Crossposted at Dailykos.com
Rhum, or rum, as it is now called, is yet another product devised by humans for getting altered. It is unique to sugar producing regions, and is made by a process very unlike that which is used for whiskey, at least at first.
We remember that whiskey is made from starchy grains, and a complex process is necessary to convert the starch to sugar. Rum is quite different, since it is started with a sugar solution.
Not that long ago, sugar cane was cultivated in the tropical and semi tropical parts of the New World. Cane is a grass, related to bamboo and even common Bermuda grass in our lawns. It is thought that cane originated in southern Asia, with several leads to India. It was in India that the discovery was made of how to get sugar from the cane, and an industry was begun, but slowly because with the crude equipment available around 350 CE it was labor and resource intensive to produce sugar. Most cane was chewed in the raw state, a practice still common in sugarcane producing locations worldwide.
As humans are wont to do, it was soon learnt that the juice from the cane could be pressed and fermented into an alcoholic drink. This was a sugarcane juice wine, known under various names depending on the location. Fast forward to 1492 CE when Columbus brought cane cuttings from the Canary Islands (his sweetie was the female governor there and gave them to him) to the New World. The tropical to subtropical climate was perfect for sugarcane production, and slave labor reduced the cost of production. The technology had improved by then.
After all the sugar that can be extracted from the juice is removed, there remains molasses, a strong solution of sugar in water with the colored and flavored impurities from the cane and the process, including caramel. Molasses was a favored sweetening agent in the Colonies, and of course is still used as such, but more for flavor than sweetening now since sugar is so cheap. There was more molasses than demand, however, and it was relatively expensive to ship due to the high water content.
It was discovered, likely in the 16th or 17th century, that molasses could be dissolved in water and fermented, producing alcohol just like in the raw juice from centuries before. Fermentation is the process where yeast converts sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide, and is the basic process both for alcohol production and breadmaking. For alcohol production, the carbon dioxide is usually allowed to escape (notable partial exceptions are beer, ale, and sparkling wines). For breadmaking, the carbon dioxide causes the bread to rise, and the alcohol is driven away during baking.
After fermentation, the solution is put into a still and heat applied (the fuel is often the sugarcane residue, called bagasse). In some stills the bagasse directly heats, and in others steam, either from bagasse or other fuel, is used. The quality of Caribbean rum was not very good at the time, so it became profitable to ship molasses to the American Colonies and make the rum there, because the quality was so much better that higher selling prices helped to offset the cost of shipping. The first rum distillery was established on Staten Island in 1664.
That was still not enough to make the enterprise profitable, however. One of the most evil systems of trade was then devised. (Remember this was during the mercantile era, where anything went in business, sort of like the Ferengi). The system finally developed went like this:
A ship would depart the American Colonies loaded with rum, which was valued in Europe. Of course, other cargo was also often present, but rum was the bulk of the cargo. In Europe, usually Great Britain, the rum would be sold and the proceeds used to buy items of interest to colonial and tribal authorities in western Africa. The ship sailed to Africa and traded that cargo for black people who had essentially been kidnapped and held against their will. The ship would then depart for the Caribbean where some or all of the slaves would be traded for molasses, which was then shipped to the American Colonies, where the molasses and the slaves not sold in the Caribbean were sold, more rum loaded, and the cycle repeated.
The inhumanity of such a practice is not possible for me to describe with my poor command of the English language. The conditions on the ships were so wretched as to defy description, and loss of life due to malnutrition and disease in the slaves being transported to the New World was despicable. However, this system continued for over a century, when the British outlawed the slave trade in their territories, and the United States later did the same. For a pretty decent visual depiction of those conditions, the old miniseries of Alex Haley’s Roots is not bad, but it is still sanitized. Besides, it is impossible to depict in a few minutes on the television the heat, the smell, the suffering, the death, and the despair that was the fate of the slaves. I am going to make a political statement now, but this is, after all, primarily a political site.
Unfettered capitalism always leads to evil, because profit and gain of power pervert decency. Properly regulated capitalism reduces the opportunity for evil, although there are those who will do it anyway. I am certainly not advocating the elimination of capitalism, but rather learning lessons from history and putting proper controls back in place. The recent near collapse of our banking system should be a lesson. I blame Phil Gramm (likely the Treasury Secretary if the McCain ticket wins) and Alan Greenspan (not likely for anything now, because of what he said yesterday) personally for these events, but the Republican power structure not only allowed it, it made it happen.
Unless proper regulatory oversight is reinstated, our Nation is doomed.
First, corporations should be made to pay their fair share of taxes, and no, they do not at present, regardless of talking points from the Republicans.
Second, a damned wealth tax needs to be instituted, including estate taxes that hit hard the transfer of wealth from generation to generation. This is the UNITED STATES of AMERICA, not some European aristocracy. Even the Republican darling, T. Roosevelt, agreed with this. I am not saying to leave heirs destitute, but for some logical system that rewards the Nation, and hence the People, in the spirit of the common good for the success of the products of that Nation.
Third, a progressive income tax must be reinstated. I have no problem with middle class folks, those making less than -$5 million- $250,000 a year keeping the 10% or 15% capital gains rate, but those with obscene fortunes need to pay more, because the leverage that their fortunes has brings them a much higher rate of return.
Forth, sanction the cheaters. For every CEO who ran her or his company into the ground for personal gain, send them to the damned big house. They hurt not only their companies, their fellows, and the People, they hurt our Nation in tangible ways.
With that said, let us see what kinds of rum there is and the differences in their manufacture. There are several schemes for classifying them, such as geographical, manufacturing method, and grade. Unfortunately, these sort of blur into each other.
In general, rums produced in traditionally English speaking territories tend to be full bodied and flavorful, as typified by Jamaican, Demeraran, Bermudian, and a few others. These preserve much of the flavor of the molasses that provide the starting material.
Rums from traditionally French speaking territories are usually made from cane juice rather than molasses. They are quite different than the Jamaican types, being less “burnt” tasting since the juice has not undergone the long cooking process to remove the sugar from it like molasses has. Rums from Martinique, Haiti, and several other places fall into this category. They tend to be relatively expensive, since they are not a byproduct of sugar manufacture.
By far the most popular rums in the United States are those of the type produced in the traditionally Spanish speaking territories. This includes Puerto Rican, Cuban, and some other rums produced in other traditionally Spanish speaking regions. These comprise the bulk of the US market, with the Jamaican kind second.
There are several variations, including rum like spirits made from sugar beets in Europe, and Cachaça from Brasil that is made from cane juice and often sweetened with sugar after distillation.
The specific production processes for rum are many, varied, and pretty much traditional. Some rums, typically full bodied ones, are fermented slowly, whilst the light bodied ones are fermented fast. The difference is that a slow fermentation allows more side products to form than fast fermentation does. The side products significantly affect flavor and smell. The lightest of rums, such as light Bacardi TM, are little different than gin or flavored vodka, being mostly alcohol and water with only a small amount of flavor and no color. The full bodied ones, like Meyers TM, are very complex mixtures rich in flavoring and coloring materials.
So the variations are many. Interestingly, there is a rough equivalent to sour mash and sweet mash whiskies. Jamaican type rums typically use yeast skimmed from a previous batch, whilst Puerto Rican ones use pure cultures grown in a separate facility for consistency. Interestingly, our English term dunderhead is derived from the “sour mash” rum process, because the yeast from the previous batch is referred to as dunder. By the way, another term for rum is grog, which is where we get our term “groggy”.
The method of distillation varies widely as well. Full-bodied rums are typically made in pot stills, which for you chemistry geeks are less efficient (fewer theoretical plates) than patent stills (more theoretical plates). Pot distilled spirits generally retain more of the impurities that were present in the fermented material in the distillate, which significantly affect flavor, nose, and hangover causing ingredients. Patent still produced spirits are much more pure alcohol and water. Some rums are distilled more than once, producing an even purer product. That involves taking the distillate and repeating the process, sometimes twice more. These resemble vodka before they are aged. Obviously, the extra handling and fuel usage, as well as losses, increase the cost of those.
Most rum is aged in oak for at least a year, but there are exceptions. For very light ones, a carbon filtering step is usually added after aging to remove coloring materials from the wood, and also a significant amount of flavor. Often boneblack is the carbon used, just like in the process to decolorize sugar. Vegetarians beware: much white sugar and many light rums are decolorized with boneblack, which is nothing more than the charred bones of domestic animals, generally cattle, sheep, and/or pigs. Another vegetarian caution: you can not get around this by using brown sugar, because most of it is made by taking white sugar and adding some molasses. Raw sugar us usually OK, though. Whilst I am not vegetarian, I respect those who are and wanted to mention this.
Dark rums are not filtered, except just to remove any particulate matter, after leaving the oak. Almost all rums are blended with rum from other casks, or even from previous years, to promote consistancy from one batch to another. People expect one bottle to be essentially similar to the last one, or the next one.
The grades of rum are not clearly defined, since they overlap. In general, there are three major grades and some minor ones, or variations of the major ones. The most popular type of rum is light rum, typified by light Bacardi TM. They are usually filtered and blended after aging to remove any color, most flavor, and for consistency. They are pretty insipid in my opinion, since I like to sip slowly and enjoy flavor, because they are almost nothing but alcohol and water. These do not have much favor, but are a substitute for vodka or gin in clear cocktails.
At the other extreme are dark rums, such as Meyers TM. They are full of wood flavor, and have many byproducts in them. Most are blended for consistency and many have caramel coloring (burnt sugar) added to deepen their hue. These are sipping rums, nice with a little ice (unlike Scots whisky, the topic of a future post, which is best enjoyed neat and room temperature). Dark rums are unexcelled for cooking. Hardly anyone likes fruit cake, but I make one that will knock your socks off, literally! In addition of infusing the cake after cooking with Meyers TM, I use only candied fruit that I have personally, or that Mrs. Translator, has prepared. The cheap crap that goes as candied fruit in commercial fruit cakes is, in my opinion, not fit for man nor beast. I also try to get the freshest nuts available for my fruit cake. But I digress. Dark rum also makes excellent chocolate truffles, but that is for another diary.
In between are gold rums, almost always blended, but not filtered after aging in, typically used Bourbon whiskey barrels. They have the light character of light rums, but some of the flavor of dark rums. Not too bad for sipping, but better in cocktails with other flavors, like the notorious Hurricane, also known as the Hurlacane amongst those who drink too many of them. Go easy on Hurricanes, since they have a full four ounces of rum in them is prepared faithfully.
As for premium rums, they are carefully selected and aged, much like whiskies are. They generally are darker than golden rums, but not as dark as dark rums, with a lighter flavor than dark rums. Much of this smoothness comes from more than a year in the oak, and Bacardi Special Reserve TM (formerly known as Anjeo, as memory serves), is typical. These generally are sipping rums.
Then there are the spiced rums, and Captain Morgan TM is a popular one. They are generally about the same color as gold rums, and have had spices added (and in many cases, sugar) to make them a bit more like soda pop. Some of them are of OK quality, but some are nothing but reject (failed the taste test for blending for light of gold rum) materials salvaged by covering up the off tastes with spice, and sometimes with added caramel coloring. I have nothing against them, I suppose, but think of them as the Southern Comfort TM of rums. In another analogy, they are to rum like Annie Green Springs TM is to wine.
There are also flavored rums, usually light rum with lemon, lime, or other flavors added. These are comparable to flavored vodkas, and generally are light rums with good flavor (meaning very little, but not rejected material) that has had some essence added. Generally those are served neat, or over ice. Sort of like soda pop to me, once again, but most of are OK quality.
Then there are the awe inspiring 151 proof rums. These are not products with one should trifle, for several reasons. There are several, but Bacardi 151 TM is the best known. In my opinion, there are very limited uses for them. One is for flambe dishes, and they work well for that. Another is for blending with lots of diluents for specific cocktails. Another is for self immolation. I do not recommend the latter under any circumstance. I very much caution anyone to handle these products extremely carefully, for the following reasons:
Flammability. These materials burn like gasoline and are just about as easy to ignite. Unfortunately, an alcohol flame is almost without color, so it is easy not to see a fire until it is too late. Exercise extreme caution when using these around a hot stove, or you may be injured and have significant property damage. A dropped, and so broken, bottle is an immediate fire hazard.
Toxicity. These materials are almost twice the alcohol content of most spirits, and thus it is possible to partake of an overdose in half the number of drinks. You can flat out die from alcohol poisoning, and because these products are relatively smooth, it is easy to drink more of them than you think. There is no need for anyone to die over being careless.
Well, thus is more about rhum than you ever wanted to know. There are of course local variations, and novel products, but this pretty much covers the broad topic. I am still assimilating the information for the extremely rich history, heritage, and chemistry of Scots whisky, and that one will come out not too long from now. If anyone is interested in the fruitcake recipe, let me know. It is almost time to prepare it, because it needs two months or so to age properly.
Any questions, comments, arrows, tips, and especially, recommendations are welcome. If the market continues to tank, we all may need a stiff one soon
Warmest regards,
Doc
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