Best-of list · Spirits

The 5 Best Rum Bars in the World

The 5 best rum bars in the world for rum lovers, from Smuggler's Cove in San Francisco to Baba au Rum in Athens, with what to order at each.

Marcus Webb
Updated 2026-06-30 5 ranked bars

The short answer

Our editors' №1 is Smuggler's Cove.

5 ranked rooms follow. How we picked is at the end of this guide.

Best overallSmuggler's Cove
Runner-upBaba au Rum
Third pickTrailer Happiness

Rum is the most misunderstood spirit behind the bar, spanning bone-dry agricole, funky Jamaican pot still and heavy aged Demerara. A great rum bar treats those categories the way a whisky bar treats regions, and pours from a shelf deep enough to teach you the difference.

This is a tight, honest five rather than a padded ranking. Every bar here keeps a serious rum list, staff who can steer it, and a track record with drinkers who take the spirit seriously. We dropped one name earlier versions carried, Esotico Miami, which closed in 2024.

We drew on each venue's own listings, The World's 50 Best Bars, Difford's Guide and Drinks International, and pattern-read Google Maps reviews, cross-checking rum counts and hours before publishing.

The 5 best rum bars in the world

Editor's №1

Smuggler's Cove

650 Gough Street, San FranciscoRum bar and tiki temple1,300+ rums

The deepest rum list in America, over three tiki-soaked floors.

The roomSmuggler's Cove keeps more than 1,300 rums, the largest list of any American bar, across a three-level interior that trades tiki kitsch for real reverence. Martin Cate's bar has made The World's 50 Best Bars list repeatedly, and its drinks come straight from the exhaustive Smuggler's Cove book. The Rumbustion Society loyalty scheme rewards drinkers who work through the shelf.

Order thisA Dead Reckoning or a properly built Mai Tai, then ask the staff to pour a category you have never tried. Expect a queue at weekends; the room is small and famous.

Full listing & hours →

Baba au Rum

Kleitiou 6, AthensRum-forward cocktail bar400+ rums

Athens' rum embassy, and one of the world's 50 best bars.

The roomBaba au Rum holds more than 400 rums and ranked No. 27 on The World's 50 Best Bars 2025, a bright room in central Athens that helped put Greek bartending on the global map. It reads as a polished cocktail bar rather than a tiki den, with a menu running from faithful classics to original rum builds. Difford's and Falstaff both rate it among Europe's best.

Order thisThe namesake rum baba serve, or a daiquiri to test the bar's precision. It is central and busy, so go early on weeknights.

Full listing & hours →

Trailer Happiness

Portobello Road, Notting Hill, LondonRum lounge and tiki bar

London's rum classroom, complete with a Rum Club.

The roomTrailer Happiness on Portobello Road carries one of the largest rum selections in London and runs educational Rum Club sessions for drinkers who want to go deeper. The basement lounge is 1970s-tropical without the cheese, and its bartenders have seeded rum programmes across the city. It is the rare serious rum bar you can still drop into casually.

Order thisA Zombie or a bartender's-choice flight, and sign up for a Rum Club night if the dates line up. Small and popular; book a table.

Full listing & hours →

Cane and Table

1113 Decatur Street, New OrleansRum-focused cocktail bar

Proto-tiki and a serious rum list in a crumbling Creole room.

The roomCane and Table on lower Decatur builds its menu around rum and the 500-year drinking history of the Caribbean, a concept its team calls proto-tiki. The distressed-plaster room and courtyard suit long sessions, and Bon Appétit named it among the best new cocktail bars in America. It is the thinking drinker's rum stop in a rum city.

Order thisA rum old fashioned or whatever daily punch is on, plus small plates from the kitchen. Open late; the courtyard is the seat to want.

Full listing & hours →

Latitude 29

321 N. Peters Street, New OrleansTiki barBeachbum Berry's flagship

Book-accurate tiki from the man who wrote the canon.

The roomJeff Beachbum Berry, the historian who recovered mid-century tiki's lost recipes, runs Latitude 29 inside the Bienville House. Rums are poured to exact, book-accurate specs, and the list leans into aged and agricole bottlings that reward rum drinkers over spring-breakers. It is the most rigorous tiki bar in the country.

Order thisA Mai Tai or the Latitude 29 Formula. Open afternoons into night; closed Mondays.

Full listing & hours →

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