I'm a rum distiller in the Caribbean. Very good video, and I love how you added the backset and let it over ferment a bit. Doing a dunder pit over multiple ferments might give you a more authentic flavor, but given the circumstances you have, pretty spot on. There is so much we don't know, and so many ways they made rum, and it's great that you discussed all those possible variables.
Fresh cane juice is abundant where I'm from. I'm fermenting some right now to be distilled into rum. Is the juice enough on its own? Or should I add sugar/molasses to it?
@@4kays160 well I did make it. Made 2 batches one with molasses the other with pomegranate molasses. The former tasted like ass but the latter was phenomenal. Specially, after being aged for a little bit.
I had an epiphany on rum some years ago. My wife got a bottle of pre-revolution Cuban produced dark Bacardi, it did not compute, we were in a hard situation, both emotionally and financially (covid lockdowns, there was a period of few months with 3 kids at home and zero income, it was hard), her birthday was coming up, and she got a bottle that looked disgusting, somebody old died, they were clearing the apartment, it was kind of a yard sale, bottle did not look like anything, label was all moldy, etc, in short, she got it for free. She opened it just before her birthday, we are depressed, no money, and only way to celebrate her birthday was this mouldy bottle of Bacardi. We expected it to either taste disgusting, or poison us, but what the hell... But it tasted amazing, on level of a very good whiskey. Top notch spirit. She took a picture and posted it on facebook, someone who knows his spirits answered "don't open it, you can sell it on ebay for USD 5000", but it was too late. it was already open. So we drank it slowly, enjoying every sip, over few weeks. We did not know where was our next meal coming from, and if we go outside we would be fined, etc, but we had this bottle of rum so good I did know it was possible. We survived that period, community activists were giving out food packages to help people in situation like ours, and I found a remote job, I can do from home. But religiously inclined would say, god sent us that bottle of rum to save our sanity during hardest lockdown times.
As a historian I felt your approach was more than fair. Set definitions and techniques are more of a modern invention, and so when exploring historic techniques there is often plenty of room on top of the fact that we just dont know some details. Full marks on the historic presentation and appropriate caveats.
@@TheRabadish Yeah pretty much. You usually cut things to fit, at angles that looked about right. Almost everything was a one off project, you built it to work for the exact purpose it was meant for and likely never built one the same again.
@@Ja_Mes at that time the timber available had a large impact on how boats were built, ie they made the boat fit the timber not the timber fit the boat as is the case now.
As a student of archaeology I'm so glad there are so many people that get this here lol. Throughout history people couldnt be super picky about a lot of raw materials, unlike today where you can get materials the are damn near perfectly made compared to much of our past.
I have been making rum from black strap molasses for 3 years now. It makes a wonderful Rum, especially after a nice oak period. One thing I have learned is that yeast absolutely loves molasses. To make a great wash all you need is water, molasses and your preferred yeast, and it just takes off. I save the last 20 liters of dunder for the next batch(200 liters) For those trying to "cheap out" and use animal feed grade molasses, be warned, most feed grade molasses contains sulfur as a preservative, and it will kill the yeast. I buy mine at a grocery wholesaler in 5Kg jugs. Still on guys.
I really want to try this. Regarding saving backset... Do you think 10% is a good number? Id like to see more about these funky "pits" we hear about....
When researching for a molasses rum a while ago, I discovered that molasses is what they use to grow yeast for baking. So your typical bread yeast is pretty much perfect for such rums.
i am trying to make brown looking rhum like from the store. how do they do it? do i just need to put a little bit of the sludge left over from the distillation back in?
Nothing wrong with captian Morgan. Ive drank many brands of rum and its just fine. It all comes down to what you like and captian morgan sells a lot of rum.
I was fully into Pirates from a young boy when I started playing Pirates on the Amiga 500..one of the greatest games of all time. It came with a physical map in the box and had me captivated. "Grog" was a large part of pirate motivation. You run out of rum and you got a mutiny on your hands.
If you are still alive, thanks for making me laugh. But if you have continuously been drinking rum at 9AM for years, then there is a non-zero chance you ain't here to read these words. I'll raise a glass on your behalf, bud
Fascinating take on old "pirate" rum. I was completely intrigued. As a brewer of beers, not spirits, I can't speak to the authenticity of your attempt, but as a history teacher and amateur historian, I think your attempt is pretty darn close. Well done! Thanks for a great video.
Would be interested to see how it tastes making traditional grog with it -- that is, just cut to about `10% with water. Add some lime juice to it as well after to give that a try since eventually that was done with grog as well. Standard rations for sailors was grog (to help keep the water from spoiling), and I can imagine it was fairly standard for pirates as well.
@@666mrdoctor caribbean pirates had more access to spices and fruits, and also spent shorter times at sea so they had less concern for the water going bad or for scurvy, and so made the party version of grog, called Bumbo/Bomboo/Bambu. take the recipe for grog, but use dark rum, add brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg. whatever spices your pirate crew stole last basically. I make a batch every year for when me and the gang hit up the renaissance faire in full pirate regalia. american politicians during the colonial era used to give the stuff out at campaign rallies. George washington was known for being very friendly with his rum stock, noted he doled out 160 gallons of bumbo to 391 voters during campaigning for the Virginia House of Burgesses in July 1758. NATURAL PIRATE.
The pictures of farmers chewing on grass is based upon the fact that certain grasses (Perennial Rye, Quack Grass, Crab Grass, Timothy) all have a very sweet taste, and acted sort of like a chewing gum. Supposedly, Timothy grass (Phleum pratense) also acts to settle the stomach. Crab Grass (Digitaria sanguinalis), which is mostly seen as an invasive weed now, was actually introduced as a garden grain by Slavic emigrant farmers. Crab Grass produces seed heads continuously, as opposed to one and done, (like wheat) and was the source of a porridge (it is also very nutritious, which makes one wonder why people spray the living dog snot out of it rather than making use of it.). The rhizomes of Quack Grass (Elymus repens) could also be used as flour or boiled down and fermented... I wonder what Crab grass whiskey would taste like...
As a man that grew up on a family farm in the northeast US, we would chew Timothy grass just cause of boardem when checking fences or waiting for a rain shower to pass. It was a sweetish vegetable flavor similar to baby spinach or young spring greens.
I tried looking it up, but the internet is so choked with ways to kill crabgrass that I couldn't easily find anything about turning it into anything useful other than a few survival sites. Nothing about whiskey. I think someone needs to try it out.
When I walk to check the mail I'll grab a pine needle from a nearby evergreen (there are lots near my home) and chew on it a bit. Get a little vitamin C in the system from it and it taste pretty okay..then again..the one I pluck from grows rather close to a small wild muscadine tree..don't know if that has anything to do with it.
I got the idea in my head that I wanted to taste rum the way it would have been made 300 years ago, meaning, ideally, that it would not contain flavorings, spices, colorings, whatever. With some searching, and the availability in my area, I got a bottle of Pusser's British Admiralty Rum. Now, I don't know how closely it resembles the original rums, but it's a world apart from the cheaper and highly-spiced rums I've had. All this to say, I really want to do what you've done in this video. My home cooking is better than anything I can get from the store, and I'm willing to bet a homemade rum would be better than most rums I could buy.
Try Rhum Barbancourt. priced near or a little above pussers, but actually a distillery with a record dating back to the 1860s... its a different experience. pussers is great, i love it... but its also from the 70s and youre taking on faith that their story is true.
I’m in my garage distilling rum watching Jesse distilling rum. Which now has me humming “we are the pirates who don’t do anything”. I seriously need to work on the whole pirate vibe…
Even back in the Golden Age of Piracy, the authorities kind of looked down on the whole "rape and pillage" thing. Pretty sure they're even less in favor of it nowadays.
9:54 Ya I think open ferment is going to take off. My hypothesis is it's really good in the early phases of ferm. Some breweries only do it this way for their beer. An interesting point is that proponents of it claim that b/c it's open, the yeast feel no back pressure from the fermentation container / airlock, which would presumably inhibit their metabolism. Which is to say, they are less stressed during their lifecycle.
Being old enough to have actually tasted Pusser's Rum, as it came out of the earthenware jugs, it was very dark and insanely strong - almost undrinkable neat. This was actually with the Army, I didn't even know it was on issue, the RQMS obviously kept that quiet! We'd been out on exercise in atrocious weather for days and were suffering exposure casualties, so Endex was called and the rum was served to the troops as a morale booster in "gunshot".
@@bjorndelight8093 If you get the right stuff it is! But as there are hundreds of different rums out there you have to be careful . . . . . . just to show my credentials I actually drew my tot in the Royal Navy for some three years until it was stopped in July of 1970 - the next day, the first of August 1970 became known as "Black Tot Day!" Thus ending over 300 years of tradition! The closest you can get these days is sold as Pussers Gunpowder Proof Rum - 54.5% proof. If you get it outside of the UK.
Called "Gunfire" I believe by the army and only issued at certain times by them. It should be noted that in the RN the Senior Rates were issued neat rum, whilst the Junior Rating were issued Grog - i.e. mixed with water, 2 parts water 1 part rum to prevent the rum being hoarded - too much of the stuff could kill! In the RN is was also used as a money system to be used as payment for various "favours". Incidentally when the army were carried onboard ship the Other Ranks (non commisioned) were issued the same amount of rum as the Navy Ratings were - i.e. 1/2 a gill a day. Before 1825 it was issued as a gill a day, 1/2 a gill at a time midday and in the evening! It had one added advantage, after having your issue you eat anything put in front of you no matter how bad the cooks were!
Wow! I learn about rum,good job. I'm a bit of a social drinker my drink of choice these days is BUMB RUM Co & Coke with a slice of lime while listening to Calypso Rose ,The Andrew Sisters or sea shanty from the brim to the dregs, drink up boys🎵🏝🥥🍹
Can you get your hands on guava nectar? Guava brandy is another Caribbean treat. As you're pulling jars, go deep into the tails, you'll pull some guava-ee sugary flavors that will knock your socks off.
ferment and distill molasses to get rum, ferment an distill pure sugar cane juice, and you get cachaça. They are often confused with each other, but very different due to the previous sugar content and aldehydes concentration. Worth trying both if you have the opportunity
Good show mate. To answer one of your questions. I think you made rum basically like they would have made it. Made with what you had available using basically the same practice in principle of how they would have made it. I'm wondering if adding in some of the fruits they had available would have added more of a regional impact. Like Papaya, banana, and guava. Those would have been available in abundance and I could see them being added in to the fermentation. Who knows. Anyway great video as always.
Ah but remember that the bananas available back then compared to now are different. In my opinion, based off the known works of the pirate William Dampier things such as cocoa, vanilla, peppers, and mango as well as some other traditionally tropical fruits would be appropriate
@@johnbeauvais3159 Your point in regards to Bananas are spot on, unless you live in a tropical country. I lived in Jamaica for 11 years and had the opportunity to taste various types of bananas.
There are any number of books and academic papers on how historic rum was made. Trade rum or the cheapest, crudest form was made from diluted blackstrap molassess, skimming (the foam skimmed off the top of boiling cane juice), dunder and some raw cane sugar. Then fermented in open air vats for a week or so before being distilled and barreled.
Very nice. I have always drank sailor Jerry's spiced naval rum, learned about it during my time in the Marine corps. I will definitely be trying to make this !
This was great. My favorite part is the actual frustration of having too many modern luxuries to feel you’re being as accurate as you could. The simple fact of having free flowing potable water is so easy to take for granted. That’s why I love this kind of stuff. You’re forced to think completely differently to get into the mindset of past peoples. I would love to taste your pirate rum sir. I salute you!
I have some old black strap from when I used to load the ships. I tried it once I better give it a go again before the drums give out. Ever tried to clean Black Strap off anything?
@@fufumfrmfr32 I really wonder how much money “lost” from piracy would have just not been spent if piracy wasn’t an option. I mean, how often is it that you pirate something that you just wouldn’t have spent money on or didn’t have enough money so if you didn’t pirate it you never would have gotten it at all?
@@GogiRegion my estimate is between 90% given most people use it to test things and then even buy the legit version, or quite often buy the legit, then get the pirate one without the stupid DMA that serves only to punish honest customers.
I just made my first batch of rumm with good results, 1 gal of blackstrap ,added 2 cups white sugar and two cups organic brown sugar , pitched turbo yeast for rum .done fermenting it 48 hours or less. Very good yield . One pint turned into spiced with Jamaican vanilla bean. 1 cinnamon stick, 1 anise star and 10 or so cloves. Like it so far
I once watched a RUclips video where a guy made some “1800’s recipe Coca Cola”. He basically had nothing they needed to make it and wasted bandwidth. You didn’t do this. You put out the effort and got what you could (not what was just laying around). I applaud you. Can’t wait to get back in my house and get some stuff cookin…
I've been a fermentation chemist for several years (fuel ethanol). Recently retired and I want to make rum!!! I'll start buying stuff next year. Any advice on stills would be appreciated.
Was the molasses used for the rum in this video unsulphured or sulphured? Also, since 17th century molasses had a much higher sugar content, maybe using a sweet unsulphered Barbados (or light) molasses would be more authentic.
The comment about Sulphur is mute, they have been using Sulphur since the Egyptian times to keep all sorts of things. Plus all yeasts (especially wild yeast) when making alcohol give off and add Sulphur.
I'm pretty sure unless you have an allergy to sulphur dioxide, I don't think sulphured/unsulphured is much of an issue honestly. I think the idea comes from people imagining some harm to the fermenting organism because of a shaky grasp of chemistry and the processes involved. Same as people swear black and blue that iodine in salt will make it so your pickles won't come out.. Which is to put it mildly complete bullshit. It _does_ come out which you can prove by doing it yourself. I think the person that came up with it probably imagined that "iodine" is an antiseptic, and therefore would kill the lactobacillus used to make pickles. Except 1. that's elemental iodine and not the iodide salt added to salt as a mineral supplement and 2. it's added at literally trace amounts. In the same way, claiming "sulphured molasses" will do your rum wash harm is in my view probably a myth based on misunderstanding the process. It's using sulphur dioxide to disinfect the cane itself so it doesn't go rotten before it's pressed and boiled. Sure this could a problem if you were relying on the yeasts present on the cane to ferment it. I'm sure that was or is a thing with a rhum agricole or cachaça, but that point is moot once you actually boil the cane juice to make molasses anyway. As most of the antiseptic effect is gone soon after the process is complete and it sits for any length of time, and entirely gone once you crush it and boil the bejesus out of it, as well as the boiling killing anything anyway. And it will do no more harm to the flavour than using metabisulphite to sterilise the fermentation vessels. Because the sterilisation is from the exact same chemical, sulphur dioxide released from the metabisulphite solution. All that being said, even traces of sulphur dioxide can cause anaphalactic shock in those sensitive to it. Also this is all my own opinion and reasoning, I haven't tested it. Though I have tried making pickles from iodised salt, saurkraut to be precise, and it works just fine ;)
The sulphur dioxide is a gas, so somewhat evanescent. I can detect it in dried fruit occasionally, but I have a stupidly sensitive sense of smell. Which is not a super power you should pick by there way... There's more sulphur in the cysteine, etc., in the (probably minimal) proteins in the molasses, and that's where most of the hydrogen sulphide comes from I'll bet. And in any case most of it is removed when you distil it, especially in copper. If you use stainless you'll probably catch a slight hair salon whiff even with a sugar wash, but it's not too bad if you don't boil the crap out of it. Or at least that's what I've found. But someone should definitely run the sulphured vs. unsulphured rum experiment and report back to evil genius HQ :D
So for it to be the "Navy Strength" it should be at least 54.5% ABV. A document from 1866 states "The Issuing Strength of Rum was laid down at 4.5 under proof (unchanged today). The strength of normal spirits sold in the IK is 30 under proof. Then when you put in the sloshing of the rum in the casks, this would give the ageing effect as it has been shown as more of the spirt contacts the wood due to the sloshing around in the cask due to the roll of the ship.
It also it might not have been a barrel used prior for alcohol, it could have been a barrel full of brine cured meats or flour or pickled vegetables or a corpse
Rum is such a nice spirit if it's good. I'm thinking I should get to know more about it because I've been disappointed when tasting (by my standards) fairly expensive rums. So many of them are sweetened too much and that definitely doesn't float my boat. I love the dry ones I've tried.
I’m 5 days into fermenting a rum myself for the first time !! Hope it turns out as good as yours. Your channel along with Barley and Hops and Bearded and Bored are all I watch to figure this stuff out !! Awesome video
This is awesome, and pirates totally loved rum. Clean drinking water wasnt always present and on demand, especially onboard ships in the ocean, so sometimes rum was literally all they had to drink. Its absolutely wild to think about.
the royal navy still issues sailors with a rum ration to day another fact is it was added to the ships drinking water back in the days of sail and that was what they called grog . two purposes of that was 1. keep the water some what more clean and sterile ish 2. it kept the sailors subdued and a little merry on their long voyage with out them getting rowdy if they just drank rum or beer as that was the safest thing to drink at the time i believe the cut may have been 25% rum give or take a bit
Fun fact, the term "proof" comes from these days, British sailors who received rum rations often did not trust the quartermaster, whom they thought would water down the rum in order to set some extra aside for himself. So, they would put gunpowder in the rum, and if it still ignited, it meant it was undiluted and was considered "100 proof"
@@Runedragonx as a pirate it really depends on who you work for, what is available, who you are, when you are. Some captains might let you drink all you want, some might frown on any. Pirates weren't very organized, it was just an umbrella for people who maraud the seas.
The best rum i have ever had was the Diplomatico Rum of 2013... that was such a marvelous rum when i first tried it in 2016 that i returned the same day and bought 2 bottles... i found 3 more bottles of the same vintage through out the years, but its getting rare... Its the nicest alcoholic beverage i have ever had, hands down... Nothing else compares with that fullness and royally rich flavour and aroma... And it really goes amazingly well with a good pipe or a cigar if you are a smoker, or even a great pack of cigarettes like those specialty tobacco blends and such...
I just finished distilling rum. 2 liters of molasses (animal feed - so I guess it's blackstrap) with 3 kg of white sugar and normal instant dry yeast in a 25 liter fermenter. Left it to ferment for 14 days and got 3.5 liters of rum out at 60% ABV. Used a home-built reflux still with a copper column. Not a connoisseur so I can't comment on the subtle flavors, but the hardened rum drinkers in the family love it! I flavor it with cherry wood and a bit of the boiled down dunder. Your video is great and I loved the historical background. Perhaps I should make a video about my method?
Love your videos. Probably not authentic "Pirate Rhumb", but brown sugar with golden molasses, made for human consumption, 8 lbs, and a quart of Mo in 5 gallons of water, using regular red star yeast... Single run. Delicious, more caramel, no clouds. With stock molasses, use an amylase or a cup of drool to help break out flavors. As far as copper in a still, the boiling surface is also important. I'd suggest throwing in a dozen copper fittings in your pot as boiling chips. Also attaching a bubbler, or a basket filled with different fruits, vanilla, etc , can add very nice flavors. I've found that cuts deeper into the run, when left to sit, start to hint of tequila. Cheers.
The suggestion from a trip to Antigua in 2019 was that the British would put rum into whatever barrels they had available, which were frequently ones that has previously held lead shot and/or gunpowder on the trip out there. Really add some sulfur tang to your rum that way!
Great video. Made some black strap rum a while ago. Blew out the fermenter bubbler and made one hell of a mess and on top of it all during covid I had no conditioner available and puked quite a bit. Ended up with a smooth rum with a lot of molasses taste. Wouldn't say I would do it again, but the molasses was on special and I was curios. Probably put it through my air still to get rid of the majority molasses taste.
Came here for the history ... was not disappointed. It's funny because around the 4 min mark is a joke about the "clickable YT titles." I honestly was hoping for exactly what I got: The how was rum made when it came to prominence in the Caribbean. "Pirates" are just the icing on the cake.
Nice! I'm thinking pirates drank what they could get their hands on. I know the British Navy had a rum ration for each sailor each day. Given the location where rum was made and that daily rum ration, rum is forever linked to sailors (both pirates and seaman alike).
I am not a "drinker" per se, but now and again I want a shot of something, in summer "dog days" a beer is in order. Just seems to refresh. But it is 1 shot, one beer. An occasional glass or two of wine. Yet, I enjoy your show. For whatever reason. So, thank you!
I am glad you brought up skimming. My family came to fl. About 1650 with the Spanish. And some of them still grow cain and make cain syurp every year. Its been told down through the years about using the skimming to make what would be called moonshine now. But I always thought it was closer to rum. I know florida has always had rum.
moonshine broadly refers to any homemade spirit, the term comes from prohibition bootlegging days when illegal alcohol was smuggled by the light of the moon, rum can be moonshine
This ignites my want to try Rum again. I had the most terrible experience with it because I could not source bulk molasses. So I cheaped out and used livestock grade... I thought it was the bomb because of the sugar content and being pure cane molasses. However, turns out they watered it down with Canola oil... ask me how well that all went.... managed to get it into the still and that was a disaster lol
super video Jesse, awesome history lesson as well thanks. Found black strap to be a bit harsh so I normally go with one third black and the rest standard molasses. With the puke I found if you bring the still up to temp and then turn it off for 20min and back on again my still doesn't puke. Cheers love the camera work
Nelson, who was critical in the defeat of Napoleon, died in the battle of Trafalgar. His body was preserved in rum for transport back to England. However, when the cask of rum was opened upon arrival, it was found to be empty. Sailors had drunk the rum. Hence to this day rum is called "Nelson's Blood" in the British Royal Navy.
I've gone from exclusively whiskey, then vodka, then flavored vodka, and have settled on rum for the past few years. Personally sticking with Coral Reef Golden Rum for most of my drinks and Kaniche Reserve Rum when I want to treat myself.
I have a rum bar in my home, actually my pool bar. I'm not a big drinker so to speak as far as daily, but rum is my alcohol of choice, and I enjoy entertaining for friends and making rum based drink. Hot, Florida, pool days, etc. All of you in the comments section would be pretty appreciative of my collection, as I have almost 200 bottles from around the world. Many I bought while in that country, or had a friend buy it for me. So many in the collection are not available in the states. And that is the theme of my rum bar, being able to offer tasting from various countries. With that said, I have never brewed anything. But now I will. I searched and found this video, which just encourages me even more. I want to make my own Caribbean history based old school rum. If anyone has any advice, please feel free to respond. Even if its just little tidbits. Or "buy this, not that". Or "you can find this on Amazon". I'll use this video to launch my effort, but I'm sure some of you have learned some things from trial and error.
HEY JESSE , WATCHING YOUR VIDEOS HAS BEEN AN INSPIRATION TO ME, I'M A MODERN DAY SAILOR FROM A TROPICAL PARDISE OF SOUTHERN INDIA (ALSO CALLED THE SPICE GARDEN OF INDIA). I'VE SAILED ARROUND THE WORLD SEVERAL TIMES , AND I CAN SAY FOR SURE TO THE BEST OF MY KNOLEDGE SAILORS STILL PREFER RUM TO ALL THE OTHER SPIRITS AT SEA ( NOT TO MENTION BEER WHICH IS NOT EXACTLY A SPIRIT). I'VE STARTED THE HOBBY OF STILLING AS AN INSPIRATION FROM YOUR CHANNEL ( WHICH IS A BIG NO NO AS PER THE LAW OF THE LAND I'M FROM). "SO I DO IT ON THE INTERNATIONAL WATERS" , WHEN I GET PRAISE ON MY CRAFT I ALWAYS ATRIBUTE IT TO YOU. THANK YOU FOR SHARING YOUR KNOLEDGE . KEEP STILLING SAHODARA....
Hey Jess, Just a few tips. The next time you do a rum wash try some evaporated cane juice with the molasses. Makes a big difference in the fermentation and the finish product. Also when doing a stripping run go ahead and pull a bit of for-shots just for fun. This makes the cuts a bit easier on the the finish run. I tend to go for just hearts on my final run with Rum and its worth it. Store in whatever container you want (I use stainless milk containers) and just add some American white oak toasted (French Style) with a # 3 char and let rest for 16 weeks min and up to as many years as you can wait for it. Trust me this is the best thing you can do for Rum. Enjoy
I also added 2L of fresh pinapple juice to my 30L wash. Added a nice tropical edge and the yeast rollover method I was using enjoyed the higher acid environment.
A) pretty sure he mentioned that he doesn't have access to cane juice (no sugar can in NZ), B) he also mentioned that historical rum wasn't aged C) you seem to have completely missed the point of the video - no offence meant, he has other rum videos where he goes through your processes.
When you make rum, you make a batch how you did, save all the junk you don't distil, let it ferment for a few months and add it to the next batch you make. It makes every batch after your first taste 100x better, Tech ingredients has a whole video about this idea in their "how to make rum" set.
I think they just used yeast from the previous batch. If you're already using leftover water from the still, why not add it to the slurry left behind after fermentation.
13:04 well that is probably just a bias: only the really high quality rum of the time would have been spared and aged, while the ragular/average rum would have just been drunk. So obviously people drinking old rum these days think it is good rum, because it is the very best they had at the time.
Wow dude I think i subscribed when you were under 1k subs and havent checked in for a while and you are at 183k awesome work and I originally joined the channel to learn about Rum making! Good work!
The best rum I had was on the Island of Roatan off the Honduras in the mid 70s. This was before it became the retirement community as it is today. Not only was it homemade, but the Island historically was a pirate island, with the remains of a fort being located on a small cay in the middle of the Lagoon in Port Royal as they called it.
I watched this while drinking some of my homebrewed porter. I actually made what was essentially a spiced rum once, back in the day (from a failed attempt at root beer from scratch, which fermented, then I dumped cinnamon in the wash and distilled). I didn't have any equipment, so I used a Connelly ice water still - took my brewpot, turned the lid upside-down, and suspended a bowl over the wash and tried to regulate the temperature right on an electric burner. I managed to do 3 distillations, and it came out pretty good! Though your description sounds closer to Havana Club (yum). To answer your question, yeah I think you did pretty well given the information we have available about the time and place. Your interpretation seems like what we in the SCA would call a good redaction.
Rum has always been my favorite, my addiction to brown sugar and molasses makes me love it so so much, and with that I do agree it’s hard to find good rum that hits those notes and I’m happy to see how it’s made
Love these recipe type videos keep them coming. And start a muck pit for the next round. Lets get some Jamaican style going. If you really want to get into it look into making the ester salts with acid. HD has a good read up on it.
@@MrGoatflakes cousins process is what i was referring to. Don’t know if same thing or not. I have played around with it a little but never actually created the salts. I only added some sulfuric as a catalyst during spirit run with muck.
"Did I make a historic type rum?" That's a fair question with all of the experts to consider it, but the REAL question is "Is what I did worth making more for myself and my friends?"
I have made Rum from Blackstrap Molasses and I added brown sugar to up the sugar content. I ran it in a traditional still with a thumper keg and copper coil. It ran off at around 150 proof then I cut it to about 80 proof after a few weeks of sitting with charred oak and spices. It turned out a lot like Capt. Morgan's rum which I was really happy with. I wouldn't think of drinking it straight, it is best when making mixed drinks. But from what I have read about the Royal Navy (where I believe most Pirates originated from or from merchant ships) the the issue of a ration of daily rum was for the most part considered medicinal to ward off tropical diseases and scurvy. Also that it was to be diluted with water before rationing out. Of course I doubt any Pirates held to the diluting part. Something to think about is in the series Black Sails on Starz, there was a part when John Silver was going ashore to resupply food and rum, Capt. Flint says to him," less food and more Rum", He wanted the Pirates worked up when he announced that Woodes Rodgers had taken over New Providence Island, he wanted them ready to fight. So I would venture to guess that a smart Pirate Capt. knew his brothers were most ready for a fight when they were a bit tipsy and therefore knew the true value of a barrel of Rum.
Hi made a pineapple rum i simmered 2 and a half litres of molasses for 30 minutes and infused 4 kg of brown cane sugar then simmered 2 litres of dunder i had from a previous run and added a kg of pineapple let them both simmer around 30 minutes added a small jar of honey and lime juice left to cool then added to my 30 litre fermenter mixed with a paint mier bit on my drill and added still spirts yeast it fermentated out in a week when i stilled it it was around 90% i proofed it down to around 45% it tastes amazing 😛🥃 ps love all your videos they really help me out keep up the good work Jessie 👏
Grade A molasses creates a much more grassy, sweet, gentler rum. Not as much caramelization. If you can get your hands on an agricole rum (made with sugar cane juice), i would highly recommend it.
@@jasonlambert6244 This is my reply to both this comment and your other great one from the same time: I personally didn't dig the fancier grade of molasses, but I totally agree with your description. While in China, I struggled to find a reliable blackstrap supply n went with the A grade. By siphoning only the top 90% into the still, and doing a couple strips before the spirit run, I was able to eliminate some of the "plant" notes that I, and my clientele, didn't enjoy as much (I only used pot still systems in my nano distillery as I don't like using any additives nor flavorings, and thus wanted keep as much natural flavor as possible). Now living on a tropical island, I find getting the black right easy, and it sure is noticeably more to my liking. These days it's all hobby n private work, but that in itself sure is freeing. I let a dunder sit out (cheesecloth to keep the bugs out but nice n open to get the funk) and do all the fermentations open top (cheesecloth as well). Using Lalvin EC-1118 cuz shes a fine beast that handles these 28-32 degree days like a champ. Long slow over ferment is definitely a winner to me. Sure, less total volume over time, but quality trumps quantity every time, eh? Agricole, while being something I think everyone should try, just doesn't float my boat the way a dark "industriale" does. That's the beaut of it all though, to eat their own flavors ;)
@@jasonlambert6244 Fresh cane juice is abundant where I'm from. I'm fermenting some right now to be distilled into rum. Is the juice enough on its own? Or should I add sugar/molasses to it?
I just stumbled on this video and was intrigued. You seem to be a cool dude who, like me, has a fascination with the origins of spirits. The rum you made seemed accurate based on my knowledge on the subject. I subscribed to your channel and look forward to watching more videos! Also, I am enticed with the jewelry website that you recommended. Want to get myself and my lady matching rings for our upcoming wedding and the rings shown reflect our style.
I've learned that rum is a lot more complicated than I thought... I've added it to he (long) list of things I planning to make. Thanks for the video and I hope the family is all feeling better.
Cheers from Canada! I don’t think you necessarily made it according to historical standards, but if you made it true to history you likely would’ve had a strange version of rum as we know it (if it even came out successful at all, with the variable heat through fire heating being just one major possible factor contributing to a failure). I think you did a fine job, and I got very excited when you were describing your product! I could almost taste it myself! There’s nothing quite like a homemade spirit, and rum (in my humble opinion) tops them all!
The shape and set up of your still greatly affects the flavor of rum. I’ve made the same recipe and put it through different set ups and shapes of stills and the flavor keeps changing. The story goes Bacardi Rum when they get a new still has a team that hits it with hammers so each dent is replicated from the old still to the new one.
As far as I know Bacardi just uses massive stainless steel continuous stills. Nothing “craft” about that and definetely no hammers involved. In my opinion Bacardi can’t even be called rum..
I read an article on a Scottish still maker who builds them for major distilleries and they said that the rumours about denting them to be exactly the same as the last ones that are being replaced is absolutely false. With the money that these distilleries pay, there's no way that they'll purposefully damage them.
Great video but remember that much of the rum was used to make grog which I always keep in stock. The classic recipe is still the best. 1 part Sour (Lime/lemon juice) 2 parts Sweet (Sugar water) 3 parts Strong (Rum) 4 parts Weak (Water)
The host: Explaining the history of rum and how he made it historically accurate, all in all a fantastic tale. Me who stares at the beard the entire time: Heh, bouncy.
Black Strap is about right. If you've got issue with it, add a bag of cane sugar to it and water, and boil it down for another day or two. I had a friend down in (RETRACTED) who made his own Rum down in the Barrio, and let me tell you what a smooth mash he had rolling in his still. If you add in some fruit or more Sugarcane, you'll have a mash that will give a particular taste to the rum. As usual- don't drink the heads, don't drink the tails. That's what you can use for paint thinner, or lanterns. He used his for parts cleaners and automotive.
The ships in transport to and from the Caribbean had an on-board kitchen/galley and bakery. This would have a live yeast culture that could be "borrowed" for fermenting low grade cane products. Likely a yeast culture on land would be repeatedly used and kept alive and reused probably meaning that it mutated over time to be a rum yeast rather than a bread yeast. Yeast lives and grows in aerobic conditions, and separately it ferments in anaerobic conditions -hence fermentation is done under a fermentation lock.
You HAVE to turn a bit of that into Grog, like just make a glass of it. Grog was invented to allow the crew to drink, but also stretch that rum out for the entire voyage.
There’s a distillery out of Sweden distilling a replica of spirits found on the sunken warship Vasa (sank in 1628) The ship was raised in the 1960’s and is essentially 80 percent complete, incredible sight to see at the museum, and the liquor equally incredible. Amazing feat
I find it funny that here in Venezuela, a country with a strong Rum culture, there are zero brands with pirate themes, not even the cheaper plastic bottle stuff. Here pirates couldn't be farther away from the rum market.
in the early days of sailing as you said water wasnt readily available and ships had to carry there own, the rum was mixed with the water to keep it from going bad. the mixture was called "grog" the sailors were given a ration for the day.
I am just into my "second gen" rum, anticipation of how reusing some backset and yeastcake are starting to get to me. Also really, really glad you are "poop shy"! Great video, always excited when release a new one
Having made a couple batches of rum using fancy baking molasses, two things were consistent between batches (you’d hope for some consistency considering I used the same recipe). First, the aroma off the still was heavily scented like overripe bananas. Quite heavenly. Second, I never got around to letting any of it age for any length of time, ahem, cut it with some backset, water and maple syrup, aged in a small oak barrel for about a month. Both batches had this odd aftertaste, like olives maybe? Dunno, it was a weird earthy aftertaste of some description. I think, though, if I had managed to let it sit for a year or two that the weirdness may have dissipated.
I'm curious if local woods were used to store the initial ferment or as piping for the still (thinking things like bamboo). Could have a interesting twist on the final taste. I feel like you could spend years playing with this and get some really cool results
Book: Sugar Blues Great historical perspective on the sugar control syndicates and its structure. Have you tried Black Sugar? Cane Juice that has the water boiled off. What remains is a sugar that contains everything, molasses, vitamins, minerals and is as hard as a brick. A first press evaporated cane juice with nothing but water temoved. Mexicans call it piancillo. India and Thailand have there names for this sugar.
I'm a rum distiller in the Caribbean. Very good video, and I love how you added the backset and let it over ferment a bit. Doing a dunder pit over multiple ferments might give you a more authentic flavor, but given the circumstances you have, pretty spot on. There is so much we don't know, and so many ways they made rum, and it's great that you discussed all those possible variables.
Fresh cane juice is abundant where I'm from. I'm fermenting some right now to be distilled into rum. Is the juice enough on its own? Or should I add sugar/molasses to it?
@@1SmokedTurkey1 your making australian rum, bundaberg rum to be precise.. idk about the molasses steps though ive never made it
@@4kays160 well I did make it. Made 2 batches one with molasses the other with pomegranate molasses. The former tasted like ass but the latter was phenomenal. Specially, after being aged for a little bit.
@A J is that relevant?
@A J No, it really doesn’t. The dude could work there, could have been born from a Caucasian family there.
I had an epiphany on rum some years ago. My wife got a bottle of pre-revolution Cuban produced dark Bacardi, it did not compute, we were in a hard situation, both emotionally and financially (covid lockdowns, there was a period of few months with 3 kids at home and zero income, it was hard), her birthday was coming up, and she got a bottle that looked disgusting, somebody old died, they were clearing the apartment, it was kind of a yard sale, bottle did not look like anything, label was all moldy, etc, in short, she got it for free. She opened it just before her birthday, we are depressed, no money, and only way to celebrate her birthday was this mouldy bottle of Bacardi. We expected it to either taste disgusting, or poison us, but what the hell... But it tasted amazing, on level of a very good whiskey. Top notch spirit. She took a picture and posted it on facebook, someone who knows his spirits answered "don't open it, you can sell it on ebay for USD 5000", but it was too late. it was already open. So we drank it slowly, enjoying every sip, over few weeks. We did not know where was our next meal coming from, and if we go outside we would be fined, etc, but we had this bottle of rum so good I did know it was possible. We survived that period, community activists were giving out food packages to help people in situation like ours, and I found a remote job, I can do from home. But religiously inclined would say, god sent us that bottle of rum to save our sanity during hardest lockdown times.
Lol 'fined for going outside' what a joke
As a historian I felt your approach was more than fair. Set definitions and techniques are more of a modern invention, and so when exploring historic techniques there is often plenty of room on top of the fact that we just dont know some details. Full marks on the historic presentation and appropriate caveats.
Lmfao what do you mean set definitions and techniques are a modern invention mfs was just WINGING it making sea faring boats for 7 thousand years?
@@Ja_Mes yes.
@@TheRabadish
Yeah pretty much. You usually cut things to fit, at angles that looked about right. Almost everything was a one off project, you built it to work for the exact purpose it was meant for and likely never built one the same again.
@@Ja_Mes at that time the timber available had a large impact on how boats were built, ie they made the boat fit the timber not the timber fit the boat as is the case now.
As a student of archaeology I'm so glad there are so many people that get this here lol. Throughout history people couldnt be super picky about a lot of raw materials, unlike today where you can get materials the are damn near perfectly made compared to much of our past.
I have been making rum from black strap molasses for 3 years now. It makes a wonderful Rum, especially after a nice oak period. One thing I have learned is that yeast absolutely loves molasses. To make a great wash all you need is water, molasses and your preferred yeast, and it just takes off. I save the last 20 liters of dunder for the next batch(200 liters)
For those trying to "cheap out" and use animal feed grade molasses, be warned, most feed grade molasses contains sulfur as a preservative, and it will kill the yeast. I buy mine at a grocery wholesaler in 5Kg jugs.
Still on guys.
I really want to try this. Regarding saving backset... Do you think 10% is a good number? Id like to see more about these funky "pits" we hear about....
When researching for a molasses rum a while ago, I discovered that molasses is what they use to grow yeast for baking. So your typical bread yeast is pretty much perfect for such rums.
i am trying to make brown looking rhum like from the store. how do they do it? do i just need to put a little bit of the sludge left over from the distillation back in?
@@Francois_Dupontthe brown comes from the barrel wood, doesn't it?
@@bodazephyr6629 i think yes, they must also put a bit of spice extract in there.
Rum is such an underrated drink that just gets bastardized by The Captain
great tintin reference
It's not for nothing that 'talking to The Captain' has become synonymous with 'projectile vomiting'. The stuff is horrible.
Nothing wrong with captian Morgan. Ive drank many brands of rum and its just fine. It all comes down to what you like and captian morgan sells a lot of rum.
@@johnpietros9439 it's like jack daniel's whisky, it works, it's fine, it'll get you drunk, it's cheap
@@FrostyShock349 not sure about cheap. Special stock isn’t exactly cheap
I was fully into Pirates from a young boy when I started playing Pirates on the Amiga 500..one of the greatest games of all time. It came with a physical map in the box and had me captivated. "Grog" was a large part of pirate motivation. You run out of rum and you got a mutiny on your hands.
Just because i drink rum at 9 in the morning does not mean I am an alcoholic . It means I am a Pirate !
AARRHHH! You be so very correctly right!
Arrr I agree
Too true!
alcoholics go to meetings.
If you are still alive, thanks for making me laugh. But if you have continuously been drinking rum at 9AM for years, then there is a non-zero chance you ain't here to read these words.
I'll raise a glass on your behalf, bud
Fascinating take on old "pirate" rum. I was completely intrigued. As a brewer of beers, not spirits, I can't speak to the authenticity of your attempt, but as a history teacher and amateur historian, I think your attempt is pretty darn close. Well done! Thanks for a great video.
You need to do crossover with Max Miller Tasting History
I agree completely!!!
And Tom Miler who tastes various alcohols
And Townsends!
@@ffwast And John would add Nutmeg!
Oh hell yeah
Would be interested to see how it tastes making traditional grog with it -- that is, just cut to about `10% with water. Add some lime juice to it as well after to give that a try since eventually that was done with grog as well. Standard rations for sailors was grog (to help keep the water from spoiling), and I can imagine it was fairly standard for pirates as well.
Grog was a navy thing, but spirits were traditionally drunk with water so maybe they had sometimes similar to grog.
@@666mrdoctor caribbean pirates had more access to spices and fruits, and also spent shorter times at sea so they had less concern for the water going bad or for scurvy, and so made the party version of grog, called Bumbo/Bomboo/Bambu. take the recipe for grog, but use dark rum, add brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg. whatever spices your pirate crew stole last basically. I make a batch every year for when me and the gang hit up the renaissance faire in full pirate regalia.
american politicians during the colonial era used to give the stuff out at campaign rallies. George washington was known for being very friendly with his rum stock, noted he doled out 160 gallons of bumbo to 391 voters during campaigning for the Virginia House of Burgesses in July 1758. NATURAL PIRATE.
The lime juice was probably to try and help keep the scurvy at bay!
The pictures of farmers chewing on grass is based upon the fact that certain grasses (Perennial Rye, Quack Grass, Crab Grass, Timothy) all have a very sweet taste, and acted sort of like a chewing gum. Supposedly, Timothy grass (Phleum pratense) also acts to settle the stomach. Crab Grass (Digitaria sanguinalis), which is mostly seen as an invasive weed now, was actually introduced as a garden grain by Slavic emigrant farmers. Crab Grass produces seed heads continuously, as opposed to one and done, (like wheat) and was the source of a porridge (it is also very nutritious, which makes one wonder why people spray the living dog snot out of it rather than making use of it.). The rhizomes of Quack Grass (Elymus repens) could also be used as flour or boiled down and fermented...
I wonder what Crab grass whiskey would taste like...
As a man that grew up on a family farm in the northeast US, we would chew Timothy grass just cause of boardem when checking fences or waiting for a rain shower to pass. It was a sweetish vegetable flavor similar to baby spinach or young spring greens.
I am more of a rice or corn guy. Good to know though
Now I'm curious
I tried looking it up, but the internet is so choked with ways to kill crabgrass that I couldn't easily find anything about turning it into anything useful other than a few survival sites. Nothing about whiskey. I think someone needs to try it out.
When I walk to check the mail I'll grab a pine needle from a nearby evergreen (there are lots near my home) and chew on it a bit. Get a little vitamin C in the system from it and it taste pretty okay..then again..the one I pluck from grows rather close to a small wild muscadine tree..don't know if that has anything to do with it.
I got the idea in my head that I wanted to taste rum the way it would have been made 300 years ago, meaning, ideally, that it would not contain flavorings, spices, colorings, whatever. With some searching, and the availability in my area, I got a bottle of Pusser's British Admiralty Rum. Now, I don't know how closely it resembles the original rums, but it's a world apart from the cheaper and highly-spiced rums I've had. All this to say, I really want to do what you've done in this video. My home cooking is better than anything I can get from the store, and I'm willing to bet a homemade rum would be better than most rums I could buy.
Try Rhum Barbancourt. priced near or a little above pussers, but actually a distillery with a record dating back to the 1860s... its a different experience.
pussers is great, i love it... but its also from the 70s and youre taking on faith that their story is true.
I’m in my garage distilling rum watching Jesse distilling rum. Which now has me humming “we are the pirates who don’t do anything”. I seriously need to work on the whole pirate vibe…
I’ve never been to Boston in the fall!
@D Hill I didn't know there was a different version. I only the veg version! Lol
Even back in the Golden Age of Piracy, the authorities kind of looked down on the whole "rape and pillage" thing. Pretty sure they're even less in favor of it nowadays.
But what if I ask you to do anything?
Dude you got that dang song stuck in my head now. Aaaaaah!
9:54 Ya I think open ferment is going to take off. My hypothesis is it's really good in the early phases of ferm. Some breweries only do it this way for their beer. An interesting point is that proponents of it claim that b/c it's open, the yeast feel no back pressure from the fermentation container / airlock, which would presumably inhibit their metabolism. Which is to say, they are less stressed during their lifecycle.
Being old enough to have actually tasted Pusser's Rum, as it came out of the earthenware jugs, it was very dark and insanely strong - almost undrinkable neat.
This was actually with the Army, I didn't even know it was on issue, the RQMS obviously kept that quiet!
We'd been out on exercise in atrocious weather for days and were suffering exposure casualties, so Endex was called and the rum was served to the troops as a morale booster in "gunshot".
Sad how Rum is only associated with the navy and pirates. It was an important tipple for the army for many years.
Have you tried the modern stuff they sell in the shops? is it comparable?
@@bjorndelight8093 I have. Both are quite pallatable , but the old one has waayy more flavor. New one seems to be a bit flat in taste.
@@bjorndelight8093 If you get the right stuff it is! But as there are hundreds of different rums out there you have to be careful . . . . . . just to show my credentials I actually drew my tot in the Royal Navy for some three years until it was stopped in July of 1970 - the next day, the first of August 1970 became known as "Black Tot Day!" Thus ending over 300 years of tradition! The closest you can get these days is sold as Pussers Gunpowder Proof Rum - 54.5% proof. If you get it outside of the UK.
Called "Gunfire" I believe by the army and only issued at certain times by them. It should be noted that in the RN the Senior Rates were issued neat rum, whilst the Junior Rating were issued Grog - i.e. mixed with water, 2 parts water 1 part rum to prevent the rum being hoarded - too much of the stuff could kill! In the RN is was also used as a money system to be used as payment for various "favours". Incidentally when the army were carried onboard ship the Other Ranks (non commisioned) were issued the same amount of rum as the Navy Ratings were - i.e. 1/2 a gill a day. Before 1825 it was issued as a gill a day, 1/2 a gill at a time midday and in the evening! It had one added advantage, after having your issue you eat anything put in front of you no matter how bad the cooks were!
Wow! I learn about rum,good job. I'm a bit of a social drinker my drink of choice these days is BUMB RUM Co & Coke with a slice of lime while listening to Calypso Rose ,The Andrew Sisters or sea shanty from the brim to the dregs, drink up boys🎵🏝🥥🍹
Can you get your hands on guava nectar? Guava brandy is another Caribbean treat. As you're pulling jars, go deep into the tails, you'll pull some guava-ee sugary flavors that will knock your socks off.
ferment and distill molasses to get rum, ferment an distill pure sugar cane juice, and you get cachaça. They are often confused with each other, but very different due to the previous sugar content and aldehydes concentration. Worth trying both if you have the opportunity
Good show mate. To answer one of your questions. I think you made rum basically like they would have made it. Made with what you had available using basically the same practice in principle of how they would have made it. I'm wondering if adding in some of the fruits they had available would have added more of a regional impact. Like Papaya, banana, and guava. Those would have been available in abundance and I could see them being added in to the fermentation. Who knows. Anyway great video as always.
Easy source of extra fermentable sugars, especially if they were potentially going to rot etc.
Ah but remember that the bananas available back then compared to now are different. In my opinion, based off the known works of the pirate William Dampier things such as cocoa, vanilla, peppers, and mango as well as some other traditionally tropical fruits would be appropriate
@@johnbeauvais3159 Your point in regards to Bananas are spot on, unless you live in a tropical country. I lived in Jamaica for 11 years and had the opportunity to taste various types of bananas.
I like your personal comments and sense of humor during these videos. Thank you for making this content!
There are any number of books and academic papers on how historic rum was made. Trade rum or the cheapest, crudest form was made from diluted blackstrap molassess, skimming (the foam skimmed off the top of boiling cane juice), dunder and some raw cane sugar. Then fermented in open air vats for a week or so before being distilled and barreled.
Very nice. I have always drank sailor Jerry's spiced naval rum, learned about it during my time in the Marine corps. I will definitely be trying to make this !
Sailor Jerry's has always been a favorite of mine.
This was great. My favorite part is the actual frustration of having too many modern luxuries to feel you’re being as accurate as you could. The simple fact of having free flowing potable water is so easy to take for granted. That’s why I love this kind of stuff. You’re forced to think completely differently to get into the mindset of past peoples. I would love to taste your pirate rum sir. I salute you!
I have some old black strap from when I used to load the ships. I tried it once I better give it a go again before the drums give out. Ever tried to clean Black Strap off anything?
Napster - Dalnet on IRC. Golden age of Piracy.
Great vid Jessie
Much more monetary value was lost to The Pirate Bay.
@@fufumfrmfr32 I really wonder how much money “lost” from piracy would have just not been spent if piracy wasn’t an option. I mean, how often is it that you pirate something that you just wouldn’t have spent money on or didn’t have enough money so if you didn’t pirate it you never would have gotten it at all?
@@GogiRegion my estimate is between 90% given most people use it to test things and then even buy the legit version, or quite often buy the legit, then get the pirate one without the stupid DMA that serves only to punish honest customers.
Pulled that one out from the attic lol
I just made my first batch of rumm with good results, 1 gal of blackstrap ,added 2 cups white sugar and two cups organic brown sugar , pitched turbo yeast for rum .done fermenting it 48 hours or less. Very good yield . One pint turned into spiced with Jamaican vanilla bean. 1 cinnamon stick, 1 anise star and 10 or so cloves. Like it so far
I once watched a RUclips video where a guy made some “1800’s recipe Coca Cola”. He basically had nothing they needed to make it and wasted bandwidth. You didn’t do this. You put out the effort and got what you could (not what was just laying around). I applaud you. Can’t wait to get back in my house and get some stuff cookin…
I've been a fermentation chemist for several years (fuel ethanol). Recently retired and I want to make rum!!! I'll start buying stuff next year. Any advice on stills would be appreciated.
Was the molasses used for the rum in this video unsulphured or sulphured? Also, since 17th century molasses had a much higher sugar content, maybe using a sweet unsulphered Barbados (or light) molasses would be more authentic.
The comment about Sulphur is mute, they have been using Sulphur since the Egyptian times to keep all sorts of things. Plus all yeasts (especially wild yeast) when making alcohol give off and add Sulphur.
I'm pretty sure unless you have an allergy to sulphur dioxide, I don't think sulphured/unsulphured is much of an issue honestly. I think the idea comes from people imagining some harm to the fermenting organism because of a shaky grasp of chemistry and the processes involved.
Same as people swear black and blue that iodine in salt will make it so your pickles won't come out.. Which is to put it mildly complete bullshit. It _does_ come out which you can prove by doing it yourself.
I think the person that came up with it probably imagined that "iodine" is an antiseptic, and therefore would kill the lactobacillus used to make pickles. Except 1. that's elemental iodine and not the iodide salt added to salt as a mineral supplement and 2. it's added at literally trace amounts.
In the same way, claiming "sulphured molasses" will do your rum wash harm is in my view probably a myth based on misunderstanding the process. It's using sulphur dioxide to disinfect the cane itself so it doesn't go rotten before it's pressed and boiled.
Sure this could a problem if you were relying on the yeasts present on the cane to ferment it. I'm sure that was or is a thing with a rhum agricole or cachaça, but that point is moot once you actually boil the cane juice to make molasses anyway. As most of the antiseptic effect is gone soon after the process is complete and it sits for any length of time, and entirely gone once you crush it and boil the bejesus out of it, as well as the boiling killing anything anyway.
And it will do no more harm to the flavour than using metabisulphite to sterilise the fermentation vessels. Because the sterilisation is from the exact same chemical, sulphur dioxide released from the metabisulphite solution.
All that being said, even traces of sulphur dioxide can cause anaphalactic shock in those sensitive to it.
Also this is all my own opinion and reasoning, I haven't tested it. Though I have tried making pickles from iodised salt, saurkraut to be precise, and it works just fine ;)
The sulphur dioxide is a gas, so somewhat evanescent. I can detect it in dried fruit occasionally, but I have a stupidly sensitive sense of smell. Which is not a super power you should pick by there way... There's more sulphur in the cysteine, etc., in the (probably minimal) proteins in the molasses, and that's where most of the hydrogen sulphide comes from I'll bet. And in any case most of it is removed when you distil it, especially in copper.
If you use stainless you'll probably catch a slight hair salon whiff even with a sugar wash, but it's not too bad if you don't boil the crap out of it. Or at least that's what I've found.
But someone should definitely run the sulphured vs. unsulphured rum experiment and report back to evil genius HQ :D
@@DareTrue Mute? Jeez.
@@DareTrue You mean moot?
As a Bahamian born, amateur rum maker and pirate descendent all I have to say is ..
Great video! Loved it! Loved all the great history!
So for it to be the "Navy Strength" it should be at least 54.5% ABV. A document from 1866 states "The Issuing Strength of Rum was laid down at 4.5 under proof (unchanged today). The strength of normal spirits sold in the IK is 30 under proof. Then when you put in the sloshing of the rum in the casks, this would give the ageing effect as it has been shown as more of the spirt contacts the wood due to the sloshing around in the cask due to the roll of the ship.
It also it might not have been a barrel used prior for alcohol, it could have been a barrel full of brine cured meats or flour or pickled vegetables or a corpse
Rum is such a nice spirit if it's good. I'm thinking I should get to know more about it because I've been disappointed when tasting (by my standards) fairly expensive rums. So many of them are sweetened too much and that definitely doesn't float my boat. I love the dry ones I've tried.
I’m 5 days into fermenting a rum myself for the first time !! Hope it turns out as good as yours. Your channel along with Barley and Hops and Bearded and Bored are all I watch to figure this stuff out !! Awesome video
How did your rum turn out?
I am not a historian, nor a rum aficionado, but i do how ever know how the YT algorithm works so enjoy my comment, and take my like! enjoyed the video
This is awesome, and pirates totally loved rum. Clean drinking water wasnt always present and on demand, especially onboard ships in the ocean, so sometimes rum was literally all they had to drink. Its absolutely wild to think about.
the royal navy still issues sailors with a rum ration to day
another fact is it was added to the ships drinking water back in the days of sail and that was what they called grog .
two purposes of that was 1. keep the water some what more clean and sterile ish 2. it kept the sailors subdued and a little merry on their long voyage with out them getting rowdy if they just drank rum or beer as that was the safest thing to drink at the time i believe the cut may have been 25% rum give or take a bit
@@ivanbluetarski9071 yeah people don't know that small but important fact, that it was used to keep water sterile.
@@ivanbluetarski9071 If you were a pirate your grog was about one-third rum, in the navy it was more like one-tenth, just enough to do its job.
Fun fact, the term "proof" comes from these days, British sailors who received rum rations often did not trust the quartermaster, whom they thought would water down the rum in order to set some extra aside for himself. So, they would put gunpowder in the rum, and if it still ignited, it meant it was undiluted and was considered "100 proof"
@@Runedragonx as a pirate it really depends on who you work for, what is available, who you are, when you are. Some captains might let you drink all you want, some might frown on any. Pirates weren't very organized, it was just an umbrella for people who maraud the seas.
The best rum i have ever had was the Diplomatico Rum of 2013... that was such a marvelous rum when i first tried it in 2016 that i returned the same day and bought 2 bottles... i found 3 more bottles of the same vintage through out the years, but its getting rare...
Its the nicest alcoholic beverage i have ever had, hands down... Nothing else compares with that fullness and royally rich flavour and aroma... And it really goes amazingly well with a good pipe or a cigar if you are a smoker, or even a great pack of cigarettes like those specialty tobacco blends and such...
I just finished distilling rum. 2 liters of molasses (animal feed - so I guess it's blackstrap) with 3 kg of white sugar and normal instant dry yeast in a 25 liter fermenter. Left it to ferment for 14 days and got 3.5 liters of rum out at 60% ABV. Used a home-built reflux still with a copper column. Not a connoisseur so I can't comment on the subtle flavors, but the hardened rum drinkers in the family love it! I flavor it with cherry wood and a bit of the boiled down dunder. Your video is great and I loved the historical background. Perhaps I should make a video about my method?
Love your videos. Probably not authentic "Pirate Rhumb", but brown sugar with golden molasses, made for human consumption, 8 lbs, and a quart of Mo in 5 gallons of water, using regular red star yeast... Single run. Delicious, more caramel, no clouds. With stock molasses, use an amylase or a cup of drool to help break out flavors. As far as copper in a still, the boiling surface is also important. I'd suggest throwing in a dozen copper fittings in your pot as boiling chips. Also attaching a bubbler, or a basket filled with different fruits, vanilla, etc , can add very nice flavors. I've found that cuts deeper into the run, when left to sit, start to hint of tequila. Cheers.
The Royal Canadian Navy eliminated the daily rum ration 51 years ago. Sailors are probably still complaining.
The suggestion from a trip to Antigua in 2019 was that the British would put rum into whatever barrels they had available, which were frequently ones that has previously held lead shot and/or gunpowder on the trip out there. Really add some sulfur tang to your rum that way!
The bottom molasses already has a ton of sulfur in it...
Great video. Made some black strap rum a while ago. Blew out the fermenter bubbler and made one hell of a mess and on top of it all during covid I had no conditioner available and puked quite a bit. Ended up with a smooth rum with a lot of molasses taste. Wouldn't say I would do it again, but the molasses was on special and I was curios. Probably put it through my air still to get rid of the majority molasses taste.
Try using muscovado. They sell it at Gilmours in New Zealand and it is reasonably cheap. The most unrefined form of cane sugar you can buy
Good to know!
Came here for the history ... was not disappointed. It's funny because around the 4 min mark is a joke about the "clickable YT titles." I honestly was hoping for exactly what I got: The how was rum made when it came to prominence in the Caribbean. "Pirates" are just the icing on the cake.
Nice! I'm thinking pirates drank what they could get their hands on. I know the British Navy had a rum ration for each sailor each day. Given the location where rum was made and that daily rum ration, rum is forever linked to sailors (both pirates and seaman alike).
I am not a "drinker" per se, but now and again I want a shot of something, in summer "dog days" a beer is in order. Just seems to refresh. But it is 1 shot, one beer. An occasional glass or two of wine. Yet, I enjoy your show. For whatever reason. So, thank you!
I am glad you brought up skimming.
My family came to fl. About 1650 with the Spanish.
And some of them still grow cain and make cain syurp every year.
Its been told down through the years about using the skimming to make what would be called moonshine now.
But I always thought it was closer to rum. I know florida has always had rum.
moonshine broadly refers to any homemade spirit, the term comes from prohibition bootlegging days when illegal alcohol was smuggled by the light of the moon, rum can be moonshine
I have watched this video many times and all I can say is thank you for making this effort!!!
This ignites my want to try Rum again. I had the most terrible experience with it because I could not source bulk molasses. So I cheaped out and used livestock grade... I thought it was the bomb because of the sugar content and being pure cane molasses. However, turns out they watered it down with Canola oil... ask me how well that all went.... managed to get it into the still and that was a disaster lol
oh no!
This is the first of your videosI have watched and I thought you did a greta job. Keep it up!
super video Jesse, awesome history lesson as well thanks.
Found black strap to be a bit harsh so I normally go with one third black and the rest standard molasses.
With the puke I found if you bring the still up to temp and then turn it off for 20min and back on again my still doesn't puke.
Cheers love the camera work
Nelson, who was critical in the defeat of Napoleon, died in the battle of Trafalgar. His body was preserved in rum for transport back to England. However, when the cask of rum was opened upon arrival, it was found to be empty. Sailors had drunk the rum. Hence to this day rum is called "Nelson's Blood" in the British Royal Navy.
I've gone from exclusively whiskey, then vodka, then flavored vodka, and have settled on rum for the past few years. Personally sticking with Coral Reef Golden Rum for most of my drinks and Kaniche Reserve Rum when I want to treat myself.
I have a rum bar in my home, actually my pool bar. I'm not a big drinker so to speak as far as daily, but rum is my alcohol of choice, and I enjoy entertaining for friends and making rum based drink. Hot, Florida, pool days, etc. All of you in the comments section would be pretty appreciative of my collection, as I have almost 200 bottles from around the world. Many I bought while in that country, or had a friend buy it for me. So many in the collection are not available in the states. And that is the theme of my rum bar, being able to offer tasting from various countries. With that said, I have never brewed anything. But now I will. I searched and found this video, which just encourages me even more. I want to make my own Caribbean history based old school rum. If anyone has any advice, please feel free to respond. Even if its just little tidbits. Or "buy this, not that". Or "you can find this on Amazon". I'll use this video to launch my effort, but I'm sure some of you have learned some things from trial and error.
I think the only mistake you made was not using some of those rings to secure your beard😜 Great video dude! I'm really glad you're poop-shy.
😂😂😂
Dumbledore had alot of rings.
Indeed
and the shit, don't forget the shit. :p
A couple burning rifle matches would add to the authenticity.
HEY JESSE , WATCHING YOUR VIDEOS HAS BEEN AN INSPIRATION TO ME, I'M A MODERN DAY SAILOR FROM A TROPICAL PARDISE OF SOUTHERN INDIA (ALSO CALLED THE SPICE GARDEN OF INDIA). I'VE SAILED ARROUND THE WORLD SEVERAL TIMES , AND I CAN SAY FOR SURE TO THE BEST OF MY KNOLEDGE SAILORS STILL PREFER RUM TO ALL THE OTHER SPIRITS AT SEA ( NOT TO MENTION BEER WHICH IS NOT EXACTLY A SPIRIT). I'VE STARTED THE HOBBY OF STILLING AS AN INSPIRATION FROM YOUR CHANNEL ( WHICH IS A BIG NO NO AS PER THE LAW OF THE LAND I'M FROM). "SO I DO IT ON THE INTERNATIONAL WATERS" , WHEN I GET PRAISE ON MY CRAFT I ALWAYS ATRIBUTE IT TO YOU. THANK YOU FOR SHARING YOUR KNOLEDGE . KEEP STILLING SAHODARA....
Hey Jess, Just a few tips. The next time you do a rum wash try some evaporated cane juice with the molasses. Makes a big difference in the fermentation and the finish product. Also when doing a stripping run go ahead and pull a bit of for-shots just for fun. This makes the cuts a bit easier on the the finish run. I tend to go for just hearts on my final run with Rum and its worth it. Store in whatever container you want (I use stainless milk containers) and just add some American white oak toasted (French Style) with a # 3 char and let rest for 16 weeks min and up to as many years as you can wait for it. Trust me this is the best thing you can do for Rum. Enjoy
I also added 2L of fresh pinapple juice to my 30L wash. Added a nice tropical edge and the yeast rollover method I was using enjoyed the higher acid environment.
A) pretty sure he mentioned that he doesn't have access to cane juice (no sugar can in NZ), B) he also mentioned that historical rum wasn't aged C) you seem to have completely missed the point of the video - no offence meant, he has other rum videos where he goes through your processes.
@@vtbn53 yeah he completely missed the point of the video.
When you make rum, you make a batch how you did, save all the junk you don't distil, let it ferment for a few months and add it to the next batch you make. It makes every batch after your first taste 100x better, Tech ingredients has a whole video about this idea in their "how to make rum" set.
I think they just used yeast from the previous batch. If you're already using leftover water from the still, why not add it to the slurry left behind after fermentation.
13:04 well that is probably just a bias: only the really high quality rum of the time would have been spared and aged, while the ragular/average rum would have just been drunk. So obviously people drinking old rum these days think it is good rum, because it is the very best they had at the time.
It would have been aged during transport.
I may never make any of this stuff, but I cant stop watching these videos.
I’m so glad I found your Chan. I am just just getting into brewing mead and I want to expand onto other things! Possibly distillation.
Wow dude I think i subscribed when you were under 1k subs and havent checked in for a while and you are at 183k awesome work and I originally joined the channel to learn about Rum making! Good work!
The best rum I had was on the Island of Roatan off the Honduras in the mid 70s. This was before it became the retirement community as it is today. Not only was it homemade, but the Island historically was a pirate island, with the remains of a fort being located on a small cay in the middle of the Lagoon in Port Royal as they called it.
interested to know what your yield was from that wash with just the molasses and no other sugars added?
I watched this while drinking some of my homebrewed porter. I actually made what was essentially a spiced rum once, back in the day (from a failed attempt at root beer from scratch, which fermented, then I dumped cinnamon in the wash and distilled). I didn't have any equipment, so I used a Connelly ice water still - took my brewpot, turned the lid upside-down, and suspended a bowl over the wash and tried to regulate the temperature right on an electric burner. I managed to do 3 distillations, and it came out pretty good! Though your description sounds closer to Havana Club (yum).
To answer your question, yeah I think you did pretty well given the information we have available about the time and place. Your interpretation seems like what we in the SCA would call a good redaction.
In Brazil, they make a similar liquor called cachaça (pronounced kah-shah-sah) out of sugar cane. You might look into that for some ideas.
Rum has always been my favorite, my addiction to brown sugar and molasses makes me love it so so much, and with that I do agree it’s hard to find good rum that hits those notes and I’m happy to see how it’s made
Love these recipe type videos keep them coming. And start a muck pit for the next round. Lets get some Jamaican style going. If you really want to get into it look into making the ester salts with acid. HD has a good read up on it.
Williamson. Ether. Synthesis!
@@MrGoatflakes cousins process is what i was referring to. Don’t know if same thing or not. I have played around with it a little but never actually created the salts. I only added some sulfuric as a catalyst during spirit run with muck.
@@jacobdeslattes3519William ether synthesis is similar but uses a base. Don't know which is better...
@@MrGoatflakes pretty sure a base is used to get the salts to drop out of suspension at one point. Then the acid to get them back in and to bond.
@@jacobdeslattes3519 ah I see, we're talking about different things 😉
"Did I make a historic type rum?" That's a fair question with all of the experts to consider it, but the REAL question is "Is what I did worth making more for myself and my friends?"
I have made Rum from Blackstrap Molasses and I added brown sugar to up the sugar content. I ran it in a traditional still with a thumper keg and copper coil. It ran off at around 150 proof then I cut it to about 80 proof after a few weeks of sitting with charred oak and spices. It turned out a lot like Capt. Morgan's rum which I was really happy with. I wouldn't think of drinking it straight, it is best when making mixed drinks. But from what I have read about the Royal Navy (where I believe most Pirates originated from or from merchant ships) the the issue of a ration of daily rum was for the most part considered medicinal to ward off tropical diseases and scurvy. Also that it was to be diluted with water before rationing out. Of course I doubt any Pirates held to the diluting part. Something to think about is in the series Black Sails on Starz, there was a part when John Silver was going ashore to resupply food and rum, Capt. Flint says to him," less food and more Rum", He wanted the Pirates worked up when he announced that Woodes Rodgers had taken over New Providence Island, he wanted them ready to fight. So I would venture to guess that a smart Pirate Capt. knew his brothers were most ready for a fight when they were a bit tipsy and therefore knew the true value of a barrel of Rum.
16th century pirate here. Youve got it all wrong mate. We never made rum, didnt know the first thing about it. We always just stole it.
Would be awesome to see you do a version on Bundaberg since there main ingredient is molasses too. Note: this factory double distills aswell 😉
Hi made a pineapple rum i simmered 2 and a half litres of molasses for 30 minutes and infused 4 kg of brown cane sugar then simmered 2 litres of dunder i had from a previous run and added a kg of pineapple let them both simmer around 30 minutes added a small jar of honey and lime juice left to cool then added to my 30 litre fermenter mixed with a paint mier bit on my drill and added still spirts yeast it fermentated out in a week when i stilled it it was around 90% i proofed it down to around 45% it tastes amazing 😛🥃 ps love all your videos they really help me out keep up the good work Jessie 👏
I’d like to see how different it would be with regular molasses.
Grade A molasses creates a much more grassy, sweet, gentler rum. Not as much caramelization. If you can get your hands on an agricole rum (made with sugar cane juice), i would highly recommend it.
@@jasonlambert6244 This is my reply to both this comment and your other great one from the same time:
I personally didn't dig the fancier grade of molasses, but I totally agree with your description. While in China, I struggled to find a reliable blackstrap supply n went with the A grade. By siphoning only the top 90% into the still, and doing a couple strips before the spirit run, I was able to eliminate some of the "plant" notes that I, and my clientele, didn't enjoy as much (I only used pot still systems in my nano distillery as I don't like using any additives nor flavorings, and thus wanted keep as much natural flavor as possible). Now living on a tropical island, I find getting the black right easy, and it sure is noticeably more to my liking. These days it's all hobby n private work, but that in itself sure is freeing. I let a dunder sit out (cheesecloth to keep the bugs out but nice n open to get the funk) and do all the fermentations open top (cheesecloth as well). Using Lalvin EC-1118 cuz shes a fine beast that handles these 28-32 degree days like a champ. Long slow over ferment is definitely a winner to me. Sure, less total volume over time, but quality trumps quantity every time, eh?
Agricole, while being something I think everyone should try, just doesn't float my boat the way a dark "industriale" does. That's the beaut of it all though, to eat their own flavors ;)
@@jasonlambert6244 Fresh cane juice is abundant where I'm from. I'm fermenting some right now to be distilled into rum. Is the juice enough on its own? Or should I add sugar/molasses to it?
this guy is a distillation genius, the way he talks about the stuff shows his knowledge about it.
I just stumbled on this video and was intrigued. You seem to be a cool dude who, like me, has a fascination with the origins of spirits. The rum you made seemed accurate based on my knowledge on the subject. I subscribed to your channel and look forward to watching more videos! Also, I am enticed with the jewelry website that you recommended. Want to get myself and my lady matching rings for our upcoming wedding and the rings shown reflect our style.
These are awesome man. Found your vids a few days ago and now I've bought my first still :D
I've learned that rum is a lot more complicated than I thought... I've added it to he (long) list of things I planning to make. Thanks for the video and I hope the family is all feeling better.
Cheers from Canada! I don’t think you necessarily made it according to historical standards, but if you made it true to history you likely would’ve had a strange version of rum as we know it (if it even came out successful at all, with the variable heat through fire heating being just one major possible factor contributing to a failure). I think you did a fine job, and I got very excited when you were describing your product! I could almost taste it myself! There’s nothing quite like a homemade spirit, and rum (in my humble opinion) tops them all!
The shape and set up of your still greatly affects the flavor of rum. I’ve made the same recipe and put it through different set ups and shapes of stills and the flavor keeps changing. The story goes Bacardi Rum when they get a new still has a team that hits it with hammers so each dent is replicated from the old still to the new one.
The same story goes around for a Scotch distillery...cant recall which one though ;-)
As far as I know Bacardi just uses massive stainless steel continuous stills. Nothing “craft” about that and definetely no hammers involved. In my opinion Bacardi can’t even be called rum..
@@pietsnot1958 yeah bacardi isnt even good when its aged for years lol
Lol ya that's not true the shape of the still don't change anything ethier it's the placebo effect or your making some really inconsistent runs
I read an article on a Scottish still maker who builds them for major distilleries and they said that the rumours about denting them to be exactly the same as the last ones that are being replaced is absolutely false. With the money that these distilleries pay, there's no way that they'll purposefully damage them.
Great video but remember that much of the rum was used to make grog which I always keep in stock. The classic recipe is still the best.
1 part Sour (Lime/lemon juice)
2 parts Sweet (Sugar water)
3 parts Strong (Rum)
4 parts Weak (Water)
Great stuff. One day man, I will definitely try this....
"Oh, molasses- oh, molasses rum. It killed my grandad, killed my pa, and sure enough it's killin me- oh, molasses, oh molasses rum!"
I love pirates and rum. I'm a sucker for marketing, and good rum, pirate theme or not.
Refreshing to hear that familiar accent. Great video bro! I'll be tuning in to the others
The host: Explaining the history of rum and how he made it historically accurate, all in all a fantastic tale.
Me who stares at the beard the entire time: Heh, bouncy.
Black Strap is about right. If you've got issue with it, add a bag of cane sugar to it and water, and boil it down for another day or two. I had a friend down in (RETRACTED) who made his own Rum down in the Barrio, and let me tell you what a smooth mash he had rolling in his still. If you add in some fruit or more Sugarcane, you'll have a mash that will give a particular taste to the rum.
As usual- don't drink the heads, don't drink the tails. That's what you can use for paint thinner, or lanterns. He used his for parts cleaners and automotive.
That pirate rum was the shit. It was lit with fire and cuts were done with actual swords.
Ok lol, fun joke
😂😂😂
But strong, the test was could you still burn gunpowder, if you could it was proof, 100 or 57% ABV+.
The ships in transport to and from the Caribbean had an on-board kitchen/galley and bakery. This would have a live yeast culture that could be "borrowed" for fermenting low grade cane products. Likely a yeast culture on land would be repeatedly used and kept alive and reused probably meaning that it mutated over time to be a rum yeast rather than a bread yeast.
Yeast lives and grows in aerobic conditions, and separately it ferments in anaerobic conditions -hence fermentation is done under a fermentation lock.
You HAVE to turn a bit of that into Grog, like just make a glass of it. Grog was invented to allow the crew to drink, but also stretch that rum out for the entire voyage.
Also to kill unwanted bacteria in shitty old water 😄
And the crew didn’t get as drunk as straight rum.
There’s a distillery out of Sweden distilling a replica of spirits found on the sunken warship Vasa (sank in 1628) The ship was raised in the 1960’s and is essentially 80 percent complete, incredible sight to see at the museum, and the liquor equally incredible. Amazing feat
I find it funny that here in Venezuela, a country with a strong Rum culture, there are zero brands with pirate themes, not even the cheaper plastic bottle stuff.
Here pirates couldn't be farther away from the rum market.
America didn’t have a rum culture so they needed to add pirates to sell it.
Cuba 🇨🇺 and 🇵🇷 Puerto Rico were Spanish colonies until 1898! How could he say the English kicked out the Spanish from the Caribbean?
in the early days of sailing as you said water wasnt readily available and ships had to carry there own, the rum was mixed with the water to keep it from going bad. the mixture was called "grog" the sailors were given a ration for the day.
I am just into my "second gen" rum, anticipation of how reusing some backset and yeastcake are starting to get to me.
Also really, really glad you are "poop shy"!
Great video, always excited when release a new one
I'm a rum expert, a historian and a liar on the internet and you've pissed me off too with this blatantly interesting and entertaining video
Having made a couple batches of rum using fancy baking molasses, two things were consistent between batches (you’d hope for some consistency considering I used the same recipe). First, the aroma off the still was heavily scented like overripe bananas. Quite heavenly. Second, I never got around to letting any of it age for any length of time, ahem, cut it with some backset, water and maple syrup, aged in a small oak barrel for about a month. Both batches had this odd aftertaste, like olives maybe? Dunno, it was a weird earthy aftertaste of some description. I think, though, if I had managed to let it sit for a year or two that the weirdness may have dissipated.
Hi. Have you thought of adding butyric acid to the wash prior to distilling. Or adding some to the second distillation??
When it comes down to it, a pirate is just a mugger with his own boat.
I'm curious if local woods were used to store the initial ferment or as piping for the still (thinking things like bamboo). Could have a interesting twist on the final taste.
I feel like you could spend years playing with this and get some really cool results
Book: Sugar Blues
Great historical perspective on the sugar control syndicates and its structure.
Have you tried Black Sugar?
Cane Juice that has the water boiled off. What remains is a sugar that contains everything, molasses, vitamins, minerals and is as hard as a brick. A first press evaporated cane juice with nothing but water temoved.
Mexicans call it piancillo. India and Thailand have there names for this sugar.