Types of Molasses Rums

I always had some problems to explain the diverse categories of rum - as there are a lot of overlappings.
Until today... I had a training and I was just drawing intuitively the illustration above on the white board [ok it didn't looked so good - my handwriting is definitely not that nice].

And it seemed pretty solid!

It is pretty easy to understand:

Light Rums [I did here something quite controversial - I put both white and golden rum together in one category. Why? Because these rums are very similar - even the age is similar - the only difference is, that white rum is filtered through active carbon after the aging - sure if you compare one white and one golden rum from one company, you might experience, that golden rum is slightly longer aged - however if you are comparing two rums from different companies, a white rum from one company {and country} can even be older then a gold rum from another...]

the two subcategories are:

White rum [or blanco, platino etc]
Golden rum [e.g. oro]

Variations:

standard white rum
standard golden rum
white flavored rum
golden flavored rum
golden spiced rum
white overproof

Dark Rums [Dark rums are aged in manipulated barrels - heavily charred as well as steamed - but they are usually aged as long as light rums. Usually the producer adding some molasses. Even a tiny quantity of molasses is changing these rums to very dark. Often people think, that these rums are precious and long aged, but this is a wrong preconception].

Variations:

standard dark rum
spiced dark rum
flavored dark rum
overproof dark rum

Aged or Añejo Rums [there is no distinguishable line between golden rums and añejo rums - however I would draw it imaginary at around 5 years of classic oak barrel aging].

Variations

standard aged rum
spiced aged rum
barrel proof aged rum

Comments

How to use citric acid - and why you might not want to use it anyway!

To be honest, I shied away of this topic, because I think, people can misinterpret this - big time. I don't want to be part of the problem - I want to be part of the solution! But when Chris, over at A Bar Above discussed this subject- I literally could not resist to join into "the discussion". Here is the video: I - however take a bit slower approach than Chris. What is citric acid? Chemical Compound Citric acid is a weak organic acid with the formula C6H8O7. It is a natural preservative/conservative and is also used to add an acidic or sour taste to foods and drinks. Wikipedia Formula: C6H8O7 Molar Mass: 192.124 g/mol Melting Point: 153C Density: 1.66 g/cm3 Boiling point: 175C Soluble in: Water Why is it controversial? In my "mixology world" it is controversial, as citric acid is the stuff, which makes the nightmarish sour mix [ preferably in powder form ] sour. Yeah - citric acid is the main ingredient in one of the most

King Robert II Vodka

Who would knew, that I am reviewing a budget vodka here - on the opinionatedalchemist.com. But this isn't a normal review. I skip the marketing perception and use this product to cut directly to the case: Vodka is a "rather" neutral, colorless, "rather" flavorless and odorless distilled beverage from any agricultural source - and depending on the country, it has a minimum of 37.5% and 40% abv. As I said time and time again before: at times it is absolutely nonsense to talk about premium and luxury, when the original product doesn't really "hold this promise". Luxury water can have luxurious marketing, luxurious packaging, can be even rare and slightly more expensive "to produce". However really it is just water. Maybe it has some nuances to normal water - however those nuances (in a blind-test) are pretty small. Vodka is extremely similar - and the chain of evidence (despite a lot of people trying to proof otherwise) makes it re

Agar-Agar Clarification

Not often, I am posting here things, which are clearly not my ideas... However Dave Arnold is clearly a mad scientist [no, he really is!] - and he posted amazing stuff on his website www.cookingissues.com - no - don't click now - just follow the link later. One of the most impressive posts about mixology, besides of demystifying the mechanics of shaking, were clarification techniques. Look, after him, you could use a centrifuge [which would set you back a couple thousand bucks] and a chemical compound, which solidifies sediments. I am not a fan of that. Then there is gelatine clarification; this works quite well [I tried it several times my self] - you gelatinize a liquid [with little gelatine only], freeze it, thaw it [in the fridge] over a colander and a muslin cloth. Thats it. Unfortunately this has several problems: Gelatine is made out of animal bones - hence it is neither vegetarian nor vegan, which you won't usually expect of a beverage. You have to freez

opinionated alchemist

Search This Blog