Spiced Rum

[Bill Poster]

I would like to spice my own;maybe a barbancourt white. Vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg seem choice but I know there are other so called 'secret' ingredients being used.

Any tips?

[Ed Hamilton]

Ginger is another spice which, when you judicously, can add a nice component to the flavor of spiced rum. Most, but not all, flavored rums contain sugar, sugar cane syrup or other sweeteners. Among the rums that aren't sweetened is Foursquare Spiced Rum.

Fruit such as lime, orange and coconut are also common. Banana can be good but they turn brown in a short time and detract from the presentation if you are using a clear bottle.

You might consider letting the fruit soak in anohter bottle for a few weeks, straining the fruit out of the rum and then adding the fruit-infused rum.

[Bill Poster]

Thanks for the reply-How about dried fruit? this may avoid clouding.

Do Ron zacapa add spices to its 23 yr rum?

[Ed Hamilton]

Dried fruit is an option which may or may not cause the liquid to become cloudy. A few years ago I was sent a sample of something that was going to be marketed to spice rum at home, but the dried fruit didn't do nearly as well as fresh fruit.

As for Zacapa, if they add anything, they won't admit it.

[John von Pey]

Dried fruit is an option which may or may not cause the liquid to become cloudy. A few years ago I was sent a sample of something that was going to be marketed to spice rum at home, but the dried fruit didn't do nearly as well as fresh fruit.

As for Zacapa, if they add anything, they won't admit it.

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I've once added dried cranberry's to a simple white rum. Besides being very sweet, I liked the taste.

[Tuck]

I started to make my own spiced rums several years ago, after sampling a number of versions of "Spice" in Grenada. In an attempt to mimic some of their concoctions, I generally use a cheap 151 (

Some of the "spices" used downisland:

Cinnemon

Nutmeg

Vanilla

Rosemary

Ginger

Vanilla

Black pepper

Bay leaves

Bois Bande aka:Hardwood

"Sticks" in St. Lucia (I have no idea what they are - bought in market)

Tanka beans - substitute for vanilla

Cloves

Ganja

Extremely large millipedes

I've also tried a few "homegrown" ingredients (small batches at first):

Beechwood - nice

Oregon grapes - too bitter for me

Sasafrass - can you say "root beer rum" - UGH!

[zoe b]

what spice does that horrible Captain Morgan stuff taste like? I've never been able to make myself try it--but my stepsons and nephews love it--it would be fun to make them their own Captain for Christmas.

Zoe

[Tuck]

what spice does that horrible Captain Morgan stuff taste like?

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To me, it tastes like vanilla extract, with a hint of cinnemon.

[Tri2Cook]

Dredging this from the depths. I know, the real rum folks don't care about it. I'm not a rum aficionado but I can honestly say that I've never tasted spiced rum. I have a couple of close friends who like spiced rum so I've decided to include it in my home bar. I also decided to jump in with both feet and make my own rather than go off the shelf. I started it yesterday, this is what I'm working with...

My question is, having never tasted a spiced rum, how forward is the spicing supposed to be? I'm trying to gauge when to filter out the flavoring agents. I've asked a friend to bring me a sample of what they have just to get an idea of the spice level involved so maybe this question won't even be necessary. I have a feeling I'm overthinking this and should just spice it to the level that tastes good to me but I'll take any information I can get (other than "don't even bother" since I've already bothered ).

[Ritty]

My question is, having never tasted a spiced rum, how forward is the spicing supposed to be? I'm trying to gauge when to filter out the flavoring agents.

You just have to experiment. I've done allspice infusions of rum to make pimento dram and infusions of lots of different herbs and spices in homemade bitters quest, and I've never gotten it just right on my fist try. The ingredients that you picked for your picture look good, but I would cut the amount of cinnamon and use more of everything else besides the ginger and vanilla. A higher proof rum might strip more flavoring components from your ingredients. Try Black Seal 151 or another good quality high proof rum. You could water it down and add sweetener later if you like.

[Tri2Cook]

Thanks. That's not the actual amount of anything that I used other than the vanilla bean and cinnamon, that was just for the picture. I used around double that amount of black pepper, allspice and cloves, the one vanilla bean and two cinnamon sticks, about a 1/2 tsp. sized piece of the nutmeg, 4 thin slices of the ginger and the zest microplaned from about 1/4 of the orange in the 1140ml bottle of rum. I split the vanilla bean open and lightly crushed all of the whole spices and it's been steeping for 4 days now. I don't plan to add anything to sweeten it. The sniff test is giving me subtle spice, I'll do a taste test later today. I hear you on the high proof rum. I would like to have done that and a 100 proof vodka for the limoncello I started the same day but neither is available where I live so I'm just working with what I can get.

Edited October 18, 2010 by Tri2Cook (log)

[Kohai]

My spiced rums usually involve some or all of these ingredients:

Orange, lemon and/or grapefruit peel

cinnamon stick

nutmeg, freshly greated

espresso beans

black peppercorns

szechuan pepper corns

annatto seeds

allspice

coriander

cloves

cardamom

plus other stuff which it's too early to remember.

Anything crushable gets crushed in a mortar and pestle. I avoid buzzing them because it's a little harder to strain perfectly. Let sit for 48 - 72 hours in a reasonably decent amber rum and you're good to go.

[Tri2Cook]

So I gave in and bought a 375ml of Captain Morgan. It was worth the small cost because I'm relaxed about mine now. It tastes much better than that already. I think I'm going to give it a little longer though. I want mine to be "Hey! That's spiced!" not the "Yeah, I think I taste something behind the vanilla" of the Captain Morgan.

[Ritty]

I'm not surprised that it's turning out well; sounds like a good concoction. Concider picking up a bottle of Sailor Jerry as it's much better than Captain Morgan. Kraken is a dark spiced rum, which has recently shown up in our liquor stores, and I'll try it when the Sailor Jerry gets low.

[Tri2Cook]

I appreciate the suggestions but I don't really want to pick up any of the store stuff. That was the point of rolling my own. I only caved on the C.M. because I'm unfamiliar with spiced rum and wanted some kind of base to compare my results to.

[LoneSavant]

At my bar here in Grand Rapids, I make a "French Toast" Rum that's really popular and blends really nicely. I use 1 part black cardamom, 1 part allspice, 1 part vanilla bean, 2 parts cinnamon bark (not cassia!), and 3 parts Grade B Dark maple syrup, all in 1750ml of Cruzan Aged White rum. It's simple enough to blend well, but complex enough to be really enjoyable on its own.

I'm sure it would work with the more-available grade A maple syrup, but you'd need to add more to get the right flavor-balance, which in turn would make the rum sweeter than I'd like it. With the grade B, it's an "idea" of sweetness, but still tastes like rum.. hah.

For the love of god don't use fake maple anything.