What to use instead of non-alcoholic rum alternative
It depends entirely on what it's doing in the dish. Here's the job, what else does it, and what to skip.
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Standing in for rum's molasses sweetness and warmth
Rum in a daiquiri is cane sugar, vanilla and a slight burn, and the spirit is most of what the drink tastes of, so a stand-in has to cover flavour and body separately.
Molasses with vanilla and waterNo alcohol
1 tbsp molasses + 1/4 tsp vanilla + 2 tbsp water per 2 oz rum
Covers the dark rum flavour and thickens the drink, so shake it longer for the extra dilution. No burn at all.
Cold strong black tea with demerara syrupNo alcohol
1 1/2 oz strong black tea + 1/2 oz demerara syrup per 2 oz rum
Tannin gives the drying grip that alcohol normally supplies. Cleaner and lighter, better tall than in a sour.
Strong rooibos with a spoon of molassesNo alcohol
1 1/2 oz brewed rooibos + 1 tsp molasses per 2 oz rum
Woody and faintly vanilla-like with no tannin bite, so the drink stays soft. Colour comes out amber.
What doesn't work: Rum extract stirred into water. It is built for baking, so at drink strength it tastes of perfume and artificial coconut, and it brings no body or sweetness into the space the spirit left.
Replacing the volume and weight a spirit takes up
Two ounces of rum is a third of the glass. Take it out and the drink is short, thin and over-sour unless something fills the space.
Water with a rich demerara syrupNo alcohol
1 1/2 oz water + 1/2 oz 2:1 demerara syrup per 2 oz rum
Restores the volume and the sugar. Thin in the mouth, so shake it colder and serve it faster than the original.
Coconut waterNo alcohol
2 oz per 2 oz rum
Fills the glass with a faint sweetness and salt that reads tropical. It turns flat and dull as the drink warms.
Cold brewed black teaNo alcohol
2 oz per 2 oz rum
Tannin dries the finish, which is the closest any of these gets to the feel of alcohol in the mouth.
What doesn't work: Leaving the rum out and topping up with more mixer. The sour balance was written around 2 oz of spirit, so the drink comes out sharp, watery and half the strength of flavour it needs.
Zero-proof spirits are mostly water and flavouring with no sugar, so a mocktail built on one usually wants about 1/4 oz more syrup than the original recipe.