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Unidentifiable flavoring agents for spiced rum

ElainaA

By ElainaA
in Spirits & Cocktails

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ElainaA

ElainaA

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On a recent visit to St. Lucia I purchased a bag of "spices" intended for flavoring rum. Most of the items are easily identified - cinnamon bark, bay leaves, allspice, cloves and mace. There are also some roots that the market woman identified as sarsaparilla. Then there are these sticks. The vendors in the market identified them only as "sweet sticks". I've been chewing on one (being wary of splinters) but, at least to me, there is no discernible taste at all. Can anyone identify what they are? Will they add any flavor to the rum? And what about the sarsaparilla root? I've never heard of that in spiced rum.

If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need. Cicero

But the library must contain cookbooks. Elaina

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Panaderia Canadiense

Panaderia Canadiense

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I've heard of sarsaparilla in rum - it adds a really neat note in spiced rum, often something that can't be immediately identified by the taster. I don't recognize the sticks, but there may be some reaction when they're steeped in alcohol that you don't perceive when simply chewing them. I'd try extracting one into neutral spirit (like Everclear) and then tasting that to see what the flavour effect is.

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Tri2Cook

Tri2Cook

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I'm going to start selling bags of Magic Gin Flavouring Beans.

That's not exactly the same as spicing your own rum but, as long as they work, go for it.

It's kinda like wrestling a gorilla... you don't stop when you're tired, you stop when the gorilla is tired.

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Adam George

Adam George

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I'm going to start selling bags of Magic Gin Flavouring Beans.

That's not exactly the same as spicing your own rum but, as long as they work, go for it.

Sorry. I was having fun, thinking about these "mystery sticks". It reminds me of the gypsy ladies that used to sell "magic heather" in my home town and of course Jack and the Beanstalk.

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Tri2Cook

Tri2Cook

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Sorry. I was having fun, thinking about these "mystery sticks". It reminds me of the gypsy ladies that used to sell "magic heather" in my home town and of course Jack and the Beanstalk.

No need to be sorry, I laughed.

If it's sarsaparilla, unless it's so old and dried out it's useless, it'll definitely add a flavor different from the other ingredients mentioned. Sort of a slightly medicinal root beer (in my opinion). I would think using it in a spiced rum would want a light hand with it.

It's kinda like wrestling a gorilla... you don't stop when you're tired, you stop when the gorilla is tired.

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ElainaA

ElainaA

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I'm going to start selling bags of Magic Gin Flavouring Beans.

That's not exactly the same as spicing your own rum but, as long as they work, go for it.

Sorry. I was having fun, thinking about these "mystery sticks". It reminds me of the gypsy ladies that used to sell "magic heather" in my home town and of course Jack and the Beanstalk.

Seriously, I've been wondering if possibly the sticks were primarily there to fill out the bag. They also look cool in the bottle - all the bottles on spiced rum sold in the market contain them (but not the rum sold in the duty free shops). I'm going to try Panaderia's suggestion of soaking them in a neutral spirit - once I get some. Not so easy in liquor stores in a small upstate NY town.

If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need. Cicero

But the library must contain cookbooks. Elaina

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ElainaA

ElainaA

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The mystery sticks have been identified. I posted this question on the St. Lucia forum on Trip Advisor and got an answer from one of their local contacts. He says the sticks are bwa bande, also called bois bande, from the richeria grandis tree. They are used in spiced rum, including commercial brands from St. Lucia (Chairman's Reserve Spiced Rum and Kweyol spiced rum) and other islands. It is also used to make tea. It is said to be an aphrodisiac - I found multiple references to it as 'natural viagra'. I'm going to have to think about whether I use this or not. There is certainly a lot of it in the bag of spices that i bought.

Edited by ElainaA (log)

If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need. Cicero

But the library must contain cookbooks. Elaina

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ElainaA

ElainaA

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I've got a lot of it - send me your address. One ad that I found stresses that the "erectile effects" last for 12 hours and that you should not use it more than 3 days in arow. Pretty busy days, I'd think.

http://www.bwa-bande.com/bwabande_dosage.html

If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need. Cicero

But the library must contain cookbooks. Elaina

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