While rum is typically associated with daiquiris and piña coladas, it’s actually just as good by the fire as it is by the beach. Mixed into warm cocktails like hot toddies, mulled cider, and hot buttered rum, it’s just what you need to heat things up on a cold winter night. Whether you’re in the mood for salsa dancing, live jazz, or talking politics, head to one of the below bars, order a hot rum cocktail, and look forward to a fiery night on the town.
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The Best Bars for a Hot Cocktail This Season
Hot rum cocktails for a cold winter night? We’re in.

Cuba Libre Restaurant & Rum Bar
This Cuban restaurant in Penn Quarter is spicing things up this winter with the Café Cuba Libre, a Cuban coffee made with steamed coconut milk and whole milk. Add a shot of spiced rum for $3 and you’ll be salsa dancing into the wee hours with the rest of the lively crowd.
Tabard Inn
With its fireplaces, Victorian sofas, and Oriental rugs, this Dupont lounge is the perfect place to cozy up with a hot rum cocktail. Go for the classic mulled cider with spiced rum, orange, cinnamon, cloves, and allspice, or the hot buttered rum, featuring brown sugar, cloves, black pepper, cardamom, lime, and orange. If you stop by Sunday through Tuesday, you can even enjoy your drink with some live jazz.
TAKODA
The owners at this North Shaw favorite have transformed their rooftop into a winter wonderland, complete with gas heaters and comfy blankets. Head there this weekend and curl up with the Spiced Rum Hot Toddy, made with fresh-squeezed lemon juice, honey, and English breakfast tea.
Round Robin
This iconic spot in the Willard InterContinental is currently offering the Classic Hot Buttered Rum, featuring cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, hot water, and a cinnamon stick garnish. Sipping this sophisticated drink at the round mahogany bar will make you feel right at home among the bar’s elite clientele.
Firefly
Built around a large, lantern-lit tree, this cozy restaurant in the Kimpton Hotel Madera is ideal for enjoying hot cocktails. Don’t miss the Inner Earth, made with BACARDÍ Superior rum, Velvet Falernum, peppermint tea and black pepper simple syrup, muddled dill, pineapple, butterfly pea extract, and a variety of warming winter spices.
POV
Known for its stylish crowd and sweeping views, this rooftop lounge at the W Hotel also boasts seasonal cocktails like the Many Times, Many Ways, which will be added to the menu this winter. Created by a POV bartender for a holiday cocktail competition, the cleverly named drink features rum, pecan-cinnamon tea, and hot water, and comes garnished with “a side of fire.”
The Salt Line
This Navy Yard oyster and ale house may not have any hot rum cocktails, but it’s got hot toddies with bourbon and Madeira (fortified) wine, and Irish coffees with local Swings roasts. If you must have rum, ask them to spike the mulled cider with a shot of BACARDÍ rum, then enjoy it at a firepit table overlooking the river.
Owen's Ordinary
Housed in the Pike & Rose development in North Bethesda, this beer-focused bar is offering two hot cocktails this season. The Rye Hot Cider features orange, clove, cinnamon stick, and McCutcheon’s apple cider, while the Oaxaca Hot Chocolate is made with tequila, mezcal, agave, DC Embitterment orange bitters, house-made orange dark chocolate sauce, milk, and cream. Neither include rum, but they’ll warm you up anyway.