THE STORY
A few years ago, on the rugged English seafront of St. Ives, Cornwall; there was a shack, weather-beaten and derelict with a great big hole in the roof letting in the salty sea air.
Being dedicated foodies, it was an opportunity to create something very different from the quaint Gingham table-clothed tea rooms and eateries that populate this part of the coast – something that would embrace the best produce of the local land and the sea.
The Rum and Crab shack was born; a place of delicious seafood where folks would share plates of shrimp, crack open crab claws and devour the sweet meat inside. And what better beverage to wash down all that locally sourced deliciousness than rum? And just like that – rum became our passion.
The citrus notes in other rums favour the more acidic end of the citrus scale with hints of lemon and lime. We decided to create a rum with slightly sweeter characteristics of orange.

Perhaps it was something to do with how open-minded Cornish folks are to influences from far and wide that we soon found new and unique flavours for our rum.
Saffron cake, Pedro Ximénez ice cream, nutmeg, vanilla and of course oranges; inhale the aroma of Dead Man’s Fingers Spiced Rum, and you’ll find echoes of them all.
As a result, we play well with others – that subtle orange back-note making Dead Man’s Fingers a great mixer for a more diverse range of cocktails.
Here at Dead Man’s Fingers we set out to produce a premium Spiced Rum with no hidden agenda or fake news.
To create our signature blend we bring aged rum from the best islands in the Caribbean over to the UK where we re-rectify on our signature still to soften the edges and give us a canvas to work with.
We then take natural spices and flavourings that are blended to our signature recipe and a touch of sugar is added. Unlike other Spiced Rum’s we don’t over do the sugar content but use it to help bring out the flavors within our Rum that give DMF its unique flavour.

We often get asked the question:
“Whats with the name?”
Now we would love to tell you an elaborate story about severed fingers, Rum and Rock Music but the real truth is much simpler but has a deep rooted connection to our brand.
Having been born at The Rum and Crab Shack in St Ives the founders, while searching for an iconic brand name, turned to their signature dish for inspiration.
The Dead Man’s Fingers are the spongy gill’s found inside a Crab and should be removed before eating. It is said that eating them will cause instant death (Not quite true) but an old wives tale suggested that mixing the dead man’s fingers with a little rum would help any sailor who fell over board to expell the sea water he had ingested.
So with that they were able to tie together Rum folk law and their love for fresh Cornish crabs as well as an opportunity to create a brand with a bit more of an edge and move away from the classic Pirates and palm tress’s and take steps to be just that bit more unconventional.
