Rum For Dummies
How to navigate in the world of the Rhum
The world of rum is vast and diverse, and it’s easy to get lost in it. Sugar rum, agricultural rum, English or Spanish tradition, white or old… all terms that can help you find your way around, but which are not as intuitive as you might think.
Over the years, through meetings, reading, visits and other discussions, I have enriched my rum culture and built up my own reading system. At the same time, I realised that many of those who were curious (whether novices or experienced) didn’t have all the keys they needed to find their way around.
So the idea was born to set up this masterclass, which aims to pass on basic knowledge (and a little more) to all connoisseurs of cane brandy.
I’m convinced that to appreciate a spirit (and rum in particular), it’s essential to have this knowledge.
Over the course of this presentation, we’re going to go over a number of points that are central to understanding this world. We will combine theory with practice, through the tasting of four different rums.
Rum, a definition
Rum is an alcohol that is produced (almost) everywhere in the world, often with ancient and strong cultural roots. So it’s natural that a number of regional definitions have emerged.
We’ll look at some of these definitions before focusing on the one adopted in Europe.
Raw materials
Too few people realise that rum, to bear its name, has to be produced from sugar cane. Whether it’s fresh cane juice, cane syrup or molasses, the starting point is always sugar cane.
We’ll take a look at these three raw materials, as well as some common mistakes.
The Stages of Production
Here’s the heart of this masterclass: the successive stages in rum production. We’ll look at the order in which they are carried out and their implications for the finished product.
We’ll look at fermentation, distillation (continuous or discontinuous) and ageing (or the absence of ageing in the case of white rum).
Glossary
Some of the terms used in the world of rum may not be as clear or intuitive as you might think. We’ll take a closer look at some of them to make things clearer.
Classification by Style
The world of rum is so vast that you need a classification to find your way around. Although there is no perfect one, I’ll suggest one that was very useful to me when I first got into rum.