It is bottled immediately after distillation and is therefore unaged. They are also not fruity. Spiced rum gets its flavors through the addition of spices and caramel. It is typically darker in color, as gold rums are the base for most spiced rums. Some of the common spices used are cinnamon, star anise, rosemary, pepper, cloves, and cardamom.
We know that you know about this famous brand. This spiced rum is packed with flavor that comes from a secret blend of Caribbean spices, accompanied by delicious notes of caramel and vanilla. When it comes to cocktails, Captain Morgan works great with Coke or mixed into an iced tea to add a bit of spice to your midday drink of choice.
When you get a tiki cocktail on vacation, it most likely contains a flavored rum. Flavored rums are simply rums that have been infused with flavors, particularly fruit ones. The flavor infusion process occurs after fermentation and distillation are complete.
You can find almost any fruit flavor rum, such as coconut, banana, mango, lime, orange, or anything tropical. Just be aware that flavored rums are way more sugary than regular rum—hence those notorious vacation hangovers. This is probably the most well-known flavored rum out there. This has such a sweet and delicious coconut-infused flavor that you can drink it straight if you want. Malibu goes well with pretty much any combination of fruity rum drinks and adds the perfect flavor boost.
The rum-making process is pretty similar to the process used to make tequila and vodka. However, vodka is not aged in barrels like tequila and rum are. With vodka, the distillation process is key, whereas, with tequila and rum, the real flavor comes from the aging process or lack thereof. There are four main steps in making rum, including harvesting sugarcane, fermentation, distillation, and aging.
These are the same steps and processes that have been followed for hundreds of years, but there is no specific set of standards that must be followed. The difference is that now there is big machinery that helps make this process easier, while before, things were all done by hand.
Another major factor to note is that different types of rums are produced in different areas. For example, some rums are specific to Jamaica, and others can be found in Barbados. It all depends on the process of each company and the climate of that country or area. Harvesting is the first step in rum production. Sugarcane is typically cut about once a year in the Caribbean, and workers most often use machetes to chop the sugarcane.
Sometimes, sugarcane fields are burnt down to remove bugs and debris, but believe it or not, the sugarcane itself will be left standing thanks to its high water content.
In order to make the most of the crop, though, it must be harvested within 24 hours after this. Yeast is added to either molasses or sugarcane juice, whichever is used as the base ingredient. Some companies use wild yeast, while others use specific strains of yeast in order to assure quality and consistent taste.
This is because the fermentation process releases chemical compounds called phenols and esters which give the rum its flavor. These compounds are meant to detoxify chemicals, and some researchers believe that humans evolved to prefer certain flavors of alcohol because they show that there is less toxicity in the liquid.
The yeast that you use has a huge effect on the final flavor profile, aroma, and taste of the rum. Distillation is the process of purifying the rum. It works to remove any unwanted flavors or elements and also ensures the rum is suitable for consumption. Basically, this process effectively purifies them. Distillation can be done using pot stills or column stills, which are two different methods. These are the two methods of distillation. Pot stills are typically made from copper and operate on a batch basis.
When completed, spirits will have an alcohol volume of 60 to 80 percent. Column stills are vertical tubes that work continuously. It uses opposing temperatures and alcohol vapor to distill the rum. Aging is how rum gets its flavor and color. All aging is done in wooden barrels, most commonly oak ones, which infuse flavor into the drink. These barrels are often reused from whiskey or bourbon production, which contributes to the complexity of the flavor.
Aging is an essential part of the rum-making process. Without it, rum would have hardly any flavor. Light rums, including white and silver varieties, are not aged at all. Gold rum is aged for about one year, and dark rum is aged anywhere from three to ten years. Spiced rums are typically gold rums, and flavored rums usually use light rums. The aging for these types is the same for the base rum that is used. Cocktails made with rum are traditionally known for being fruity and tropical.
After all, fruity rum punch was first made in the 17th century, making it one of the oldest cocktail recipes in the world. Most commonly, rum drinks use pineapple, coconut, and other fruits for flavoring and mixers. The mojito is the best recipe you can have on hand and ready to go for parties.
First, muddle the limes and sugar together. Then, add the mint leaves to the mixture and press them down into the glass. Add one scoop of ice, the rum, and top it all off with the club soda or seltzer.
Lastly, throw in the lime you squeezed, and a few extra mint leaves for garnish. The sugar in the daiquiri makes them so sweet and easy to suck down, one after another. The first, lightest vapors to condense are heads not desirable. Subsequently, the heart of the rum batch sometimes called seconds is collected for storage before the final stage tails is discarded for other uses.
Most modern, well known brands of rum are made from molasses distilled in large column stills. The process involves heating the fermented molasses wine sometimes called beer or wash in tall columns, while steam in these large pipes strips the alcohol from the fermented wash. The alcohol rich vapor is collected on condenser plates throughout the column where it exits as a clear, high proof alcohol. A traditional two-column still, often referred to as a Coffey Still perfected by Aeneas Coffey is used by many traditional distilleries.
In , Mr. Coffey was granted Patent for the design of his two-column continuous still, which revolutionized the process of distillation and was rapidly embraced by distillers around the world. Some of the most modern refineries use massive five-column stills that further refine the process and produce a more consistent, nearly pure alcohol product. In a continuous column still, the separation of heads, hearts and tails is not a function of time as with batch distillation. The column still is the preferred equipment for making large amounts of rum in the most efficient and cost effective manner, continuously, day and night, without stopping.
Fresh rum, when first distilled, is clear and lacks the sophisticated flavors and golden amber hues of fine sipping rums. Most rum is aged before being bottled.
Only a few rums are bottled without some amount of time spent in barrels. Clear rums like Bacardi Silver and Don Q Cristal are aged at least one year to gain smoothness, then carbon filtered to remove the color gained from the barrels during the time spent aging. Among premium rums on the market, aging in oak barrels is one key element to producing a superior product.
The choice of used whiskey and bourbon barrels is common. The alcohols in the rum interact with the wood to add subtle flavors, extract color and develop a smooth characteristic that is highly desirable to aged rums. For example, Appleton rums from Jamaica are aged in used Jack Daniels whiskey barrels from Tennessee. Another method for maturing rums is the use of new oak barrels, often charred to an alligator-skin type texture, giving the rum a stronger interaction with the wood element in the maturing process.
The size of the barrel makes a difference as well. Small barrels offer a higher wood to spirit ratio and tend to mature faster. Some rums are aged in barrels previously used for sherry, cognac, port and other distillates, imparting their own unique characteristics. These variations can give a master blender a range of flavors with which to create unique blends.
Because methods of maturing can vary greatly, the simple age statement on a bottle of rum is not always an indication of the maturity of the spirit. Rums aged in small charred oak barrels, for example, can become quite mature at three to five years, while other methods take many more years to achieve similar wood-infused flavor profiles.
Rums generally gain golden and amber hues as they mature. Some distillers use burnt sugar or caramel coloring to further enhance or balance the color for consistency. Many dark rums gain most of their rich color and often their full-bodied flavor from added caramel or molasses.
Over time, some water and alcohol evaporates from the aging barrel. When evaluating fine rums, judges will examine the color, clarity and viscosity of rums by holding a tasting glass up to a light source and swirling the product. The rich color of the rum may indicate a level of maturity compared to other products.
Exceptional clarity may indicate sophisticated filtering methods have been used. There are mysteries and closely guarded secrets involved in the aging and blending of fine spirits. By continuing to browse this site you are agreeing to our use of cookies. The plant takes between ten months and two years to reach sufficient maturity to harvest and extract its sugars.
In the Caribbean the cane is usually cut once a year, while in South American sub-tropical climates it is possible to crop twice a year.
Like most grass varieties, sugar cane thrives on being cut and simply starts growing again after cutting, this cycle only needs to be interrupted due to diminishing nutriments in the soil. After six years or so it was common to plant another crop to reinvigorate the soil but modern fertilisers are now often used to stretch a few more years of cane growth. Once a field of cane is ready to be harvested, that particular field is sometimes burnt to remove the leaves and scorpions and such like.
The cane is left standing and is only singed by the fire due to its high water content. Once the cane is burnt it must be quickly harvested and then milled within 24 hours to prevent deterioration of its sugars and bacterial infection. Traditionally, cane is harvested by cutters wielding machetes, who cut the cane close to the ground as this part of the stem has the highest concentration of sugars, before lopping off the leafy tops.
A good cutter will average three tons of cane per day but this is a tiny fraction if what a machine can cut and gradient allowing mechanised harvesting is now used. In Jamaica it is common for the cutters to leave an odd cane or two standing at the edge of the field.
These are tied in elaborate shapes to represent a watchman, which the cutters believe will ward off the 'duppies' or mischievous spirits. The harvested cane is washed, chopped into short lengths and milled pressed to extract the water and sugar juice. Rum can be made by distilling the beery type liquid produced from fermented fresh sugar cane juice. This method of rum production is common on the French islands, particularly Martinique where it is called 'rhum agricole'.
Elsewhere, it is rare to find rums made directly from sugar cane juice. By far the majority of rums are produced from molasses - known as 'rhum traditional', but also sometimes rather unkindly described by producers of rhum agricole as 'rhum industriel' industrial rum.
Rum can also be made from cane syrup, made by boiling cane juice to remove some of its water content. The sugar found on your supermarket shelf, whether white or brown was produced from sugar cane juice and regardless of its end colour was originally brown - white sugar is the result of a further industrial process. The process of extracting sugar from cane juice produces a by-product called molasses and this is what most rum is made from. This syrup is clarified and mixed with sugar crystals, which provide a core for the dissolved sugar in the syrup to crystallise on.
This mixture is boiled and then cooled to encourage the sugar crystals to enlarge. It is then spun in a centrifuge to separate the crystals from the liquid. This process is repeated a couple of times and the sugar produced sold on the world market. What's left is the thick black liquid by-product known as molasses. This is fermented and then distilled to make rum or the neutral alcohol on which some liqueurs are based.
The sugar and molasses produced by the first process are termed A-grade and the second B-grade. The third batch of sugar produced by this process is known as Low-grade sugar and this is used to mix with the next batch of syrup to start the process again. Thus a good sugar factory will produce bad molasses as it will have efficiently extracted most of the sugar.
As the sugar processing industry becomes more efficient so the amount of rum that can be produced per ton of molasses is failing. The resulting 'wash' can then be distilled to make rum. Put simply the yeast eats sugar and in doing so produces alcohol, heat and carbon dioxide. In addition, yeast also initiates chemical reactions in the wash to create compounds such as aldehydes, esters and acids which are collectively known as congeners.
The compounds are flavoursome and depending on the type of rum to be produced, their formation will be encouraged or discouraged by the type of yeast used and the temperature of the fermentation. It's worth remembering that distillation can only separate and remove flavours while fermentation generates flavour in the first place. Molasses are so rich in nutriment that the yeast needs to be propagated and slowly introduced to progressively higher concentrations of molasses as its cell numbers increase.
It is typical for rum distillers to talk about three or four-step fermentation in reference to the number of ever larger vessels used between propagation and the fermenters. The type of yeast used varies tremendously from country to country and distiller to distiller. This can be commercially cultured yeast or natural ambient yeast found on the leaves of the sugar cane. The rate of fermentation and the alcohol level produced is partly governed by the levels of non-sugar dissolved solids, being mainly minerals and Potassium Chloride, high concentrations of which inhibit yeast growth.
A longer, slower fermentation will result in a heavier, more acidic wash due to other contaminating bacteria also given time to reproduce during the process. Fermentation can be a quick as 24 hours or as long as a fortnight. The pH of the molasses will also affect fermentation and ideally will be in a range between 4. Rum is termed 'light' or 'heavy' depending the level of flavour components or 'congeners' - products of fermentation that are not ethyl alcohol.
The level of these esters, aldyhydes and lower alcohols is dependent on the length of the fermentation and the purity to which it was distilled.
When alcohol is concentrated during distillation, the levels of congeners are reduced. The fewer congeners, the lighter the rum, the more congeners the heavier it will be. Rum produced from a pot still or single distillation column is usually described as heavy.
Multiple-column stills can produce both heavy and light rums depending on where the spirit is removed from the still. Light rums tend to have a short fermentation while heavy pot still rums are usually distilled from a wash formed by a long fermentation. The odour, texture and taste of light rums are more subtle and refined than those of heavy rums, which have a heavy, syrupy flavour to match their dark colour.
The level of impurities in light rum is less than a third of those found in heavy rums. Distilleries producing light and heavy rums often blend the two to produce a rum having characteristics of both.
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