When we see a “Warning: Flammable” label on a liquor bottle, that is a liquor bottle that we need to own.

Especially if that label happens to come attached to a bottle of rum.

Now, what do you do with rum that is over 75% alcohol by volume that won’t lead to your immanent demise? Take a seat kids, and let us explain.

151 Rum, also called Overproof Rum, is rum that is, you guessed it, 151 proof.

Some background on “proof.” The term is used to determine how much ethanol is contained in a specific volume of alcohol. All drinkable alcohol contains water and flavorings that dilute the ethanol–if it didn’t, drinking it would kill you, which is not what you want when you are sipping your cocktails. Something that is 80 proof (most basic spirits tend to live in this area) is 40% alcohol by volume, meaning the other 60% is water/sugar/flavoring etc. So, something that is 151 proof? Yeah, that is not something you want to mess around with, hence the warning label.

The most commonly used 151 proof rum is made by everyone’s old pal, Bacardi.

151 is not, we repeat, NOT something that you drink straight. EVER. Instead, it is used as a “float” in many drinks, meaning that it is poured on top of otherwise completed drinks, not to be mixed, as an addition to the rest of the concoction. You will often find floats of 151 used in tiki drinks and other tropical rum punches; it is often served flaming on top of shots or mixed drinks, but this serves no other function than to look cool, and we do NOT recommend trying that at home. We will not be held responsible if any of you light your homes on fire because you decide to use a match to ignite the top of your tropical creations…

Our favorite way to use 151 is as a float inside half of a hollowed-out lime on top of a tiki drink, because it looks fancy, and we are fancy people. That said, 151 is a great addition to rum punches, and although you need to be careful, you don’t need to be afraid of adding a drizzle on top of your drinks! A float should be about 1/2 an ounce, and it will not significantly impact the overall strength of a drink, so feel free to try it out!

Go ahead and add a 151 float on top of your Planters Punch! Just make sure you don’t need to drive anywhere after you drink it…

As always, everyone: drink responsibly.