The Secrets of Rum
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To the uninitiated, rum is just another hard liquor. But to those of us who know, rum is anything you ask it to be in a drink.
Most liquors, whiskey, scotch, gin and, yes, even some vodka, are made from distilling fermented grains. The yeast that ferments these grains can only convert sugar into alcohol. Unfortunately, there is not much sugar in the grains used. These grains, corn, rye, wheat and barley (or potato in the case of most vodkas) are mostly starches. The yeast must first convert the starch into sugar before it can convert the sugar into ethyl alcohol. In the process of making this first conversion, some of the starch is converted into various aldehydes and ketones. If these chemical names sound ominous, they should. These chemicals are very toxic to the liver. When the fermented mash is distilled into its alcoholic beverage, these volatile chemicals are also transferred to the beverage, giving each its distinctive flavor and aroma.
Rum on the other hand is not fermented from starchy grains, but from naturally sweet molasses. Molasses is the juice from the sugar cane, cooked into a sweet sticky syrup. The yeast ferments molasses thinned with water directly into ethyl alcohol without creating the aldehydes and ketones that are found in grain fermentation. When rum is distilled, it produces 97 1/2% alcohol and 2 1/2% water. This is as pure as can be obtained through distillation processes. To make the distillation product into an alcoholic beverage it is then diluted.
White or clear rums are diluted with water. The dark rums are another story. The distillation product is mixed back with some of the original molasses mixture, some of the fermented mixture, or combinations of both to produce beverages 80 to 150 proof (40 to 75% alcohol). This yields rums of flavors ranging from unbelievably smooth tasting light golds to a sweet molasses brown and all flavors and colors in between.
The secret to making a good rum drink is to match the rum to the mix. If already sweet Coca-Cola or Pepsi is to be the mix, then by all means use a white or clear rum. It adds no sweetness of its own. If the mix is a slightly sweet fruit juice or fruit mixture, use a golden rum. If the mix is a tart juice, like orange juice or a mixture of pineapple and orange juice, go ahead and use the really dark sweet rums. Usually a mixture that ends up looking like thin mud is the best. For just plain sipping, most any of the light gold to dark St. Croix produced Cruzan brand is the best.
A common misunderstanding exists about the names of rum. Many people are familiar with the Ron Bacardi and Ron Ricardo brands and some to a lesser degree the Ron Antillano and Ron Anjeho brands. The term 'Ron' is not a name. 'Ron' is spanish for 'Rum'. The label of all rums manufactured in Spanish speaking countries will start with the word 'Ron'. 'Ron Bacardi' translated into English means 'Bacardi Rum'.
(Another little tidbit, Bacardi is pronounced baa'-car-dee, not buh-car'-de)