It is very difficult to prepare rum close to the original, since a real drink has an extremely complex production technology and many exotic ingredients that are quite difficult to get in Russia and the CIS countries. Nevertheless, in any case, you will get something non-standard and the result may pleasantly surprise you.
The easiest way to make rum is with essences. It is a concentrated flavor that can taste like rum, brandy, cognac, calvados, and so on. It is usually added to baked goods, but for some reason it is the mixture of moonshine and rum essence that is considered to be really tasty.
Of course, just dropping a couple of drops of concentrate is not enough. It is necessary to carry out serious work on the preparation and infusion of the drink:
Classic rum essence (about 200 rubles).
- We prepare moonshine of double distillation with a strength of 45 degrees (do not forget to separate the heads and tails).
- We insist the drink in for 3-4 months, or use oak or bark for this.
- We prepare in advance (an alternative to molasses, from which the original rum is made), after which we add it to our already infused drink (a teaspoon of 2–3 liters).
- Add sugar at the rate of 100 grams per 1 liter.
- Add rum essence at the rate of 1 ml per 1 liter of drink.
- Mix everything intensively and put it in the refrigerator for two days to stabilize the taste.
- Let's try!
“Seasoned” moonshiners don’t really bother and simply mix moonshine of any quality with essence. It turns out a very peculiar drink, which is even quoted among some segments of the population.
An interesting video was found on Youtube from moonshiner Timofey, who talks in detail about his feelings from the use of rum essences. This is the most objective and informative review that I found on the Internet.
More complex rum recipe (coffee, burnt sugar, vanilla)
In fact, its preparation is not particularly difficult, it’s just that there are a little more ingredients and the proportions have changed a little. For 5 liters of moonshine 45% we will need:
Sugar can be cooked directly on a spoon.
- Sugar - 100 grams (we will cook caramel).
- Oak bark - 10 grams.
- Vanilla sugar - 2 grams.
- Ground coffee - a teaspoon without a slide.
In advance, you only need to prepare burnt sugar, after which you simply mix all the ingredients in one container and let the drink brew for two weeks.
The bark is a great alternative to oak chips and barrels, as it makes moonshine more palatable than natural oak.
According to some moonshiners, the taste of this drink is close to the Guatemalan rum Zacapa.
A complex recipe for delicious rum (prunes, burnt sugar, pine nuts)
This recipe is the least popular due to the large number of ingredients. The opinion was expressed on the forums that the main ingredients are still prunes and burnt sugar, and everything else is already added there for more subtle flavor notes.
On the 1 liter moonshine 45% necessary:
If you really want a noble taste, then use a barrel instead of oak bark.
- Dried prunes - 30 grams (7-8 fruits).
- Burnt sugar - 1 teaspoon.
- Dry apple branches with leaves - 30 grams.
- Oak bark - 20 grams.
- Pine nuts with a kernel - 25 pieces.
- Chicory - 5 g.
- 3 grams of sage, sweet clover, yarrow herb, heather and St. John's wort.
- 2 grams of cardamom, clover flowers, bison and dried black elderberries.
Mix all the ingredients and leave for 10 days. Then filter everything well through cheesecloth and refrigerate for 2-3 days.
It would be useful to infuse moonshine in an oak barrel before mixing with all the other ingredients, but we add oak chips, so the drink will have a noble brown color anyway. We decided not to complicate an already quite rich recipe, so we recommend that you do without a barrel.
In the video Alex Bootlegger this recipe is simplified, and wood chips are used for infusion. But nevertheless, this is the most visual guide to making rum at home with similar ingredients. We advise you to watch it if you chose this particular recipe.
Recipe for tangerine rum from Antonych
In general, this guy's videos are a treasure trove of information for moonshiners and distillers of any level. We highly recommend watching most of his videos.
To make rum at home, it is desirable to use sugarcane, but since this plant grows mainly in South America, in other climatic conditions it can be replaced with ordinary sugar. Mix regular granulated sugar with cane sugar in equal proportions. Instead of cane sugar, you can use beet molasses.
Pour raw materials into a saucepan - preferably enameled and melt over low heat. You should get a thick syrup.
To make rum at home, you will need alcohol yeast - they need to be diluted with water at the rate of one gram per liter of liquid. In order for the yeast to ferment well, water must be taken at room temperature, not higher than 30 degrees.
For this homemade rum recipe, you need to take 4.5-5 liters of boiled water. Dissolve the yeast in a small amount of water - no more than a liter, leave warm for 20-30 minutes until a slight foam appears. As soon as the starter begins to ferment, pour it into a large container with the syrup and the remaining water.
Mix well and then pour into a convenient glass container - this amount can be divided into two 5-liter bottles.
Close the mash with a water seal and leave for 7 days for fermentation. It is best to withstand the mash at a temperature of 27-32 degrees.
If desired, to give home-made rum a special flavor, you can add any spices to the mash - a little vanilla, cinnamon or cloves. When the mash is ready, the strength of the resulting wort is usually 8-10%. Carefully filter the wort for subsequent distillation - you can use a siphon or ordinary cheesecloth.
To make rum at home, you will need a distiller - moonshine. The distillation process must be continuous, then the drink will acquire the required strength of about 80%. It is very important not to skip the "heads" and "tails" - to select approximately 10% of the total volume for each fraction.
The homemade rum obtained after distillation must be kept for a certain time.
It is best to age the rum in oak or ash wooden barrels. Ash wood makes a lighter drink. From oak wood you will get a drink with a richer taste, a little tart. The longer the rum is aged, the brighter its taste and aroma will be.
After reaching the desired taste, the drink can be diluted with cold boiled water to a strength of 45-50%.
Other homemade rum recipes
If you don't have a moonshine still, you can use a simpler rum recipe at home. To do this, you need good quality vodka, rum and vanilla essences, sugar and water.
Mix a liter of vodka with 50 ml of rum, add 10 ml of vanilla and pineapple essence, mix well and pour into a large glass container - it is best to take a three-liter bottle of dark glass. Melt a glass of sugar and bring to a boil over low heat to make a thick syrup. Pour the chilled syrup into a container for vodka, close tightly and shake well to mix the mixture. Insist in a dark cool place for at least a month.
Using homemade rum recipes, you can prepare an excellent alcoholic drink that will have a strength of at least 40-45 degrees. Drink rum cold with meat and fish snacks. Also, on the basis of this drink, it will be possible to prepare many wonderful cocktails for every taste.
Attention: This article is intended for persons over 18 years of age.
This is a set of instructions for making rum at home. This will take you approximately 4-10 days. This set of instructions consists of paragraphs that describe how the rum is brewed, how to make your distiller reflux special, and how to breed the final product. Rum began to be produced in the 17th century in the Caribbean, where most rum production still takes place today. It was traditionally made from sugar cane juice, but is now usually made from molasses or brown sugar.
Result: Approximately 2-3 liters (0.5-0.8 gallons) of rum
Ingredients
- 2.5 kg (5.5 lb) molasses
- 2.5 kg (5.5 lb) processed sugar
- 20 liters (5.2 gallons) distilled water
- 1.5 oz hydrated yeast
- Additional distilled water to dilute the final product
Steps
Part 1
We make mashDistillers start making rum by mixing water, sugar and molasses. It turns out wort. Then yeast is added. At this stage, the wort becomes mash.
- Clean and submerge any utensils you will be using in boiling water. Turn off the heat under boiling water and dip your jar or barrel into the almost boiling water. Then drain the water. This will help destroy any potentially dangerous germs.
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Dissolve sugar and molasses in 20 liters of water at medium temperature. Sugar will dissolve easily, but molasses will take longer to dissolve as it is very sticky. Try not to let the water boil. Bring it to a boil, and as soon as bubbles begin to appear, turn off the heat.
Cool the solution to 28 ͦC (82 ͦF) and add the hydrated yeast. It may be better if you try to dissolve the yeast in a smaller amount of wort, first pour 1 liter of wort into a pitcher. Then, when it begins to foam, combine it with the main part of the wort.
Part 2
FermentationFermentation is the process by which yeast takes in carbohydrates (sugar) and releases ethanol and carbon dioxide. Ethanol is alcohol that makes you tipsy (or drunk). Carbon dioxide is a natural by-product that does not need to be passed through the wash.
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Let the solution ferment at 25°C (77°F) until the airlock on your tank stops bubbling. The yeast must be heated to convert the sugar into alcohol. Therefore, keep the mash in a warm place or artificially heat the room. The airlock will release carbon dioxide while keeping oxygen out. This process will take approximately 24-48 hours for the flask to stop bubbling.
Once the flask has finished bubbling, let the mash stand for 3-7 days. You can use a hydrometer to check when the wash is ready. Hydrometers measure the ratio of moisture density to water density. Measure once a day, starting from the day when the fermentation process should be completed. Take out some of the mash and pour it into a beaker. Stir the hydrometer in the beaker, swirling it gently to release all the bubbles. When the hydrometer shows the same readings for three days in a row, then your mash is ready for distillation.
Lower your yeast down as you lower the temperature. At this stage, the yeast may still be on the surface of the mash. If yeast is allowed to enter the still during distillation, it will cause unpleasant odors and odors. To lower the yeast to the bottom, you must transfer your brew to a cold place - ideally 10-14 ͦC (50-57 ͦF) - wait two days. At this point, you can either transfer your mash to the distiller, or seal it and save some of the yeast for another batch in the refrigerator.
Part 3
DistillationDistill the brew to increase its alcohol content from around 16% to much higher. During distillation, alcohol and vapor from the liquid enter the still. The vapor with the highest alcohol content separates from the vapor and runs through the reflux. As it cools in it, it turns back into a liquid. If you still want to build your distillation unit, then go ahead!
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Place a collection vessel under the distiller's valve to collect your alcoholic product. It is very important that all connections are well sealed and fitted.
Connect the fluid source to the cooler inlet. You need a liquid source to cool the alcohol vapor. Since the vapor, cooling, turns into ethanol. The liquid from the condenser will then drip into the collection vessel.
Now pour the solution into the distillation apparatus. Pour the solution carefully, without reaching the bottom where the yeast is.
- A siphon is a tube or hose lowered down to an unequal length to be used to transfer liquid from one container to another at a lower level. Pumping works when the short part of the hose is placed in the bowl above, and the long part in the one below. The liquid passes up the short part and along the long part with the help of atmospheric pressure.
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Start slowly bringing the solution to a boil. For rum, simmering is best; it does not need to be mixed. Start running cold water as soon as the solution reaches a temperature of 50-60 ͦC (122-140 ͦF). The solution will begin to distill when clear drops of liquid begin to flow into the collection vessel.
Discard the first 100 ml (3.38 fl oz) of clear liquid. These are called "heads" and are usually poured out for safety. The heads contain volatile methanol which can be fatal if drunk. It's better to be safe than sorry, especially when you're distilling three liters of alcohol.
Collect the next 2-3 liters of distillate spurting out. Stop collecting as soon as the temperature reaches 96 ͦC (204.8 ͦF).
Turn off the fire, then turn off the cold water.
Open the lid of the machine to prevent the creation of a vacuum in it.
Part 4
Finishing the rum- If you keep it at home, then it is better to put it in a barn or in a dark place, between the spring thaw and the onset of the first frost. Evaporation rates ("angel share") range from 2% in Scotland to 8-12% from Puerto Rico to the equator. Aging with a tiny amount of glycerin (5 ml/L), a common food sweetener and preservative, can help soften the flavor. You should not dilute alcohol with melted water (some may think that distilled water has an obvious lack of mineral taste, and hard water is healthier) by aging in a stainless steel cylinder. But if you do breed it, make sure it's strong enough in the end and has an alcohol content above what you wanted to be able to add flavor at the end. (i.e. try to calculate the angel's share).
- Fractional distillation (types such as simple distillation and rectification are subspecies of fractional distillation) requires reaching an alcohol content of 95% or more, it is especially characteristic of rum. The capacity for simple distillation (as used for whiskey, many other spirits and so-called "full flavored" rums) is closer to 70% (double distillation process) or 80-88% (triple distillation).
- Common additives that are used in the preparation of rum are coconut extract (pure), sugar cane juice. One common additive (and generally more common) for all but white rum is molasses. Caramel is an additive to golden and spiced rum. Spiced rum may have cinnamon extract (a small amount, of course) or honey. Another possible addition to a Haitian-inspired rum would be a small amount of nutmeg extract and/or basil flowers.
- Try using a larger container next time. Otherwise, you will have a complete mess. Also, the funnel will help with the transfusion of liquids.
- Moonshine isn't particularly known for its fragrance, if you really get to a 95% solution it will most likely be completely tasteless - check out Neutral Spirits. It will mature significantly faster after aging in a stainless steel drum (steel drums are the norm for white rum or a small amount of spiced rum, oak casks for gold/spiced rums, and charred oak casks for dark rums, but cask-based aging is the way to go. itself a science). Almost all liqueurs are 1-2 years old (the exception is corn whiskey, which can be flavored with sweet corn juice), although there are many others that are much longer. Charcoal filtration will also help get rid of nasty impurities, although this process is generally used for vodka, not rum.
- Alcohol yeast will not produce methanol. But other bacteria in the air or the environment can contaminate the batch (although they are not common in all areas). Clean manufacturing conditions, sterile gloves, starting material utensils and pure starting materials are important to ensure batch safety. Thorough cleaning of the distillation apparatus (even dry sterilization) between uses is very important. Professional production can begin as soon as the air in the apparatus and the aging cube is replaced with nitrogen (an inert and flame retardant) to further reduce the risks, but this is not a cheap and easy thing to do at home. Shaking the initial batch is more important in getting rid of unwanted flavors, but in professional setups this apparatus is lost (actually lost to a greater extent) by safely heating to almost but not the boiling point of ethanol (̴80 ͦ...about 60 ͦ C) while the apparatus is in the tank for curing (and open to air, allowing the material to flow out).
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Start by pouring 20 liters of water into a large, clean container. The key word is "clean". The smallest particle of dirt can spoil the rum. Before starting, make sure you are dealing with a sterile clean surface and ingredients.
Why do some people decide to make their own rum? The reasons can be very different: you want to feel like a specialist in the field of alcoholic beverages and open your own business in the future, you are tired of spending a lot of time choosing alcohol for celebrating an important event with friends; just a burning curiosity arose - how you can get an exquisite pirate drink from alcohol and molasses. In any case, first you need to understand some of the intricacies of making rum at home.
In the article:
Rum anarchy
That rum is the favorite of Caribbean pirates and the elite, we know for sure. But what standards manufacturers adhere to in production is a mystery. Moreover, this is a mystery even for specialists, since everyone does as they see fit: someone passes their moonshine through charcoal filters, someone keeps it in “real” oak barrels, and someone simply distills the molasses and pours it over bottles.
A confirmation that there are no strict rules in the technology of making rum can be considered even the fact that the variation in the strength of this drink is very large - from thirty-five to eighty-five degrees! Color also undergoes significant differences - from transparent to dark brown. As for the smell, perhaps no one can say for sure what real rum should smell like.
By the way, even if we look for at least one common feature even in the name, then we will also come across inconsistencies: the English name is “rum”, Spanish-speaking people write it like “ron”, and French speakers write it like “rhum”.
You say - what about the reed? After all, it is he who is the basis of the foundations in a pirate drink? But here, too, modern experts will present you with a counterargument. After all, manufacturers, in pursuit of profit and cost savings, do anything, replacing molasses with rice, beets or even potatoes.
In short, if you are planning to surprise your guests with homemade alcohol, but you are afraid that they will not appreciate your attempt, comparing the alcohol with the one you once tried, you can safely answer that you have prepared the real one. And no one will prove otherwise.
A simple rum recipe
Since the real one still requires sugar cane, at the first stage of making at home you will have two ways: get cane (remember, only the juiciest parts of it), or get by with its analogue and make an alternative. The output will be approximately the same taste, so do not rush to look for cane delivery.
The ingredients from which you can prepare the desired bottles of drink at home are not difficult to get in stores in our country. We will need:
- 1000 ml;
- 200 grams of sugar (you can buy cane, not refined, to get closer to the original);
- 500 ml of water;
- 50 ml of rum essence;
- 10 ml vanilla essence;
- 10 ml pineapple essence;
- 4 teaspoons of burnt sugar.
The only thing you won't find at the grocery store next door is essences. But the supplement is easy to order in a specialty store for bars and restaurants.
To prepare, prepare a large container. We put water and sweet sand in it. Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly so that the sand does not stick together.
As soon as it has dissolved, remove the container from the stove and add burnt syrup to it (it must be prepared in advance). We leave to cool.
In another container, mix vodka with all the essences.
Add the vodka mixture to the cooled sweet mixture and mix the resulting composition thoroughly.
Now we pour the liquid into bottles and tightly close them with corks, and then for a month forget that pirate bottles are languishing somewhere in your apartment.
As a filter, a simple gauze folded in several layers and cotton wool laid between these layers is suitable. We filter, and you can invite guests.
For the second method, you will need somewhat simpler ingredients:
- 1 liter of homemade moonshine;
- 1 medium sized pineapple;
- 100 g of burnt sugar.
Pineapple must be chopped into small pieces (approximately a square centimeter in size) and sent to a container with moonshine. We tightly cover the jar with polyethylene, and then with a lid, shake lightly and send it to infuse for about two weeks.
After this time, the resulting liquid should be filtered (you can use the method from the previous recipe or any other option convenient for you), and then add burnt syrup to it. It will create the necessary, amber, color.
Armenian "rum"
There is an even simpler recipe. Using it, you can prepare "Erebuni" - the Armenian version of the drink. Would need:
- 500 ml of wine alcohol;
- 50 ml of rum essence;
- 4 teaspoons of burnt sugar;
- 500 ml of pure boiled water.
Wine alcohol (96 degrees), must be diluted with plain boiled water in a ratio of 1:1. Add essence here to get a pleasant taste and the same color, and burnt syrup.
One of the most important stages of production is the fermentation process (you can read more about). Some use ordinary yeast for these purposes, someone adds a special variety with a certain taste to create their own smell to the drink.
Technology for making rum with yeast
We offer you a recipe for alcohol yeast rum.
Ingredients you will need:
- 500 g cane sugar;
- 500 g white refined sugar;
- 5 liters of water;
- 5 g alcohol yeast.
Prepare a capacious, preferably enameled pan, and pour sweet sand into it. Melt the sweet mixture over low heat until a thick syrup forms.
Yeast should be diluted in water in a ratio of 1 gram of yeast per 1 liter of water and left for half an hour until a white foam forms. Water should be at room temperature, that is, no warmer than thirty degrees.
Pour the starter into syrup and add water there. Stir the resulting mixture well, and then pour it into glass bottles (you will need five liter bottles).
In order for the mash to brew well, it is necessary to close the containers tightly. A water seal would be ideal. Store the bottles in a dark place, at a temperature of twenty-seven - thirty-two degrees, for about a week.
If you want your alcohol to acquire individual taste qualities, you can experiment with spices by adding vanilla, cinnamon, cloves, and similar seasonings to the resulting liquid.
After seven days, your bottles will have a ready wort with a strength of about eight to ten degrees. It must be filtered with a siphon or gauze.
Making rum at home involves the use of a distiller, or moonshine still. In order for the strength of the finished drink to be high, about 80%, the distillation process should not be interrupted.
After distillation, it should simmer for some more time. An ideal place for this would be a wooden barrel made from trees such as oak or ash. In the first case, the drink will be more saturated and tart, and in the second - lighter. The longer the liquid is kept in the barrel, the more pleasant and richer it will be.
When the rum acquires the taste and shade that you sought, you can dilute it with cold clean water to the desired strength.
Depending on how long the drink languished in bottles before filtering, its strength depends. Degrees can be measured using a special alcohol thermometer, but in general it is used both in its pure form and in the form of a variety of alcoholic cocktails.
It is the second method that we will discuss in detail in this article. The whole recipe consists of two parts: making molasses mash and distilling it.
Preparation of mash from cane molasses for rum
The first step is to make a mash based on cane molasses. On the Internet you can find many recipes for mash for rum. We will give the one that at the output will give a drink that most closely repeats the characteristics of classic rum.
Ingredients
- Water (21 liters)
Cooking order
- Pour 21 liters of clean and warm water into the fermentation tank. Its initial temperature should be 30-35 ° C - for rum yeast, these are the optimal conditions for a comfortable start.
- Pour cane molasses into a container with water (hydraulic ratio - 1: 4). Molasses is a rather dense and viscous substance, it is important to completely dissolve it in water. To do this, take a spoon and stir the composition until completely mixed.
- Sprinkle the yeast evenly over the surface of the mash. We mix.
- The fermentation of such a mash is accompanied by a large amount of foam, so you should not put a water seal on the fermentation tank. It is enough to close it tightly with a lid and put it away for fermentation. It lasts 7 days.
If you want to save money, you can use another recipe. The only difference is that instead of 5 kg of molasses, we add 2 kg of molasses and 4.5 kg of sugar to the water. But, as experiments show, the output will be a drink very similar to ordinary sugar moonshine.
Preparation of white rum: distillation of cane mash
After 7 days, as the mash has completely fermented, it needs to be overtaken. This must be done on a column apparatus with a good dephlegmator. The device with a dryer will not work. You will soon understand why.
- Braga is drained from the sediment and poured into a distillation cube. We fill the cube no more than ¾ of the volume.
- The apparatus, if the design allows, we assemble a potstill in the fast distillation mode. The sooner we do the first run, the better for the final product. We finish the selection when the strength in the stream falls below 20%.
- We measure the strength of raw alcohol, dilute it with water with stillage up to 20%. The proportions are as follows: 3 parts water and 1 part stillage.
- Pour the diluted raw material into a cube, assemble the apparatus in the fine-tuning mode (cooling is supplied separately to the refrigerator and dephlegmator). We install 3 copper nozzles in the drawer. We start the race.
- We are waiting for the device to enter the operating mode, after which we begin the selection of heads. We select the first 12-15% of the liquid relative to the volume of absolute alcohol.
- After the selection of goals, a very important stage begins. We block the cooling on the dephlegmator. The selection is made using one refrigerator. In this mode, we continue the distillation until the moment when the fortress in the stream drops to 85%.
- Then return by cooling to the dephlegmator. We select the remaining body in the standard mode until it stops. We mix the body with the aromatic distillate obtained earlier. Dilute with water to a strength of 40%.
Important! The bard remaining after the first run must be saved. It will be needed before the second distillation to dilute the raw alcohol. Barda will enhance aromatics, give the finished product the taste of real rum.
Selection without a reflux condenser makes it possible to collect a distillate with aromatic "tails", which we then mix with the "body".
We will have homemade white rum, completely ready to drink. In order for it to acquire a classic brown color and smooth out the taste of the drink, rum can be aged for several months in an oak barrel or insisted on oak chips for a couple of weeks.
