Hereās a Sneak Peek at This New Collection of Premium Liquors
Creating a quality adult beverage that transports consumers to a tropical state of mind takes more than just great ingredients. The key is making them work together in perfect harmony. The flavors need to combine in such a way that ultimately sets our watch to island time.
Thatās the idea behind Club Kokomo Spirits. From the very first sip, they want you to feel like youāve arrived in paradise. Their bartender-quality canned cocktails are crafted to transport you to vacation mode instantly. Now, with their brand-new line of high-quality rum spirits, that escape is yours for the sipping. Assemble your own perfect harmony with their three new core rum offerings and experience the difference in your drinks!
Forever drawn to the laid-back Caribbean vibe, Mike Love of The Beach Boys wanted to share that feeling with others. Creating a line of rum spirits felt like the perfect way to bring that vision to life. He wanted his line of beverages to evoke the same vibe as his bandās hit songs. Club Kokomo Spirits is dedicated to revolutionizing your rum journey. Since the release of their canned cocktails, the company is expanding with three high-quality rums. These are an Artisanal White Rum, a Barrel Finished Rum and a Tahitian Vanilla Rum.
Not surprised by his fatherās latest endeavor, Loveās son, Brian Loveāwho is also a business partner and head of brand developmentādoesnāt remember his childhood much differently: āThe inspiration for being a rum-focused company is simple. Itās been Dadās favorite spirit for as long as I can remember. During family vacations or going out to dinner with him, if he would have a drink, it was always made with rum,ā Brian says.
Busting into the beverage space with their flavorful 10% ABV canned rum cocktails in 2022, the shift to creating pure rum spirits has been long-awaited.
āWhen we launched the company, the canned cocktails were great to get out the door with Dadās idea of the Kokomojito, but the plan was always to develop a line of rum that was premium yet accessible,ā says Brian Love.
Of the three new releases, their masterpiece is the Barrel Finished Rum. This proprietary blend combines Dominican, Barbadian, and Jamaican rums, aged between eight and ten years. The aging process takes place in new oak, ex-whiskey, and port barrels. Then master distiller Geoff Longenecker blends it on-site in San Diego. To complete the process, the rum is finished in hand-selected bourbon barrels. This final touch imparts a woodsy aroma with light vanilla and caramel notes, reminiscent of whiskey. If youāre a whiskey drinker, Love encourages you to add this one in with your favorites: āWe love to use it in cocktails that might traditionally use whiskeyālike a sazerac or an old-fashionedāit is an absolutely fantastic rum.ā
Another is the Artisanal White Rum, a blend of demerara cane sugar rum and traditional Jamaican pot still rum. This combination creates a dynamic, funky, and fruity depth of flavorāthe Caribbean essence they strive for. āItās only convenient that Jamaica makes some of the most flavorful rum out there,ā says Love, hinting at the Beach Boysā most famous single, āKokomo.ā
Last but not least, the Tahitian Vanilla Rum speaks to the remote coral islets of Tahiti, letting ripe, whole Tahitian vanilla beans steep with the Artisanal White Rum. āThereās a very dynamic flavor profile with the new offerings, and rum is such a versatile spirit that can easily be mixed with fruity cocktails or infused into the more classic whiskey-based cocktails,ā says Love.
Behind all of their products is a commitment to quality. Club Kokomo Spirits uses only pure ingredients, and everything is additive-free.They use natural agave and cane sugar with no artificial coloring. Every color in their rums comes from natural steeping processes or vegetable juice. As said best by Love, āWe are committed to offering additive-free spiritsāno artificial colors, added sugars or flavors in our rums. We are purists in that sense.ā Even the cloudy essence you might see in the Tahitian Vanilla Rum is the result of the oils from the Tahitian Vanilla bean.
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Natural doesnāt mean lacking in flavor, howeverāquite the opposite. With great flavor comes great responsibility, and Club Kokomoās master distiller, Geoff Longnecker, has it all down to a science. āGeoff is able to take all of these separate ingredients in each product and make it a harmonious whole.ā Longnecker, the owner of Seven Caves Distillery in San Diego, oversees distilling and tasting. He provides the team with several options, followed by multiple rounds of revisions. For their newest rum line, this process lasted months. After extensive testing, the team unanimously agreedāthey had their three core rum blends ready for release.
āGeoff is at the heart of leading the design and the product; he is really a master distiller and master blender,ā says Love. āHis approach to product development has been right in line with what we want in terms of quality and flavor. He avoids shortcuts that are popular in the industry, thus creating something weāre truly proud of.ā
Unsurprisingly, in the place Club Kokomo Spirits found a team they trust and believe in, theyāve also found an unwavering community, as well as a source of that slice-of-paradise inspiration. āThere are obvious ties from San Diego and Southern California to the Beach Boysāeven the album cover for āPet Soundsā was shot at the San Diego Zoo! Itās so friendly down there; weāve seen nothing but welcoming arms with new products and events, and everyone weāve been working with is just a pleasure to be around,ā says Love.
San Diego residents might have something exciting on the horizon. The company plans to open a distillery tasting room in the city. Rum lovers will sip expertly crafted cocktails while watching the magic of development, manufacturing, and bottling unfold before their eyes.
Club Kokomo Spirits
@clubkokomospirits
Jaclyn is a sunshine chasing San Diego native with an extensive writing background. When she isnāt word-smithing, you can find her playing beach volleyball, skating the boardwalk, or on a rooftop enjoying a drink in the sunshine with her pals.
