I actually spent a couple of Hours looking into this last night after your suggestion.Saltbush Bill wrote: ↑Thu Jun 23, 2022 3:12 pmIf I had easy access to freshly squeezed sugar cane juice I wouldn't be wasting my time boiling it down. I'd be making Cachaca from the fresh juice.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cacha%C3%A7a99% of what Ive read , including reports by hobbyists about trying to make Rum from Sugar Beet says that it makes a really crappy product......most try it once and never again I think.
It's sounds pretty awesome.
It was originally referred to and sold, exported from Brazil as 'Brazilian Rum' until hey reached a deal with them in 2013 to drop the word 'Rum' from being used on the products.
Since Rum is made with the Molasses left over from sugar cane being boiled and having the sugar crystals removed, it isn't a 'Rum'. Instead of boiling it down, as Saltbush Bill states, you just directly press the juice out and go right to fermenting it. It sounds as simple as a sugar head as well... basically just sugar cane juice, water and yeast... but I am sure that is just the 'basic' way to do it.
Something like 340 Million Gallons of Cachaca are generated per year from natural Brazilian sugar cane, and the version of it that is aged is also aged differently than we do with traditional white oak but instead different types of woods natural to Brazil. Only 1% is exported, and surprisingly most of that is sent to Germany. It is the number one alcohol produced/drank in Brazil, and here in America is used as a mixer primarily for 'tropical drinks'.
Sorry... I may as well have pasted direct wikipedia and website text... but this is really interesting.
So now... the REAL interesting question is... can I 'Rapid Grow' with added Nitrogen and fertilizers a small stock of Sugar Cane in Tennessee Climate. Though not a super wet hot climate that way Louisiana is, Tennessee is more and more becoming the same as those states during the summer. So my thought is that if I supercharge the fertilizers and add additional Nitrogen to when it is planted in early Spring, that maybe I can still produce a decent run of Sugar Cane that can be harvested in an 8-month season versus a 12-month season.
Or it could end up being a giant waste of time and effort.
With that said... I am preparing things to try this since I have a few acres of good fertile land that gets direct sunlight from sun up to sun down.
Won't be able to report back on this or anything until Spring of 2023...so I will start a thread in like 6-8 months when I decide to give this a go.
- Will