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As others have said, dunder is important.

With my Panela rum I like to use Hornindal Kveik yeast. Gives it a nice tropical floral fruity nose, is temperature friendly, and is a violent little yeasty.

For both of those reasons and some others below, I do my rum as a continuous ferment. I leave the yeast cake and ~1” of liquid at the bottom of the fermenter when racking. For every batch I add some oyster shells, panela, dunder, and water. That’s it. I use hot dunder to break the Panela down, let that cool off, then add it back to the fermenter when less than 100°f to not kill the yeast. Also more cost effective to not have to repitch yeast every run. Not really a consideration if you’re using bakers but the Hornindal cost me a little so I try and take care of it. My experience has been the organic matter in Panela and dead yeast from the dunder provides enough nutrients I haven’t had to add any yet.

In your case I would consider adding some blackstrap to a batch for flavor and to see how you like it. If you reuse that dunder the flavor should carry over indefinitely and you can adjust the amount of dunder to find an intensity you like.

Love this thread!!!

A friend just sent me 5 gallons of pure cane juice and I have to try it out. Can you please advise how much juice you use for a 5 gallon mix and how much yeast? I am currently experimenting with different yeasts and variations of cane juice, molasses, etc., and am still trying to find the sweet spot.

Cheers...

Butch13 wrote: ↑Mon May 06, 2024 7:00 am Love this thread!!!

A friend just sent me 5 gallons of pure cane juice and I have to try it out. Can you please advise how much juice you use for a 5 gallon mix and how much yeast? I am currently experimenting with different yeasts and variations of cane juice, molasses, etc., and am still trying to find the sweet spot.

Cheers...

I'd do the cane juice straight up, no water, no added yeast. it has a unique natural fission yeast (schizosacchromyces pombe) that makes the best rum (in my opinion).

Thanks, Bolverk. That sounds odd but worth a try. The cane juice is frozen, though, so I am curious if the natural yeast would have died off? I am guessing that fermentation will take a bit longer than the usual 3-5 days. What has been your experience?

Butch13 wrote: ↑Mon May 06, 2024 9:19 am Thanks, Bolverk. That sounds odd but worth a try. The cane juice is frozen, though, so I am curious if the natural yeast would have died off? I am guessing that fermentation will take a bit longer than the usual 3-5 days. What has been your experience?

Ah yeah, I didn't realize it would be frozen. Definitely add yeast. a lot of people have good luck with regular baker's yeast, distillamax rm is highly recommended by most pros I've spoken to.

The fement should only take 5-7 days at 90f, but after the ferment is done, kill the extra heat and let it sit for a week or two so those yeast cell walls have a chance to expell all those delicious fatty acids.

Excellent. I have some distillamax on the way and that is what I plan to use as my primary.

Appreciate your help!

The spirit made from pure sugar cane juice is called Cachaça, it can also go by the names of Pinga, Caninha , and a couple of other names which escape me at this moment.
I've never tried to make a batch from straight cane juice even though I live in sugarcane country here in Au, it is on my bucket list though.
Having said that I have done a bit of reading on the subject ........everything I have read says that the juice needs to start the fermentation process ASAP after being squeezed / crushed from the cane.
I seem to remember reading that the reason for this is something to do with excess methanol or ethyl carbamate production.
Not trying to put you off doing what you want to do , but maybe a bit more reading on the subject is warranted.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cacha%C3%A7a

Saltbush Bill wrote: ↑Wed May 08, 2024 1:39 am The spirit made from pure sugar cane juice is called Cachaça, it can also go by the names of Pinga, Caninha , and a couple of other names which escape me at this moment.

In France it is called rhum agricole and is the principal form of rum sold in the mainland and the sole rum produced by the ex-colonies.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/ag ... %20process.
Quote
" The raw material for cachaça is natural and fresh sugarcane juice. As described above, to avoid the loss of cane quality and formation of higher alcohols, sugarcane culms should be processed within 24 hours. Milling is typically carried out using cylindrical compressors followed by filtration of the juice through a fine mesh sieve. The juice extracted during milling should have a sugar concentration ranging from 18% to 22%. For ideal fermentation, however, the must should contain 14–16% of sugars. Pitching undiluted juice will result in slower, incomplete fermentation and the formation of undesired compounds in the final spirit."

Good info Salty.

NormandieStill wrote: ↑Wed May 08, 2024 6:05 am

Saltbush Bill wrote: ↑Wed May 08, 2024 1:39 am The spirit made from pure sugar cane juice is called Cachaça, it can also go by the names of Pinga, Caninha , and a couple of other names which escape me at this moment.

In France it is called rhum agricole and is the principal form of rum sold in the mainland and the sole rum produced by the ex-colonies.

Behind high ester Jamaicans, rhum agricole is my #2 favorite style of rum! I love the creamy and frosting flavors with citrus, Longueteau 62 is my go-to!