6 - Sugar Cane Spirits Flashcards
Sugar Cane Spirits are commonly called…
Rum
Where is the most celebrated centre of production for rum?
The Caribbean
Sugar cane plants live for…
Several years
Describe sugar cane plants
They grow a number of thick, hard stems that are covered in leaves
What happens when the sugar cane stems are mature?
The leaves are removed and the stems harvested by being cut off close to the ground
What is the purpose of cutting stems off close to the ground?
This preserves the plant’s roots so that it can grow new stems
What is sugar cane juice?
A sweet liquid extracted from sugar cane stems
What are the two most common base-ingredients for making rum?
What is used most commonly out of these two?
Sugar cane juice
Molasses
Molasses
What is the next stage after harvesting sugar cane? What does it do?
The canes are put through a mill
This crushes them and releases the sweet sugar cane juice
Why is fermentation started very quickly once the cane is processed?
The juice runs the risk of spoilage and developing off-aromas that could spoil a spirit
What are the typical aromas of a rum made from sugar cane juice?
Pronounced, vegetal, grassy and herbaceous aromas
What is most sugar cane juice used for?
Making sugar
How is sugar extracted from sugar cane juice?
The cane juice is heated to evaporate the water
The resulting syrup is heated again, forming sugar crystals
What is left once sugar crystals have been collected?
A thick, sticky residue called molasses
What is the grade of molasses used to make rum called?
Blackstrap molasses
What is the biggest benefit of molasses and cane syrup?
They can be stored for a long time without going off
What must be done with cane syrup and molasses before they can be fermented?
They must be diluted with water
What are the three major aromas in rums made from cane syrup and molasses?
Brown sugar
Toffee
Caramel
…can have a significant impact on the flavour of a rum
Fermentation
What are rum producers keen to do during fermentation?
Boost the amount of fruity esters that can be produced during fermentation
Rums with…are an important part of the production traditions in Jamaica
High levels of esters
What is a high-ester rum?
A pronounced, pungent Jamaican rum whereby the fermentation has achieved very exaggerated tropical aromas
It has also been pot distilled
Name a technique which may be employed to make highly characterful rum
The use of ambient yeast
What kind of stills are used in producing Caribbean rum?
All kinds
What is a ‘mark/marque’ in rum?
An individual spirit
T or F: Light marks can be matured in oak barrels
True
Light and heavy marks can be matured in oak barrels
What kind of barrel is most commonly used in rum production?
Used
Where is a lot of Caribbean rum distilled and matured?
Distilled in Caribbean
Often it is shipped to and matured elsewhere, like Europe
How are European-aged rums often described? And if they’re Caribbean-aged?
Continentally aged
Tropically aged
How is a rum managed after distillation?
This depends on the law and the distiller’s preference
Describe a light mark
A rum that has been distilled to a relatively high strength (often 90% abv+)
Made in column stills
Light flavour intensity
Describe heavy marks
Distilled to low strength
Typically pot still distilled
Some very fruity, some rich and earthy
Describe the pot stills in the Caribbean
An enormous variety
Often quite unique
What kind of column still may be used to make a heavy mark?
Short-column
Many…rums are made using short-column stills
Sugar cane juice
Why might sugar cane juice rums be made in a short-column still?
Because their low distillation strength helps to accentuate the flavours of the cane juice
Rums are almost always…
Blends
What is true of the way in which many rums are composed? Why?
They are blends from different distilleries or even countries
They are able to take advantage of different types of marks and the unique characteristics of individual distilleries
T or F
Blending only takes place with barrel matured rums
False
What are the two greatest factors in determining the final style of a rum blend?
The age of the rums
Whether light marks or heavy marks make up the majority of the blend
What are the three main techniques a distiller might use once a rum blend has been made up?
Colour filtration with activated charcoal
Addition of colour with caramel colouring
Sweetening
…is largely unaffected by charcoal filtration in rum
Palate smoothness from maturation
What are potential secondary effects of using caramel colour in rum?
A lack of oak aroma
Burnt brown sugar aromas
A bitter taste
Name a rum style for which the use of sweetening is not permitted
Jamaica Rum
Which type of rum is most likely to be sweetened prior to bottling?
Oak matured rum
List the production steps in making rum from sugar cane juice
Crush
Ferment
Distill
Mature (or store in inert vessels)
Filter/sweeten/colour (optional)
Bottle
List the production steps in making rum from cane syrup or molasses
Dilute
Ferment
Distill
Mature (or store in inert vessels)
Filter/sweeten/colour (optional)
Bottle
What is the simple definition of rum?
A spirit made from sugar cane, that is not a neutral spirit
What are the three generally accepted colour classifications of rum?
White
Gold
Amber/dark
Give three examples of a white rum style
Rhum blanc agricole from Martinique
Puerto Rican rum
Jamaican overproof high-ester
What is the general character of a rhum agricole? How is it matured?
Intense, grassy character from cane juice
It is stored in inert vessels
Describe Puerto Rican rum
Light and delicate caramel aroma from molasses
Smooth texture
Colour removed by filtration
Describe a Jamaican overproof white rum
Pronounced, complex aromas from molasses and fermentation esters
Warming, oily texture
To which country do Martinique and Guadeloupe belong?
France
For what style of rum are Martinique and Guadeloupe best known?
Rhum agricole
Characterful, column-distilled rums made from sugar cane juice
Which of the French Caribbean islands has its own strict appellation laws and rules governing rum production?
Martinique
Describe the maturation process for colourless agricoles
What are they called?
Unaged and stored in inert vessels
Rhum blanc
Describe the character of rhum blanc
Dry and showcase the pronounced grassy and herbaceous flavours of cane juice
What qualifies a rhum vieux?
An oak aged agricole that must be aged for at least three years
What will appear on the label of a rhum vieux?
An indication of age
How might the best examples of rhum vieux be told apart from an aged molasses rum?
They retain an identifiable cane juice character that’s balanced by the vanilla and spice aromas of oak
…is an island country that tightly regulates rum production
Cuba
Roughly describe the production of cuban rum
Molasses
Blended from spirits that are distilled in column stills to a high strength
Maturation in old oak
Colourless if undergone filtration
What is the flavour impact of oak on cuban rums?
Virtually none
Only a short time in old oak
What is the purpose of oak maturation in cuban rum production?
To enhance texture
Are all cuban rums aged for a short time?
No
These have retained colour and flavour from their maturation barrels
Describe the flavour profile of cuban rums
Dry
Light/medium aroma intensity
Delicate toffee and fruity aromas from molasses and fermentation
What are the categories of oak influence on cuban rum characters?
None (colourless rums)
Delicate (short aged, pale lemon coloured rums)
Complex and rich (longer aged, amber coloured rums)
To which nation does Puerto Rico belong?
USA
How does the rum style between the islands of Puerto Rico differ?
Very little
Give an overview of Puerto Rican rums
Made from molasses
Column distilled
Oak aged
Light/medium intensity
Colourless - amber
Varying levels of oak aroma
For what style of rum is Jamaica most famous?
Dry, characterful, unaged and oak matured
Molasses
Prominent, fruity ester rums
What is the blending convention in Jamaica used to create their most popular rum style?
They bring together pot and column still marks
What is the exception to the blending convention in Jamaica?
There are some rums made exclusively in pot stills
Describe the production of some of Jamaica’s high ester rums
They can be bottled unaged and with unusually high ABV
T or F: Overproof rums are exclusive to Jamaica
False
It is however a style that distillers on Jamaica are well known for
What is the major stipulation about a rum from Jamaica if it is to be labelled ‘Jamaica Rum’?
It must be dry
What might the terms be if a rum is shipped from Jamaica , matured, finished, bottled elsewhere and sweetened?
Rum from Jamaica
Jamaican rum
Where in the Caribbean did distilling begin?
Barbados
Describe the typical Barbadian rum (excluding flavour)
Blend of pot and column still marks
Dry
Richly textured
Oak aged
Molasses
Describe typical flavours for Barbadian rum
A balance between rich, generous, toffee, caramel character from molasses and vanilla/spice aromas from oak maturation
Which major style of rum is Barbados most known for?
Coloured, oak aged rums rather than colourless examples
What is noteworthy about colourless Barbadian rums?
They are likely to have had their colour removed by filtration
Briefly describe Guyana
A country in northern South America
T or F: Guyana has the largest density of distilleries in the world
False
There is only one active distillery in Guyana
What is the significance of Guyana’s sole distillery?
It has a collection of antique pot and column stills from Guyanese distilleries which have since closed
What is the impact of all of the stills to which the one Guyanese distillery has access?
They allow it to make many different, characterful heavy marks
From which product are the rums of Guyana’s Diamond Estate made?
Molasses
For what are Diamond Estate’s rums used?
They are highly sought after for blended rums
Also used for individual single mark rums
Describe the character of Diamond Estate’s rums
Intensely rich and earthy, particularly after long maturation
Are Diamond Estate’s rums only used externally?
No, they produce some under their own label
Where in South America is rum made?
Throughout the northern part and Central America
Where in South America might some of the larger brands be produced?
Venezuela
Colombia
Panama
Nicaragua
Guatemala
What is the most common base material in South American rum?
Molasses
How much South American rum is oak aged?
The majority
Describe the character of most South American rums
Typically have a generous molasses and oak character
Notably smooth texture enhanced by sugar
Medium sweetness
What do most distillers do with stock of unaged rums?
Sell them to companies mostly in Europe
On reaching their destination companies in Europe, what tends then to happen to unaged rums?
They are stored, aged and blended for their clients
What is unique about rum trading?
European companies buying the spirits unaged from the Caribbean
What generally is a blended rum?
A rum made from the products of more than one distillery
Where are blending options generally sourced for blended rums?
What are the exceptions?
They are generally bought from a third party company
There have been collaborations between distilleries in recent years
What is the style of blended rums?
It varies hugely
What is the relative volume of rum that is matured by third parties?
High
What is it helpful to know when buying a non-distillery bottling of rum? Why?
Provenance
It can affect the style
Give an example of why provenance can affect a non-distillery rum
It may be aged in Europe (continentally) rather than the Caribbean (tropically)
What is the world’s largest producer of sugar cane spirits?
Brazil
What is the most important sugar cane spirit in Brazil?
Cachaça
What is the base material for Cachaça?
Sugar cane juice
Where is most Cachaça consumed?
Brazil
Does the style of Cachaça vary much?
It varies hugely
Describe the most common style of Cachaça
Unaged
Pronounced grassy, vegetal and fruity
Distilled to a low strength
Often slightly sweetened
What is unique about the wood aged examples of Cachaça?
They often take advantage of local hard woods for colour and flavour
What is the EU stipulation about rhum agricole?
It must be made from sugar cane juice in a French overseas department or Madeira
Where in the Caribbean must rhum agricole be made?
Martinique or Guadeloupe
Where of note does NOT recognise the legal definition of rhum agricole?
USA
Where is Cachaça a legally defined labelling term?
USA
Briefly describe where ‘overproof’ gets its name/how it’s defined
Old British method of measuring alcohol
Measured against 57.15% abv (this was 100 proof)
This is a different scale to the ‘proof’ system in USA
