Iejima Island, off the coast of Okinawa, is known for two things: its wartime history and its sugarcane fields. IE Rum turns the latter into something remarkable — a range of craft rums that uses Okinawan botanical ingredients including karaki (Okinawan cinnamon) and jimami (peanut) to create expressions that are unambiguously Japanese while remaining recognisably rum.
Karaki: Okinawan Cinnamon
Karaki is a spice derived from Cinnamomum sieboldii — a cinnamon variety native to Japan and Okinawa that tastes noticeably different from Ceylon or Cassia cinnamon. It is sharper, more camphoraceous, with a dry herbal quality alongside the familiar warmth. As a rum flavouring, it produces a spiced character that reads as unmistakably Okinawan.
Jimami: Peanut in Rum
Jimami tofu — a traditional Okinawan dish made from peanut milk — uses the same ingredient that IE Rum incorporates in some expressions. Peanut in rum sounds unexpected, but at the level of aromatic compound rather than direct flavour, it adds a roasted, slightly savoury depth that works as a bridge between the sweetness of the base spirit and the dryness of the botanical additions.
Mika’s Perspective
IE Rum is part of a broader category I find genuinely exciting: Japanese craft rum that uses Japanese ingredients not as marketing but as genuine flavour decisions. The Okinawan botanical approach produces rum that could only have been made in Japan. Available at Bar Little Happiness alongside other Japanese craft rums. Read the original Japanese column: https://little-happiness.jp/columns/ierum-okinawa-rum-karaki-jimami/
Bar Little Happiness | Hiroshima, Japan
Rum & Whisky specialists | 1,000+ bottles | English menu available
Open Mon–Sat 7PM–12:30AM, Sun 7PM–midnight
No cover charge. Walk-ins welcome.
english.little-happiness.jp