Flavoring Dark Rum

[KineticE]

Okay, so this is really bothering me. I know I read in a thread somewhere about caramelizing sugar in a pan and adding it to your rum (amongst other ingredients/steps) to make a dark rum. I would really like to hear some recipes on this or if someone could provide me with a link to a thread they know of. I must of read several of these type rum flavoring articles/threads and now that I need one I can't find one!! My still is about finished my 2nd rum run and my first run I had a puke and have some off colored spirit that I would like to make a dark rum but can't find that danged thread!

Thanks for the help!!

[DAD300]

rerun the puked stuff...

Most of the color should come from oaking, then add small amounts of sherry (drops), caramel, raisins, dried cherries,...If you're going for spiced, that's a dif story. Could be anything; anise, black pepper, cinnamon,...there are recipes here to attempt to recreate commercial products.

[MyUncleMo]

I learned to go easy on the cinnamon unless you like that fire!
My dark rum is a blend of Barrel Aged and spiced White.
The spices are Clove, Vanilla Bean, Fresh Ginger and a tad bit of crystallized ginger, orange peel and cocao nibs.
Yum!
The sugar from the Crystal Ginger is a bit more than I would like - so I only use a tiny bit.
Cheers!

[thatguy1313]

Check out buccaneer bobs thread in tried and true. He does some interesting stuff with rumm essence. But I agree with DAD, rerun the puked stuff.

[KineticE]

10-4 on rerunning the puked stuff. I plan on doing another rum wash in the near future so I'll use it to prime my boiler & thump. I also found another thread "Mash Rookies Daughter's Spiced Rum" that looks interesting.

I'm really loving the HD forum. I've been a part of many different forums concerning various topics and this forum and it's members are stellar. I was worried about posting this thread thinking someone would start mouthing off about something... Hopefully I can return the favor to another noob after I gain some experience!

Oh and today I was pulling in my driveway and noticed my neighbor's garage door open and what do you know, he had a keg still w/thumper right out in the open!! I live on a court in a stuffy neighborhood so I thought that was pretty ironic. Hardly any of my neighbors talk and this court is like a ghost town, guess I know why now...the Jones' are sitting back sipping hooch feeling to good to come outside!! Haha, it's a funny world we live in.

Thanks again for looking out guys!

[WIski]

Hey Kinetic, pertaining to your driveway experience you may find this thread interesting.
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 47&t=44299
Fun stuff........

[KineticE]

Hey Kinetic, pertaining to your driveway experience you may find this thread interesting.
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 47&t=44299" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
Fun stuff........

It's a small world after all. I debated introducing myself but like I was saying, this neighborhood is full of recluses so didn't want to chance a poor encounter!! Thanks for sharing that thread WIski!

[engunear]

Yeah, I know the purists say you should use oak. But some addition of caramel for "color" is allowed both in rum and whiskey. And it has a strong flavor. And I don't believe the cheap rums get their color from wood. And I like the taste, especially if the starting material is molasses rather than sugar.

Here is a recipe. I'd do it when the missus is away because it looks like it is going to totally ruin a good saucepan, and it smokes and stinks in the nice clean kitchen. Also be careful with this stuff, if you spill it it will do nasty burns.

With sugar: put 1/2 cup sugar with a tbsp of water in a pan. Heat slowly on a stove and stir. It will melt, then go golden brown, then black and smoke a bit. When it gets to this stage take it off the heat and put the base of the saucepanpan in a bowl of water that you have prepared earlier. The mix goes exothermic and will turn itself to charcoal all on its own so you have to stop this process. Adding water is also good but be careful it doesn't splatter in your face. When you think you can do it safely add the water - around a cup. Then put it back on the stove and let the caramel dissolve. Your saucepan that you think you have ruined will come back to its shiny goodness. When it is all dissolved and cool add equal quantity of pure alcohol to stop it going moldy or fermenting.

With molasses: use a cup of molasses instead. It is just harder to tell when it is dark enough, but just try, it will make sense when you are doing it.

Maybe use an old saucepan. Although I've never had trouble getting it to dissolve off the base of the saucepan, I can't guarantee it. Also, don't use a non-stick saucepan - it gets to 200C or so, and this will remove teflon.

[Havenor]

My two cents, when cooking and you reach the point where it starts to look like peanut brittle coloring slow it up. You don't want to actually burn the sugar, you want to reach that optimum color, the color of rum, and get the pan off quick. Take it slow and don't over do the heat because it can go from good to crap quickly. My next best advice is to pour it out on aluminum foil to let it harden and then break into chips so you can use as needed. As for the messy pan, you want to start with a teflon pan, but you will likely have some stuck anyhow. Let that residue cool and harden too. If you can't get all the caramel chips out of the pan pour some of your alcohol into the pan, then let it sit for an hour, and it will dissolve what's left.

From my limited experience the caramel not only give you the coloring you desire but some of the taste will come through, another reason not to actually burn it. Slightly burnt sugar is good, over burnt isn't good.