Two Christmas cocktails with Don Papa rum

In the Philippines, Christmas Celebrations start on the 1st of September and run all the way until the big day, so it’s safe to say the team at Don Papa rum know a thing or two about festive fun. And, while rum might be best associated with languid beach days and tropical climes, the Filipino rum brand taking the world by storm is on a mission to show that a delicately sweet glass of the good stuff can be just as good at getting the yuletide vibes flowing.

Swap out the classic bottle of malt for a bottle of Don Papa and give your loved ones the gift of Sugarlandia. A little cheaper than tickets to the island of Negros Occidental and a whole lot easier, the rum is a distillation of the beating sun and sweeping coastlines that define the brand’s home.

Home to the largest amount of sugar production in the Philippines, the sweet liquid that serves as the base of Don Papa Rum is literally woven into the fabric of the island. Coming into land it’s sugarcane that first catches your attention; miles of it, as far as the eye can see. As you drive around the island, you dodge trucks loaded with the stuff being sent to processing plants where, through intense heat, hardy stalks are turned into powdered sugar, the by-product of which is distilled and aged and, eventually, becomes Don Papa Rum.

Here, the Don Papa team share their pick of how best to work this distillation of the tropics into your Christmas mixology.