Rum Rickey

White rum, fresh lime, and soda — the Rickey (Shoomaker's D.C., c. 1883) applied to rum, the molasses-derived sweetness making it less austere than the gin version.

The Rum Rickey applies the Rickey's deliberately unsweetened structure — spirit, fresh lime juice, and soda water with no added sugar — to rum, producing a dry, refreshing long drink that contrasts sharply with the sweetness-forward tropical rum cocktail canon. The Rickey was created at Shoomaker's bar in Washington, D.C. around 1883, with Colonel Joseph Kyle Rickey — a Missouri-born Democratic lobbyist and grain merchant who frequented the bar — credited by historical accounts as either the drink's creator or the customer for whom it was named. The original Rickey used rye whiskey or bourbon; the more commercially successful gin Rickey appeared shortly afterward and became the standard version. The Rickey's defining characteristic — the deliberate exclusion of sugar that most other sour-format drinks include — produces a drink of significant tartness that appeals to drinkers seeking refreshment without sweetness. The rum version applies this framework to a spirit whose natural sweetness from molasses creates an interesting tension: rum carries more residual sweetness than gin or whiskey, meaning a Rum Rickey without added sugar is less austere than a gin Rickey at the same proportions, the spirit's own sweetness providing enough balance against the lime's acid without supplementation.