Rum
comes from a grass whose botanical name is Saccharum
Officinarum, but is more commonly known as sugarcane. The
earliest mention we have of sugarcane dates back to 327 BC,
when Alexander the Great returned from his expedition to
India. Whether sugarcane originated in northeast valleys of
India or in the islands of the South Pacific we may never
know, but it was finally brought to Europe by the Arabs
after AD 636. Still, crystallized sugar was a costly rarity
until Columbus took cane cuttings from the Canary Islands to
the West Indies. It prospered so well there that the sugar
made from cane became inexpensive and could be enjoyed by
everyone.
Rum is any alcohol distillated or a mixture of distillates
from the fermented juice of sugarcane, and sugarcane
molasses. For other sugarcane by products distilled at less
than 190 proof (whether or not such proof is further reduced
before bottling to not less that 80 proof). The distillate
must possess the taste, aroma, and characteristics generally
attributed to rum. |
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RUM
- Clasifications
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There
are 4 main classifications of rum: the first is the very
dry, light bodied rums, generally produced in the Spanish
speaking countries, of which Puerto Rican rum is today’s
outstanding example; the second medium-boiled rums ; the
third is the rich, full, bodied, pungent rums usually
produced in the English speaking islands and countries, the
best example of which is Jamaican Rum; and the Fourth in the
high bodied but pungently aromatic East Indian Batavia arak
rum from Java.
Rums are mainly produced in the region of the Caribbean Sea,
including the West Indies and the Northern Countries of
South America. Light bodied rums are produced in Puerto
Rico, the Virgin Islands, the Bahamas, the Dominican
Republic, Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Mexico. Spain, and
Canada. Medium bodied rums, which are more in the style of
the light rums, include those from Haiti, Barbados,
Trinidad, and Guyana (known as Dameraran rums). The full
bodied pungent rums came primarily from Jamaica and
Martinique. This does not mean. that Puerto Rico produces
only light bodied and Jamaica only full bodied rums. Both
countries can produce both types, but they are better known
for their own traditional type. |
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RUM
- Production
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The
production of rum begins with harvesting the cane. The
freshly cut cane is brought to the sugar mills, where it is
passed through enormous, very heavy crushing rollers that
express the juice. The Juice is boiled to concentrate the
sugar and evaporate the water. Then it is clarified. The
result is a heavy, thick syrup.
The syrup is pumped into high speed centrifugal machines,
whirling at over twenty two hundred revolutions per minute,
where the sugar in the syrup is crystallized and separated
from the other solids. After the sugar is removed, what
remains is molasses. Sometimes this still retains up to 5%
sugar. The only economical way to recover, or not to loose
the residue of sugar, is to ferment this molasses and
distill into rum. |
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