Rum

I had the privilege of Chef Ottley Alexis from Hilton Trinidad lecture and demonstrate cooking principles using rum. It was a participative session in which the history, raw materials, production and pairing techniques were explored with Caribbean rum. Who would of thought, rum was so complex? I have the pre-conceived notion that once you have enough ice and a good “chaser” was an accurate summary of rum. Indeed I was fooled. Today I will hope to establish some clarity on the term rum.

Rum is a spirit distilled from Sugar cane juice, either from the molasses (Thick, dark brown, uncrystallized juice obtained from raw sugar during the refining process.) created as part of making sugar (Rum Industrial) or directly from the sugar cane juice (Rhum Agricole and Cachaca)

Sugar-cane

Sugar-cane

Sugar- cane juice

Molasses

Rum comes in three main styles: 

1. White rum (good cocktail/mixed drink base)

2. Gold or Aged (cocktails, mixed drinks and sipping) 

3.  Dark (mixed drinks and cocktails)

The main factors that will influence the quality and style of a rum are:

 1.The source of the sugar (sugar cane direct or molasses)

 2. The length of fermentation (short equals light rum; long equals heavy/dark rum)
 3. The type of Still (Pot equals heavy; Continuous equals light)
 4. The length of time in the barrel
 5. The strength of the rum at bottling

Styles of Rum
There are no legal definitions as to the classification of rum but here is a rough guide:

White/Light/Silver : Clear coloured, light bodied and dry. Most are column-distilled and work as a fairly neutral base for a cocktail. E.g. Bacardi Carta Blanco, Havana Club Silver Dry.

Gold/Oro/Ambre: Medium bodied, slightly sweet rums. Can be made in either type of still. Colour comes from the wood although some caramel can be added. Good mixed or drunk neat/rocks. E.g. Appleton V/X, Mount Gay Eclipse.

Dark/Black: Usually made in pot stills and aged in heavily charred barrels. These are the more traditional styles of rum. They are very aromatic and full-bodied with a large molasses note. Often caramel is added for colour and flavour. E.g. Lambs Navy Rum, Woods 100.

Premium Aged/Anejo/Rhum Vieux:  Amber-hued, well-matured rums thought of very highly by rum connoisseurs. The “Cognac of the Caribbean”. E.g. Havana Club 15Yr Old, Appleton Extra.

Single Marks/Single Barrel: Very rare rums from a single distillery. Often bottled from individual casks or from vintage years. E.g. Cruzan Single Barrel, J. Bally 1976.

Overproof: Mainly a category filled with white rums. Needs to have an abv over 57%. Very strong, very powerful – not for the faint hearted. Usually used in punches or longer drinks. E.g. Wray & Nephew Overproof (68%abv), Bacardi 151 (75.5%abv)

Cachaca:  The main cane spirit in South America. It is also known as “Aguardiente de cana”. It is made from the sugar cane juice and is so a Rum Agricole.

In the next  post we will discuss the cooking principles and experiment with some recipes like Roasted lamb with a spicy chocolate dark rum sauce and pan seared mahi mahi with a white rum butter sauce.