|
Rum is not made
from a grain but from a grass. Sugar cane is essentially a
tall, coarse grained grass that grows particularly well in
black mud and tropical heat. It is most at home in the Caribbean
where Columbus first brought it from the Canary Islands on
his second voyage.
popular RUM cocktail
The Mount Gay Rum Tropical Passion
Winner of 1st
place in the Drinks International Cocktail Challenge Brown
Spirits Heat
• 2oz Mount Gay
Eclipse Rum
• 1oz Passoã passion fruit
liqueur
• 1oz Bols Crème de Banane
•2oz pineapple juice
Combine all ingredients in a Highball glass and shake
with ice. Serve with a garnish of pineapple and a cherry
|
Like so many other
spirits, rum is made from the leftovers. When sugar cane is
refined into the white sugar we use in our coffee, fresh cane
is brought to the sugar mills where it is crushed and the
juice collected. The juice is then boiled to concentrate the
sugar by evaporating the water. The result, a thick, heavy
syrup, is pumped into a centrifugal apparatus where the sugar
in the syrup is crystallized and separated from the other
solids. What is left behind is a thick, black residue called
molasses. Put back into solution, this molasses can be quickly
fermented and distilled into what we know of as rum.
RUM HISTORY
As was noted earlier,
thanks to the Moors in Malaga, rum was probably the first
spirit drink ever produced. Molasses itself being very sticky
will attract and hold any airborne yeast that comes near it.
It can and will ferment almost entirely on its own, and become
a very sweet "wine" if you will. Oddly perhaps,
it wasn't until the 17th century that colonists in the Caribbean
started to distil this product. It quickly became so popular
that a number of them forgot that they were supposed to be
making sugar in the first place.
In the middle of
the 17th century, the Royal Navy took over Jamaica and as
a reward the sailors were all given a ration of the rum that
they had confiscated. At about the same time, Puerto Rican
rum became popular throughout the Spanish colonies. In the
middle of the 19th century, Puerto Rico became the first country
to produce rum on a commercial basis. It is now the largest
producer of rum in the world.
rum NOTE
Rums are traditionally mixed into punches, or with fruit
juices. Mixed with cola, it is still the most popular
mixed drink. Rum has often been used in baking, especially
cakes and Christmas puddings, but the darker versions
being generally richer and sweeter work well in sauces
and gravies. |
RUM TYPES
Rum generally falls
into three classes.
Light bodied rums
, those from former
Spanish colonies such as Puerto Rico, Cuba and the Virgin
Islands are made primarily in a column still, and get little
if any barrel aging.
Medium bodied
rums
The former French
colonies of Haiti and Martinique produce medium bodied rums
, quite often in
a pot still, many of them aged in oak barrels. The volcanic
soils in both of these locations give their rums an
extra dimension
of flavor and a fruitiness that other rums just don't have.
Full bodied
rums
The older style
of Full bodied rumssnormally
come from the former British colonies of Jamaica, Trinidad,
and the Demerara River in Guyana. With the exception of Demerara,
they are almost all made in a pot still, and generally get
extensive barrel aging.
Because sugar cane is harvested at
a specific time of every year, roughly speaking late autumn,
it is possible to get what are "vintage" dated rums.
Some, especially those from Martinique, can be procured from
as far back as the 1950s, but their price is in the range
of the XO Cognacs.
|
