxhall

Did you spot all the Caribbean/Jamaican slang words used throughout the blog?

Words and their meanings:
Big tings – Good things/Monetary success
Bill Chill – take it easy
Cheddar – Money
Crawb up – Looking good, something good
Do road – Go on an outing
Frass – Frazzled/Tipsy
Maad – Awesome
Memba mi tell yu – Listen up, take note
Tek – Fabulous (It tek!)