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Yummyrum wrote:Might be right up the ally of those that like 90% sugar Rum with a 10% Molasses addition

PFFFFFTTT ! ya call that Rum, figures need to be the other way around or %100 molasses in my opinion.
But then that's just my opinion.

Pikey wrote:

Still Life wrote:Going by your link, how much would you up ShineOn's molasses by? And what size ferment?

Not sure SL but I've spread my ingredients so far across a number of posts - I'll consolidate here so it's visible to all and for my own future reference !

[Edit - RECIPE ]

Pikey wrote: I have put the backset (From a very light "Bacardi-ish" rum) in the fermenter - around 10 litres I think. I did taste it and was quite surprised at how sour it was.
So we went in with 3 litres of molasses @ 40% sucrose and 2.168 kg of muscavado, Hot water and when it cools a little nutrient and yeast. - then we'll see how it goes. May add some more sugar yet, when I work out how much is in there ! (Thanks here to der wo for advising that molasses weighs 1.3-1.5 kg/litre)
Thanks der wo - at 40%, if I take it as 1.4 kg that gives me 3.82 kg total sugar (unless that muscavado is not all sugar)
A few grammes over 1 kg more muscovado just added, around 12 g of Tronozymol, 20 minutes airstone and 5 g Gervin G4 (26) yeast.
So total sugars around 5 kg and Water to make up to 25 Litres (about 6.25 US Gallons I believe)

Well I ran it today ! 10 months later, but only had feints off a "Bacardi"(Ish) to add I ran a little further into "Tails" than I normally would too. - Tried some hearts (60%) diluted with "Diet" coke and "diet" lemonade (Not sure you can get that in USA). and it had some of the notes I wanted - the Overall flavour was in the style of "captain Morgan black" BUT there was a background "sweetness" which I was not keen on. SO I tried it just 50 ml of 60% with 25 ml Plain tap water (Overall 40%) and the "sweetness had gone, but so had the "Captian Morganish" in large part. Yes you could still tell it was Rum (white) But it seems that the "Coke" was contributing the "sweetness" and also boosting the "Captain Morganish" flavour which I found surprising as it doesn't d that with BAcardi(ish) or Scotch(ish)

The main thing about the 40% was that it was so smooth, No "Alcohol bite" at al1, and the 75 ml was gone in ten minutes. Yes it had the "Warmth" going down which was quite good, but to my taste, the heads are going back in ! I can't drink 75 ml in ten minues as a "sipper" - or I'll fall off me perch in an hour ! Whether I shall get this one aged and flavoured is doubtful, as I'm nearly out of drinkin' shine, But I'll get another started tomorrow to the same recipe except I'll use the backset from this one in the ferment. And now I'm using bread yeast and fermenting over 90F - it shouldn't be long before I have some to flavour and age.

All in All, I think It shows promise and I have a load of muscavado left. I've got a base I can work with and will start experimenting with oak and caramel and various fruits.

I'm feeling we'll crack this - this summer ! Or at least get a lot closer

I'm reviving this old thread.
It's a beautiful spring day and I bought a boatload of molasses. I can't wait till summer comes around and it's warm enough here to ferment big batches of rum.

Pikey, I hope you're still at this.

I read through this thread and what I think you're after is black rum. Not spiced black like Kraken, but black.
Captain Morgan's black used to be made in Jamaica. It wasn't spiced.

Current Jamaican offerings are Coruba dark and Myer's.
Then the ones I think you'll want are mostly Demerara based, think OVD (old vatted Demerara), Wood's, Lamb's and Lemon Hart.
Gosling's from Bermuda is sourced, I don't know from where.
Black overproofs are available as well. Plantation's OFTD, a mix of Jamaican, Demerara and Barbados rum. For those in the States, picture Lemon Hart 151 or Hamilton 151.

Some of these are blended and vatted in Scotland so should be easy to find in the UK. I bought 1l of Lamb's in a supermarket while in London. I think Tesco, not sure.

Here are some pics. They're all clear bottles. The Lamb's just for reference of the bottle, I know it's readily available in the UK.

Cocktailwonk has some great articles on Demerara Distillers
https://cocktailwonk.com/2020/02/demera ... t-one.html
https://cocktailwonk.com/2020/02/demera ... t-two.html

Crow is right, they do use a wooden pot still and a wooden column still, but not exclusively. I don't think it's essential for the flavor.

I loved der wo's posting about essences and expensive rum for sailors, I'm afraid some missed the jokes.

The rums certainly had some pot stilled portion, but also a lot of rum that the navy could get cheaply. Cocktail Wonk researched Navy records and stated the origin of a lot of it would surprise a lot of people. My hunch is India.

I bought Veliers bottling of the port mourant double wooden pot still, it's rough as hell. I'm not convinced that the wooden pot still gives any benefit over something we can do at home. It's a pretty cool still though.
Martin Cate of Smuggler's Cove writes about Black Rum in his (awesome) book:

Black rum was designed to impart the appearance of age to rums intended for mixing. The term "dark rum", while in common usage, can be vague and confusing, as it may apply to either black rum or premium aged rums.
However, it' is very important to distinguish between the two, as they have different uses. A black rum may be made using a wide range of distillation methods: pot, column, or blended, resulting in rum that may be light, medium, or heavy bodied. It tends to have little, if any age, but is defined by the addition of caramel, molasses, or both to the finished rum and is typically much darker in appearance than even fifty years in a barrel could achieve.
It remains, to my mind, the only style of rum you should refer to by color, because the addition of color itself is what defines the category. At Smuggler's Cove, we have found that using a black blended rum is often what we need to create the mouthfeel or flavor we're looking for in exotic cocktails, and it plays especially well with a broad range of other rums and spirits.

I love tiki drinks and go through a lot of black rum. I hate spiced and doctored rums, but these are rummy, sometimes tannic like they've been force aged in small barrels, and some have that bitter caramel taste.

I want to recreate that.
I'll start with SBB molasses rum, and I'll throw some in a small barrel or go intentionally overboard with oak chips. Color with caramel and maybe molasses. I don't think infected dunder is needed, as I don't find the Jamaican funkiness in it. I will keep the dunder and make muck for other rums though.