What is Rum made from and how is it aged?!
What is Rum made from and how is it aged?
Answers:
The most interesting aspect about rum drinks is that you will find both light and dark rum drinks. These two rum drinks may have rum as the main base but they have two distinct flavors to them. To be able to savor the smooth taste of light rum you will need to buy these rum drinks from Trinidad, Barbados, Puerto Rico and other South Caribbean Islands.
The light rum drinks are made from sugar cane molasses that have been boiled down, distilled and fermented to a clear pale gold color. You will find that the alcohol strength of these drinks is that of 80 proof. Now to get the distinctive taste of light rum you will find that this rum drink has been aged for about 6 months to a years time in oak casks.
The dark rum drinks on the other hand while they undergo the same initial treatment as the light rum drinks have a richer and heavier flavor than light rums. It is also very aromatic and the color of dark rum drinks is found to be amber to a beautiful rich Mahogany color. The alcohol strength however is the same as the light rum drinks. Read the full article here:
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Rum is a distilled beverage made from sugarcane byproducts such as molasses and sugarcane juice by a process of fermentation and distillation. The distillate, a clear liquid, is then usually aged in oak and other casks.
Sugar cane and not a helluva lot of ageing.
Rum is a distilled beverage made from sugarcane byproducts such as molasses and sugarcane juice by a process of fermentation and distillation. The distillate, a clear liquid, is then usually aged in oak and other casks. Rum is produced in a variety of styles. Light rums are commonly used in mixed drinks, while golden and dark rums are appropriate for use in cooking as well as cocktails. Premium brands of rum are also available that are made to be consumed neat or on the rocks.
Fermentation
Sugarcane is harvested to make sugarcane juice and molasses.Most rum produced is made from molasses. Within the Caribbean, much of this molasses is from Brazil. A notable exception is the French-speaking islands where sugarcane juice is the preferred base ingredient.
Yeast, and sometimes water, are added to the base ingredient to start the fermentation process. While some rum producers allow wild yeast to perform the fermentation, most use specific strains of yeast to help provide a consistent taste and predictable fermentation time. Dunder, the yeast-rich foam from previous fermentations, is the traditional yeast source in Jamaica. Distillers that make lighter rums, such as Bacardi, prefer to use faster-working yeasts. Use of slower-working yeasts causes more esters to accumulate during fermentation, allowing for a fuller-tasting rum.
Distillation
As with all other aspects of rum production, there is no standard method used for distillation. While some producers work in batches using pot stills, most rum production is done using column still distillation.Pot still output contains more congeners than the output from column stills and thus produces a fuller-tasting rum.
Aging and blending
Many countries require that rum be aged for at least one year. This aging is commonly performed in used bourbon casks, but may also be performed in stainless steel tanks or other types of wooden casks. Due to the tropical climate common to most rum-producing areas, rum matures at a much faster rate than is typical for Scotch or Cognac. An indication of this faster rate is the angel's share, or amount of product lost to evaporation. While products aged in France or Scotland see about 2% loss each year, rum producers may see as much as 10%. After aging, rum is normally blended to ensure a consistent flavor. As part of this blending process, light rums may be filtered to remove any color gained during aging. For darker rums, caramel may be added to the rum to adjust the color of the final product
Molasses, the by-product of sugar processing is the most common however some run made in east Caribbean is made from the sugar cane.
Both methods result in a white rum.
the dark rums are put in wood casks most commonly oak
only makes it smoother and creamier and its dark color
However some dark rum is made using unaged white rum with Carmel color added
And on the other side of the scale some aged white rums are aged in casks and then put thru a charcoal filtering to take out the color while leaving in the other good aspects of aging in casks