Tipple of choice for eye-patched plunderers, the beverage is re-emerging as a premium spirit to be treasured neat or mixed.

Synonymous with pirates and the Caribbean, rum is enjoying a revival but you don't need to carouse with seafaring scoundrels to drown a cocktail laced with a clear white spirit, or plunge into a golden oldie for some spicy warmth.

This legendary drink is distilled from sugarcane juice and other sugarcane by-products, such as molasses, and matured in oak barrels.

White rum is for mixing and can be aged up to three years, while the darker ones can be aged anywhere from three to 21 years (and more).

And if you want to discover why rum is becoming the hottest spirit in the world, the latest offering from master mixologist Tristan Stephenson is a treasure chest of silver and gold (rum).

The Curious Bartender's Rum Revolution delves into rum's darker past, with tales of devils and pirates, and why it's in the midst of another revolution and transforming into a premium spirit.

"I believe there's something for everyone in this spirit. Drunk neat, rum is a marvel," says Tristan. "In mixed drinks, it is magical. Virtually any cocktail will willingly have its base spirit substituted for (the right) rum, but the stable of classics in this category speak for themselves: Daiquiri, mojito, pina colada and mai tai to name but a few."

Here are three of Tristan's recipes to get you in the mood for a rumfest without the need for a rum shack...

1. Mojito

Judging by the number of bad mojitos I've been served in my time, this is not an easy drink to balance.

The mistake many bartenders make is muddling/crushing whole wedges of lime into the drink. This is a poor tactic because limes vary dramatically in the amount of juice they offer up, and unless the sugar is balanced accordingly, you'll be landed with something that's insipidly sweet or far too sour.

Ingredients:

50ml Havana Club 3-Year-Old (£19.35, 70cl, The Whisky Exchange)

20ml lime juice

10ml sugar syrup

12 fresh mint leaves, soda water

Method:

1. Take a chunky highball and throw the mint leaves in. Please don't 'slap' them as is the ritual of some cocktail makers - in doing so you're merely aromatizing your hands.

2. Gently bruise the mint leaves using a muddler. It's essential that you're gentle - if you crush the leaves you'll release bitter-tasting chlorophyll into the drink.

3. Douse the leaves in the rum and give a good stir, then add the lime juice and sugar syrup. Throw a scoop of crushed ice in and give the mixture a good churn with a long spoon. Pile more ice on top, give it another stir, then fill any space with soda.

4. Stir again, add more ice (if needed), then garnish with a lime wedge and a fresh sprig of mint. Drink with a straw.

2. Cuba libre

More often than not, the simplest drinks are the best. This is certainly true of the Cuba libre, which comprises only two ingredients, plus a necessary garnish. Some would argue this isn't a cocktail at all, but a spirit and a mixer.

But those folks fail to recognize the genius of Coca-Cola as a bittersweet ingredient and the complexity of its composition.

Ingredients:

50ml aged white rum

120ml Coca Cola

Half a lime

Method:

1. In accordance with the version of this drink in Charles H. Baker's Gentleman's Companion (1939), I'm a strong advocate of a quick lime muddle as the first step of construction.

2. Squeeze the lime juice into a separate vessel and drop the spent shell into a highball glass. Squash it to remove the oils, then add cubed ice, rum, lime juice and coke. Give it a good stir and add more ice or coke if desired.

3. Daiquiri

This cocktail is about discretion and finesse, and to balance it correctly you need a higher ratio of rum: Eights parts rum, one part lime, and just over one part sugar (depending on how sweet your sugar syrup is).

With this formula, the drink is less opaque and seems to glow with a soft turquoise luminance. It tastes better, too, as those soft aguardiente notes are gently sweetened, penetrating fleshy citrus with grace.

Ingredients:

60ml Bacardi Carta Blanca (£13, 70cl, Waitrose)

15ml fresh lime juice

10ml sugar syrup

Method:

1. Add all the ingredients to a cocktail shaker and shake vigorously with cubed ice for at least 30 seconds. Strain into a frozen coupe glass. Don't garnish it - there's no point - the drink will be gone before you (or your guests) even notice it's there.

Extracted from The Curious Bartender's Rum Revolution by Tristan Stephenson, published in hardback by Ryland Peters & Small, priced £11.89. Photography Ryland Peters & Small. Available from WHSmith.