CleanCo Clean R Rum is made from: Water, Vegetable Glycerine, Natural Flavorings, Citric Acid, Plain Caramel (color), and Potassium Sorbate (Preservative). Unlike non-alcoholic beers, natural flavorings in non-alcoholic spirits refer to the botanicals. However, CleanCo doesn’t disclose the botanicals they have used to create Clean R Rum. It’s worth noting that there are no added sugars or sweeteners such as Stevia. That is a positive aspect because some companies may use sugar to compensate for the absence of alcohol. CleanCo distills 50% more of Clean R’s key ingredients to produce a powerful rum taste without alcohol. However, the details of the distillation process remain undisclosed. Like all other CleanCo non-alcoholic spirits, Clean R is vegan, lactose-free, and gluten-free. Additionally, it won the Bronze award at the 2021 International Wines and Spirits Competition (IWSC).

Spencer seems to be becoming the ‘Steve Jobs’ of the non-alcoholic spirits market as a visionary for always creating a better taste, we seem to be singing his and the Clean Co’s praises to every one of our readers. Rum and coke is my favorite combination and I thought Clean R Rum mixed really well with the coke. The taste reminds me of when I used to mix Captain Morgan with coke – simply delicious. For the flavor notes, I could taste the aged wood notes and some notes of vanilla. I expected more spice notes since it is a spiced rum alternative, but instead, this non-alcoholic rum reminds me of a gold rum with its smooth mouthfeel, notes of vanilla, some sweetness, and a medium body. Before switching to non-alcoholic drinks, I used to be a frequent spirits drinker. Rum, whiskey, bourbon, tequila – these were my poison of choice. That is why I am excited to see if CleanCo’s attempt at a non-alcoholic rum will become my go-to non-alcoholic rum. We believe its down to this small percentage of rum and added spice that gives this rum a close to perfect authentic taste. You can tell that Spencer is passionate about the tasting notes that come out of his Clean Co portfolio and being teetotal himself brings the most out of his willingness to find the close to perfect alternatives.It’s no lie that we drink with our eyes and nose, so it’s important that the colour matches the rums look and that when you add the cola it doesn’t just smell like a coke. On its own, it is a delicious drink but you won’t be fooled into thinking it is a traditional rum. As I mentioned, Clean R Rum also needs to be spicier and have more pronounced spice notes to be a spiced rum alternative. I would drink this again and definitely pair it with some Coke.

The health benefits keep coming with these drinks as well, having been featured in both Mens and Women’s Health magazine as a great alternative to staying off the booze if you are looking to get healthy, we feel that Clean Co as a brand are focusing a lot more on health and positive drinking, rather than just avoiding all the sweet stuff in the first place. We have tried a few alcoholic alternatives in the Rum category including Lyres Spiced Cane Spirit, Stryyk’s Not Rum and also hailing from Germany Laori’s Spiced Number 2. However what I find with a lot of these Rum alternatives is that they are actually too sweet for my pallet. A lot of them contain Caramel to get that burnt sweet texture, however a lot of them really don’t get it right. I get the taste of a non-alcoholic, watered down bourbon with a lot of these and if you like a bourbon and coke, you will love the brands listed above as they all merge into that category. With its trademark flavor of sweet, toasted sugar from sugar cane juice or molasses and spices such as caramel and vanilla, rum is not an easy spirit to recreate as a non-alcoholic spirit. So read on to find out what I think about this rum alternative in my Clean R Rum review and where you can buy it.

GET 10% OFF -

Clean R Rum is a non-alcoholic rum alternative created by CleanCo, a UK-based company specializing in non-alcoholic spirits. It is a spiced Caribbean rum with a big Jamaican rum flavor, enriched with warming spices, golden caramel, and cayenne pepper. The company’s founder, Spencer Matthews of “Made in Chelsea” fame, has contributed to the brand’s success since its launch in 2019.