Category: rum

  • A Revisit of the Appleton Rum Distillery in Jamaica

    In 2016 I visited the Appleton rum distillery on Jamaica for the second time. It's possible some of the information in this blog post may have changed since then. 

    This trip was organized by WIRSPA (West Indies Rum and Spirits Producers' Association Inc.) and their quality marque system ACR for Authentic Caribbean Rum. The attendees on the trip were the hugest bunch of rum nerds, so it was great. We were headquartered in Kingston and drove to a different distillery each day, often 3-5 hours drive in each direction. 

    Jamaica distilleries

    Much of this information is going to seem like random facts. First the facts that I found in my notes: 

    We first visited a viewpoint looking down into the valley where Appleton is made. Then we visited a water source. The water source they say is the origin of the Black River. It filters through limestone and tastes very sweet. THey say 85% of Jamaica is limestone and all the rum distilleries on the island are located in limestone areas. This water is used in fermentation, not in barrel proofing nor bottling. 

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    Appleton does not irrigate their sugar cane. They grow more than 10 varieties of sugar cane, all of which are harvested together. 

    Fifteen percent of their cane is hand-harvested due to the terrain. All of it is burned before harvesting, but they're slowly transitioning to non-burning where possible. 

    Ten tons of sugar cane makes about 30 cases of rum. 

    Molasses, after sugar extraction, still contains about 60% sugar. 

    Appleton uses a cultured yeast and a 36 hour temperature-controlled fermentation of the molasses. At the end it's about 7% ABV before distillation. 

    They say the signature orange peel top note of Appleton comes from the shape of their still. They have five 5,000 gallon pot stills. 

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    They age, blend, and bottle the product in Kingston, not here at the distillery. They have over 240,000 barrels aging. During aging, the rum loses ABV. Every three years, they combine the rum in a batch of barrels to minimize headspace and evaporation. 

    After blending, they let the rum marry for about 6 weeks before bottling it. They do dilution in stages. 

    Different marques of rum have different head and tails cuts. 

    They have 16 warehouses. All the barrels are palletized. 

    At Appleton's other distillery, New Yarmouth (the only distillery on the island we didn't see on this trip) they have smaller pot stills and column stills. Wray & Nephew is made there. 

    Molasses used in Jamaican rum can come from outside of Jamaica. 

     

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    A second set of facts: We had a slideshow and tasting. I took pictures of some of the interesting slides and here are more random facts from slides:

    • Appleton Estate accounts for 28* of all rum produced in Jamaica
    • J. Wray & Nephew Ltd accounts for over 60% of all rum produced on Jamaica 
    • Sugarcane is harvested every 12 months (though it matures between 10 months and 2 years generally)
    • 10 tons of sugar cane is equivalent to 1 ton of sugar, .4 tons of molasses, or 30 cases of rum
    • Jamaican rum is used in blending around the world, and it is categorized and purchased in bulk according to the marques, which have names or codes and are associated ester counts – the amount of funk in the rum. The marques mentioned by Appleton are Common Clean (40-80 esters); Plummer (180 esters); Wedderburn (200 esters); Light continental (400-700 esters); Continental (900-1600 esters). 
    • Rum is barrel aged at 80% ABV here
    • There is up to a 6% evaporation loss (angel's share)

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  • Comparing Continuous Fermentation in Baijiu with Sour Mash Whiskey and Jamaican Muck Pits

    Another baijiu post yessss! Today I want to think about how the circular fermentation process in baijiu is like and unlike sour mash in whiskey and muck pits in Jamaican rum. 

    Recent posts have been:

    No need to read them all now. 

     

    As described in this post, in strong aroma baijiu, grains are fermented in earthen pits, distilled as solids, and fermented again in the same pits they came out of. A little bit of new grain is added to each fermentation cycle along with the already-distilled grain. 

    This may sound slightly familiar: in "sour mash" whiskey, some of the post-distillation materials are added to the next fermentation batch. 

    And in Jamaican rum, some distilleries use "muck pits" that are blends of previous stillage fermenting together. Some amount of this is thrown into new fermentation batches. 

    So let's talk about how these are alike and how they may be different. 

     

    Sour Mash

    Frementation vatsI had always heard that sour mashing was done for "consistency between batches" and thought that "sour mash" is like sourdough, where live fermenting material goes into following batches so they're consistent with each other. This turns out not to be the case. 

    Instead, some of the stillage (the leftover liquid in the still after distillation) is added to the next fermentation batch. Because the stillage has just been in a still that is literally boiling hot, there is no live yeast to transfer from one batch to the next. The sour mash is just acidifying the fermentation vessel to adjust the pH for a better fermentation and to prevent bacterial infection. The quantity of stillage used could be considered part of a distillery's recipe. 

     

    Muck Pits

    IMG_4631In some Jamaican rums, the stillage (leftovers after distillation) is called dunder, and it is mixed up with other leftovers of the rum production process into something called muck. 

    From an excellent post on CocktailWonk.com called, "Days of Dunder: Setting the Record Straight on Jamaican Rum’s Mystery Ingredient"

    [Muck is] a giant bolus of bacteria that creates a soup of carboxylic acids…  muck is essentially a biological reactor for generating acids that eventually turn into yummy esters. It’s fed refuse from various parts of the rum production process, and its pH level is carefully nurtured via the addition of marl to keep it in humming along or dormant, as necessary. 

    At the end of fermentation, a portion of muck is tossed in with the fermented molasses and it's distilled together to produce hugely-flavorful rum. Note that unlike in sour mashing, they want to promote bacteria- at least the right bacteria.

    So, here again we have leftover products from the distillation being added to the next batch, but the purpose is to get those bacteria-generated acids into the still. 

    Not only is the muck not just the leftovers of one distillation, some of the core bacteria of it is stored in nerd-famous "muck graves" at some distilleries. CocktailWonk writes in the same blog post:

    So what of these stories about outdoor muck pits in the bare ground? … they do store a semi-solid version of the muck in the ground, as a form of long-term storage for the dormant bacteria. Distilleries commonly start and stop production [and the semi-solid bacteria can be used to restart the muck]. By carefully adjusting the pH of the muck, it can be put into a semi-stable state, where it can be stored in an earthen pit. … the pit is slightly bigger than the size of a human grave.

     

    1,000-Year Pit, 10,000-Year Mash

    IMG_2715The name for the process of repeat fermentation in baijiu is "1,000-year pit, 10,000-year mash." I was confused by the phrasing: how could the mash (the fermenting material) be older than the pit that the mash is fermented in? But it was explained to me that 10,000 years basically means "forever" or "endless" So we could rephrase "1,000-year pit, 10,000-year mash" as something like "ancient pit, endless mash." It speaks to the endless cycle of always using some of the previous distillation run in the next fermentation. 

    So as with sour mash and muck, some of the stuff comes out of the still and goes into the next fermentation (in strong aroma baijiu, it's all of the stuff that comes out of the still). 

    Like muck, qu  (the fermentation agent for baijiu made up of mold, yeast, and bacteria) contains flavor-creating bacteria that distillers want to impact their beverage. But it's not the only place that bacteria come into contact with the fermenting mash. Because the fermentation takes place in earthen pits and covered with mud, the dirt and mud is a home to bacteria from all the previous batches as well- thus the continuity. Sort of like a muck pit.  But in this case, that bacteria is present throughout the fermentation, and no doubt that's the reason the pits are covered and sealed rather than left open to ferment as with other spirits. 

     

    Different Places

    Now, there are other cracks and crannies in distillation where bacteria can live and have multi-batch impacts on the resulting distillates.

    Many distilleries are very proud of their wooden fermentation vats, rather than using stainless steel. Like the mud pits and muck pits, bacteria could technically live on between batches of whatever is being fermented. 

    Olmeca altos tahona2In a recent story for The Daily Beast, Wayne Curtis wondered if the volcanic tahona stones that are sometimes used to crush agave before fermentation might harbor bacteria as well. He writes:

    Another factor possibly in play: microbes. Volcanic stones are semi-porous, hard to clean, and can serve as a home to microorganisms, which in theory could make their way into the fermentation process and influence flavors. Camarena doesn’t rule out microbial influence. “I don’t know,” he says. “We’re dealing with microorganisms floating around here, and nothing gets sterilized.”

    “Fantasy,” argues Rodriguez. “Here at Patrón, we do an intensive cleaning process from batch to batch. Our yeast and production process are what is responsible for the flavors of Patrón tequila.”

    I suppose there could be other pieces of equipment, containers, and tools harboring helpful bacteria in various spirit production around the world.

    To what extent each may impact the final flavor of the individual distillate I don't know, but it's fun to compare common practices across categories. 

     

     

     

  • All the Cocktail and Spirits Books Released in 2018, In Consideration for Gifting or Reading

    It's the annual Alcademics drink book round-up! These are all the cocktails and spirits books that I know about published in 2018, with a couple of wine and beer books thrown in for good measure. It's over 60 books in total. Read them yourself or give 'em as gifts. 

    This year there appear to be less overall history books, and more women-centric books, whether history or not. Cocktail recipe books are all quite specific, with several that focus on theory and technique; and these overlap with books designed with the professional bartender in mind.

    Get to reading.  

     

    Cocktail/Recipe Books

    IMG-2556Julep: Southern Cocktails Refashioned by Alba Huerta and Marah Stets 

    The One-Bottle Cocktail: More than 80 Recipes with Fresh Ingredients and a Single Spirit by Maggie Hoffman

    Tequila Beyond Sunrise: Over 40 tequila and mezcal-based cocktails from around the world by Jesse Estes

    Finding Mezcal: A Journey into the Liquid Soul of Mexico, with 40 Cocktails by Ron Cooper and Chantal Martineau

    Wild Mocktails and Healthy Cocktails: Home-grown and foraged low-sugar recipes from the Midnight Apothecary by Lottie Muir

    Infused Booze: Over 60 Batched Spririts and Liqueurs to Make at Home by Kathy Kordalis

    Session Cocktails: Low-Alcohol Drinks for Any Occasion by Drew Lazor and Editors of PUNCH

    The Cocktail Garden: Botanical Cocktails for Every Season by Ed Loveday and Adriana Picker

    Booze & Vinyl: A Spirited Guide to Great Music and Mixed Drinks by André Darlington and Tenaya Darlington

    Doctor's Orders: Over 50 inventive cocktails to cure, revive & enliven by Chris Edwards and Dave Tregenza

    Cocktail Italiano: The Definitive Guide to Aperitivo: Drinks, Nibbles, and Tales of the Italian Riviera by Annette Joseph

    Clean + Dirty Drinking: 100+ Recipes for Making Delicious Elixirs, With or Without Booze by Gabriella Mlynarczyk

    Are You There God? It's Me, Margarita: More Cocktails with a Literary Twist (A Tequila Mockingbird Book)  by Tim Federle 

    The Art & Craft of Coffee Cocktails: Over 80 recipes for mixing coffee and liquor by Jason Clark

    Aperitif: A Spirited Guide to the Drinks, History and Culture of the Aperitif by Kate Hawkings

    The Joy of Mixology, Revised and Updated Edition: The Consummate Guide to the Bartender's Craft by Gary Regan

    The Dead Rabbit Mixology & Mayhem: The Story of John Morrissey and the World’s Best Cocktail Menu by Sean Muldoon and Jack McGarry

    Nightcap: More than 40 Cocktails to Close Out Any Evening by Kara Newman

    Be Your Own Bartender: A Surefire Guide to Finding (and Making) Your Perfect Cocktail by Carey Jones and John McCarthy

    Cocktail Codex: Fundamentals, Formulas, Evolutions by Alex Day and Nick Fauchald

    Winter Drinks: 70 Essential Cold-Weather Cocktails by Editors of PUNCH

    Tequila: Shake, Muddle, Stir: Over 40 of the Best Cocktails for Tequila and Mezcal Lovers by Dan Jones

    Pickle Juice: A Revolutionary Approach to Making Better Tasting Cocktails and Drinks by Florence Cherruault

    The Mini Bar: 100 Essential Cocktail Recipes; 8 Notebook Set by Editors of PUNCH

    The Curious Bartender Volume II: The New Testament of Cocktails by Tristan Stephenson 

    Glamorous Cocktails: Fashionable mixes from iconic London bars  by William Yeoward 

    Prosecco Made Me Do It: 60 Seriously Sparkling Cocktails by Amy Zavatto 

    Rock Cocktails: 50 rock 'n' roll drinks recipes―from Gin Lizzy to Guns 'n' Rosés

    Northern Hospitality with The Portland Hunt + Alpine Club: A Celebration of Cocktails, Cooking, and Coming Together by Andrew Volk and Briana Volk

    The Aviary Cocktail Book by Grant Achatz, Micah Melton, Nick Kokonas, Allen and Sarah Hemberger.

    The Cocktail Companion: A Guide to Cocktail History, Culture, Trivia and Favorite Drinks by Cheryl Charming

    Drink London (London Guides)  by Euan Ferguson

    Beachbum Berry's Sippin' Safari: Tenth Anniversary Expanded Edition by Jeff Beachbum Berry

     

     

    Wine Books 

    Wild Winemaking: Easy & Adventurous Recipes Going Beyond Grapes, Including Apple Champagne, Ginger–Green Tea Sake, Key Lime–Cayenne Wine, and 142 More by Richard W. Bender

    Ten Grapes to Know: The Ten and Done Wine Guide by Catherine Fallis

    Wine Food: New Adventures in Drinking and Cooking by Dana Frank and Andrea Slonecker

    The Sommelier's Atlas of Taste: A Field Guide to the Great Wines of Europe by Rajat Parr and Jordan Mackay 

    Prosecco Made Me Do It: 60 Seriously Sparkling Cocktails by Amy Zavatto

     

    Spirit Books, Misc.

    The Connoisseur’s Guide to Worldwide Spirits: Selecting and Savoring Whiskey, Vodka, Scotch, Rum, Tequila . . . and Everything Else (An Expert’s Guide … and Savoring Every Spirit in the World) by Richard Carleton Hacker

     Tabletop Distilling: How to Make Spirits, Essences, and Essential Oils with Small Stills by Kai Möller

    The Gin Dictionary by David T. Smith

    The Book of Vermouth: A Bartender and a Winemaker Celebrate the World's Greatest Aperitif by Shaun Byrne and Gilles Lapalus

    The Curious Bartender's Guide to Gin: How to appreciate gin from still to serve by Tristan Stephenson 

     

    Women-Centric Drink Books

    IMG-2558Craft Cocktails by Val: Drinks Inspired by Hillary Rodham Clinton

    Drinking Like Ladies: 75 modern cocktails from the world's leading female bartenders; Includes toasts to extraordinary women in history by Misty Kalkofen and Kirsten Amann

    Liberated Spirits: Two Women Who Battled Over Prohibition by Hugh Ambrose and John Schuttler

    A Woman's Drink: Bold Recipes for Bold Women by Natalka Burian 

    Movers and Shakers: Women Making Waves in Spirits, Beer & Wine by Hope Ewing

    Free the Tipple: Kickass Cocktails Inspired by Iconic Women 
    by Jennifer Croll (Author), Kelly Shami (Illustrator)

     

     History Books

    A Short History of Drunkenness: How, Why, Where, and When Humankind Has Gotten Merry from the Stone Age to the Present by Mark Forsyth 

    A Thousand Thirsty Beaches: Smuggling Alcohol from Cuba to the South during Prohibition by Lisa Lindquist Dorr

    Moonshine: A Celebration of America's Original Rebel Spirit by John Schlimm

    A Drinkable Feast: A Cocktail Companion to 1920s Paris  by Philip Greene 

     

    Beer, Mead, Cider

    Mead: The Libations, Legends, and Lore of History's Oldest Drink by Fred Minnick 

    Will Travel for Beer: 101 Remarkable Journeys Every Beer Lover Should Experience by Stephen Beaumont 

    Beer: 150 Awesome Facts About Your Favorite Brew by Caroline West

    Ciderology: From History and Heritage to the Craft Cider Revolution by Gabe Cook

    The Craft Beer Dictionary: An A-Z of craft beer, from hop to glass by Richard Croasdale

    Kitchen Brewing: A New, Easier and Quicker Way to Home Brew by Jakob Nielsen and Mikael Zetterberg

     

    Bar, Drinking Culture, and Professional Books 

    IMG-2560Bars, Taverns, and Dives New Yorkers Love: Where to Go, What to Drink by John Tebeau

    Drinking Distilled: A User's Manual by Jeffrey Morgenthaler

    I'm Just Here for the Drinks: A Guide to Spirits, Drinking and More Than 100 Extraordinary Cocktails by Sother Teague

    Hungover: The Morning After and One Man's Quest for the Cure by Shaughnessy Bishop-Stall

    Allergen Awareness: A Chef's Perspective by Myron Keith Norman

    Batched & Bottled by Max Venning 

    The Cocktail Bar: Notes for an Owner & Operator by Chall Gray

     

    Whiskey Books

    From Dram to Manhattan: Around the world in 40 whisky cocktails from Scotch to Bourbon by Jesse Estes

    Hacking Whiskey: Smoking, Blending, Fat Washing, and Other Whiskey Experiments by Aaron Goldfarb 

    The Bourbon Bible by Eric Zandona 

    Whiskey America  by Dominic Roskrow 

    Single Malt: A Guide to the Whiskies of Scotland: Includes Profiles, Ratings, and Tasting Notes for More Than 330 Expressions by Clay Risen

    World's Best Whiskies:750 Unmissable Drams from Tain to Tokyo by Dominic Roskrow  

    Bourbon Justice: How Whiskey Law Shaped America by Brian F. Haara 

     

     

    Not enough books for you? Check out:

    All the drink books that came out in 2017

    All the Cocktails and Spirits Books Published in 2016 for Reading or Gifting

    All the Cocktails & Spirits Books Published in 2015, For Reading or Gifting

    More Than 40 Drink Books Published in 2014 for Reading or Gifting

     

  • Almost All the Cocktail and Spirits Books Published in 2017 for Reading or Gifting

    Behold! Here is my round-up of all the cocktails and spirits books (plus a few others) that were released in 2017. This year, beyond the annual deluge of whisky books, there are books aping the bartender lifestyle (Drink Like a Bartender, Straight Up), more narrative books (I Hear She's a Real Bitch, By the Smoke and the Smell), and recipe books seeking to simplify the process (3 Ingredient Cocktails, The Imbible, Road Soda) rather than reveal the secrets of complex drinks from top bars.

    All in all, another great year for reading about drinking. 

    The links below are to Amazon.com and if you order from there I get a little percentage from the affiliate program. However if you want to be even more awesome, you can buy my book on the Gin & Tonic too!  

     

    Best Cocktail Books 2017

     

     

    Cocktail/Bartender Lifestyle Books 

    6a00e553b3da20883401bb09d333e2970d.jpgThe Drinkable Globe: The Indispensable Guide to the Wide World of Booze by Jeff Cioletti 

    Distillery Cats: Profiles in Courage of the World's Most Spirited Mousers by Brad Thomas Parsons

    The Art of the Bar Cart: Styling & Recipes by Vanessa Dina, Ashley Rose Conway

    The Bar Cart Bible: Everything You Need to Stock Your Home Bar and Make Delicious Classic Cocktails

    Drink Like a Bartender  by Thea Engst and Lauren Vigdor 

    The Cocktail Competition Handbook by Andy Ives

    Straight Up: Where to drink & what to drink on every continent  by Joel Harrison and Neil Ridley

    Meehan's Bartender Manual by Jim Meehan 

     

    History Books

    6a00e553b3da20883401b8d2afccb8970c.jpgMuskets and Applejack: Spirits, Soldiers, and the Civil War by Mark Will-Weber 

    B.A.S.T.A.R.D.S.: Bars And Saloons, Taverns And Random Drink Stories (Volume 1)  by Brian F. Rea 

    Bay Area Cocktails: A History of Culture, Community and Craft  by Shanna Farrell

    Bumbershoots: Abridged by Dominic C Pennock

     

     

     

    Single Cocktail Books

    The Bloody Mary Book: Reinventing a Classic Cocktail by Ellen Brown 

    The Bloody Mary: The Lore and Legend of a Cocktail Classic, with Recipes for Brunch and Beyond  by Brian Bartels 

    Gin Tonica: 40 recipes for Spanish-style gin and tonic cocktails by David T Smith 

     

    Whiskey and Whisky Books

    6a00e553b3da20883401b7c925786b970b.jpgMoonshine Mixology: 60 Recipes for Flavoring Spirits & Making Cocktails by Cory Straub 

    The Way of Whisky: A Journey Around Japanese Whisky by Dave Broom 

    The Bourbon Bartender: 50 Cocktails to Celebrate the American Spirit by Jane Danger and Alla Lapushchik

    Canadian Whisky, Second Edition: The New Portable Expert by Davin de Kergommeaux 

     

    Rum Books

    The Curious Bartender's Rum Revolution by Tristan Stephenson 

    Rum Curious: The Indispensable Tasting Guide to the World's Spirit by Fred Minnick 

    Spirit of the Cane by Jared McDaniel Brown and Anistatia Renard Miller 

     

    Other Spirits

    6a00e553b3da20883401b8d2ba6be7970c.jpgMezcal: The History, Craft & Cocktails of the World's Ultimate Artisanal Spirit by Emma Janzen 

    AKVAVIT - Rediscovering a Nordic Spirit  by Sune Risum-Urth and Rasmus Poulsgaard  

    Dr. Adam Elmegirab’s Book of Bitters: The bitter and twisted history of one of the cocktail world’s most fascinating ingredients by Adam Elmegirab 

     

    Brand Books

    Hennessy: A Toast to the World's Preeminent Spirit by Glenn O'Brien 

     Fever Tree: The Art of Mixing: Recipes from the world's leading bars  by Fever Tree 

    Brewdog: Craft Beer for the People  by Richard Taylor with James Watt and Martin Dickie

     

    Recipe-Focussed Books

    6a00e553b3da20883401b7c92577e6970b.jpgThe Imbible: A Cocktail Guide for Beginning and Home Bartenders by Micah LeMon 

    Let's Get Monster Smashed: Horror Movie Drinks for a Killer Time by Jon Chaiet and Marc Chaiet 

    Code Name: Cocktail by Vicky Sweat & Karen McBurnie

    The Modern Cocktail: Innovation + Flavour by Matt Whiley

    Road Soda: Recipes and techniques for making great cocktails, anywhere by Kara Newman 

    The Poptail Manual: Over 90 Delicious Frozen Cocktails by Kathy Kordalis

    The Cocktail Guide to the Galaxy: A Universe of Unique Cocktails from the Celebrated Doctor Who Bar by Andy Heidel 

    Cooking with Cocktails: 100 Spirited Recipes by Kristy Gardner 

    The Classic & Craft Cocktail Recipe Book: The Definitive Guide to Mixing Perfect Cocktails from Aviation to Zombie  by Clair McLafferty 

    Boston Cocktails: Drunk & Told by Frederic Yarm

    Beach Cocktails: Favorite Surfside Sips and Bar Snacks

    A Spot at the Bar: Welcome to the Everleigh: The Art of Good Drinking in Three Hundred Recipes by Michael Madrusan and Zara Young

    The Wildcrafted Cocktail: Make Your Own Foraged Syrups, Bitters, Infusions, and Garnishes; Includes Recipes for 45 One-of-a-Kind Mixed Drinks by Ellen Zachos 

    The Cocktail Hour (L’Heure du Cocktail): 224 recipes  Collected by Marcel Requien Presented by Lucien Farnoux-Reynaud 

    3 Ingredient Cocktails: An Opinionated Guide to the Most Enduring Drinks in the Cocktail Canon by Robert Simonson

    Cocktail Chameleon by Mark Addison 

    Prosecco Cocktails: 40 tantalizing recipes for everyone's favourite sparkler by Laura Gladwin

    New York Cocktails by Amanda Schuster 

    Good Together: Drink & Feast with Mr Lyan & Friends by Ryan Chetiyawardana 

     

    Narrative Booze Books

    DownloadThe Angels' Share by James Markert 

    Breakfast Tea & Bourbon by Pete Bissonette

    Pure Heart: A Spirited Tale of Grace, Grit, and Whiskey by Troylyn Ball and Bret Witter

    I Hear She's a Real Bitch by Jen Agg 

    By the Smoke and the Smell: My Search for the Rare and Sublime on the Spirits Trail by Thad Vogler

     

     

    Wine Books

    Note: I don't really cover wine books and  these are just a few of them that came out this year. These are merely the ones that showed up in my mailbox. 

    The Complete Bordeaux  by Stephen Brook 

    Cork Dork: A Wine-Fueled Adventure Among the Obsessive Sommeliers, Big Bottle Hunters, and Rogue Scientists Who Taught Me to Live for Taste by Bianca Bosker

    The Dirty Guide to Wine: Following Flavor from Ground to Glass by Alice Feiring 

    6a00e553b3da20883401b8d2c11b96970c.jpgThe New Wine Rules: A Genuinely Helpful Guide to Everything You Need to Know by Jon Bonne

    Champagne: The Essential Guide to the Wines, Producers, and Terroirs of the Iconic Region  by Peter Liem 

    Larousse Wine

     

    Beer and Cider Books 

    Note: Same as wine, this isn't my primary focus but here are a few books. 

    Best Beers: the indispensable guide to the world’s beers by Tim Webb and Stephen Beaumont

    Modern Cider: Simple Recipes to Make Your Own Ciders, Perries, Cysers, Shrubs, Fruit Wines, Vinegars, and More by Emma Christensen

     

     

    Food, and Miscellaneous Related Books 

    6a00e553b3da20883401bb09a29c97970d.jpgGastrophysics: The New Science of Eating  by Charles Spence 

    Miracle Cure: The Creation of Antibiotics and the Birth of Modern Medicine by William Rosen

    Popular: The Power of Likability in a Status-Obsessed World  by Mitch Prinstein

    What She Ate: Six Remarkable Women and the Food That Tells Their Stories by Laura Shapiro 

    The Secret Lives of Color by Kassia St Clair 

     

     

     

    Not Enough Books For Ya?

    Here are all the books published in the last three years as well. 

    More Than 40 Drink Books Published in 2014 for Reading or Gifting

    All the Cocktails & Spirits Books Published in 2015, For Reading or Gifting

    All the Cocktails and Spirits Books Published in 2016 for Reading or Gifting

     

  • All the Cocktails and Spirits Books Published in 2016 for Reading or Gifting

    I love books! Here are all the books on cocktails and spirits I know of (please do comment if I've missed something) published this year. Give some gifts or just stock up on your winter reading for the cold months. I've got stacks to get through myself.

     

    Whiskey Books

    6a00e553b3da20883401b8d22461da970c.jpgBourbon: The Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of an American Whiskey by Fred Minnick 

    More Kentucky Bourbon Cocktails by Joy Perrine and Susan Reigler 

    The Big Man of Jim Beam: Booker Noe And the Number-One Bourbon In the World by Jim Kokoris  

    Whisky Japan: The Essential Guide to the World's Most Exotic Whisky by Dominic Roskrow 

    Iconic Whisky: Tasting Notes & Flavour Charts for 1,500 of the World's Best Whiskies by Cyrille Mald and Alexandre Vingtier

    Whiskey: A Spirited Story with 75 Classic and Original Cocktails by Michael Dietsch

    The Manhattan: The Story of the First Modern Cocktail with Recipes by Philip Greene 

     

     

    Miscellany 

    6a00e553b3da20883401bb09376999970d.jpgMade of Iceland: A Drink & Draw Book  by Reyka Vodka, Snorri Sturluson 

    Inside The Bottle: People, Brands, and Stories  by Arthur Shapiro 

    The Craft Cocktail Coloring Book by Prof Johnny Plastini 

    Drinking with Republicans and Drinking with Democrats by Mark Will-Weber 

    The Moonshine Wars by Daniel Micko

    Drinks: A User's Guide by Adam McDowell

    Shrubs: An Old-Fashioned Drink for Modern Times (Second Edition) by Michael Dietsch 

    A Proper Drink: The Untold Story of How a Band of Bartenders Saved the Civilized Drinking World by Robert Simonson 

     Colonial Spirits: A Toast to Our Drunken History by Steven Grasse  

    DIY Bitters: Reviving the Forgotten Flavor – A Guide to Making Your Own Bitters for Bartenders, Cocktail Enthusiasts, Herbalists, and More by Jovial King and Guido Mase  

    Amaro: The Spirited World of Bittersweet, Herbal Liqueurs, with Cocktails, Recipes, and Formulas by Brad Thomas Parsons 

    Drink Like A Grown-Up by The League of Extraordinary Drinkers 

    The Coming of Southern Prohibition: The Dispensary System and the Battle over Liquor in South Carolina, 1907-1915 by Michael Lewis

    American Wino: A Tale of Reds, Whites, and One Man's Blues by Dan Dunn 

    Distilled Stories: California Artisans Behind the Spirits by Capra Press

    Building Bacardi: Architecture, Art & Identity by Allan T. Shulman 

    Craft Spirits by Eric Grossman 

     

     

    Cocktail Books, General

    6a00e553b3da20883401bb08fac9f3970d.jpgCocktails for Ding Dongs by Dustin Drankiewicz (Author), Alexandra Ensign (Illustrator)

    Zen and Tonic: Savory and Fresh Cocktails for the Enlightened Drinker by Jules Aron 

    Pretty Fly For a Mai Tai: Cocktails with rock 'n' roll spirit   

    Cocktails for Drinkers: Not-Even-Remotely-Artisanal, Three-Ingredient-or-Less Cocktails that Get to the Point  by Jennifer McCartney 

    Aperitivo: The Cocktail Culture of Italy by Marisa Huff 

    The Complete Cocktail Manual: 285 Tips, Tricks, and Recipes by Lou Bustamante and the United States Bartenders' Guild 

     Shake. Stir. Sip.: More than 50 Effortless Cocktails Made in Equal Parts by Kara Newman

    101 Cocktails to Try Before you Die  by Francois Monti 

     Drink Like a Man: The Only Cocktail Guide Anyone Really Needs by Ross McCammon and David Wondrich

    The New Cocktail Hour: The Essential Guide to Hand-Crafted Cocktails by Andre Darlington and Tenaya Darlington 

    Spritz: Italy's Most Iconic Aperitivo Cocktail, with Recipes by Talia Baiocchi and Leslie Pariseau  

    Eat Your Drink: Culinary Cocktails by Matthew Biancaniello 

    Cannabis Cocktails, Mocktails & Tonics: The Art of Spirited Drinks and Buzz-Worthy Libations by Warren Bobrow

    Tiki with a Twist: 75 Cool, Fresh, and Wild Tropical Cocktails by Lynn Calvo and James O. Fraioli 

     

     

    Cocktail Books from Bars or Places

    6a00e553b3da20883401bb094fd3d5970d.jpgThe Canon Cocktail Book: Recipes from the Award-Winning Bar by Jamie Boudreau  and James O. Fraioli 

    Regarding Cocktails by Sasha Petraske and Georgette Moger-Petraske 

    Brooklyn Spirits: Craft Distilling and Cocktails from the World's Hippest Borough By Peter Thomas Fornatale and Chris Wertz

    Smuggler's Cove: Exotic Cocktails, Rum, and the Cult of Tiki by Martin Cate and Rebecca Cate

     Cuban Cocktails: Over 50 mojitos, daiquiris and other refreshers from Havana

    Brooklyn Bar Bites: Great Dishes and Cocktails from New York's Food Mecca by Barbara Scott-Goodman

    The Waldorf Astoria Bar Book by Frank Caiafa 

    Lift Your Spirits: A Celebratory History of Cocktail Culture in New Orleans by Elizabeth M. Williams and Chris McMillian

     

     

    Science!

    6a00e553b3da20883401b7c893f3cb970b.jpgShots of Knowledge: The Science of Whiskey by Rob Arnold and Eric Simanek

    Distilled Knowledge: The Science Behind Drinking’s Greatest Myths, Legends, and Unanswered Questions  by Brian D Hoefling  

     

     

     

    Classic Cocktail Book Reprints

    THE HOME BARTENDER'S GUIDE AND SONG BOOK {By Charlie Roe and Jim Schwenck}

    AMERICAN BAR {By Frank P. Newman}

    LOUIS' MIXED DRINKS {By Louis Muckenstrum} 

     

     

    Beer (A few beer books slip through the cracks and come to me)

    The United States of Beer: A Freewheeling History of the All-American Drink by Dane Huckelbridge 

    The Beer Geek Handbook: Living a Life Ruled by Beer by Patrick Dawson  

     

     MY BOOK! 

     Please consider supporting Alcademics by  purchasing a copy of my book Tonic Water AKA G&T WTF. It's a gift to yourself, and a gift to me.

    Tonic water aka gandt wtf by camper english cover

     

     

    Want to see some of the previous years' books? Well, here they are:

    More Than 40 Drink Books Published in 2014 for Reading or Gifting

    All the Cocktails & Spirits Books Published in 2015, For Reading or Gifting

  • A List of Awesome Bar Names from Jamaica

    I was in Jamaica a couple weeks ago visiting rum distilleries. Much like on Barbados (where they are called rum shops), Jamaica has a huge number of bars (and churches) per capita.

    IMG_0821The bars line the sides of the roads and are usually little more than 1-room shacks. They have the best names, so given that we spent about 3 hours each day (each way) driving around the island, we made it a car game of finding the funniest-named bars on the island. 

    Here are a mere handful of the most awesome ones:

    • Sexy Ann's Purple Juice Bar and Lounge
    • Candy's Chill Spot
    • Plastics Bar and Lounge
    • Easy Hide Out Bar
    • Girly Hot Spot
    • Club Concussion
    • Chillax Reef Bar
    • IMG_0841Rum Face Bar
    • Just 1 More Bar
    • Wet Puss Bar
    • Teisha's Rendez-Vous
    • Denise Sports Bar
    • Sexy OC Bar
    • Yellow Bar
    • Amazing Taste Restaurant & Bar
    • Look Out a Road Pub
    • Star Light Bar and Meats
    • Flava's HQ
    • Godmother Sports Bar
    • Denise's Bar & Car Wash
    • Ann's Chill Out Shop
    • All Seasons Bar & Jerk Centre
    • Diva's Hot Spot
    • Hidden Treasures
    • Sasha Bar + Treats
    • Maggoty Jerk Center
    • Breathe Ezzi
    • Young Money Restaurant & Jerk Centre
    • Birdy's One-Stop Pub

     

    IMG_0846

     

  • Between the Heart and the Tails, the ‘Seconds’

    In pot-still distillation we always talk about the cuts: the heads and tails that are discarded (or recycled), and the hearts cut that become the spirit that ends up in the bottle.

    But some distillers make another cut between the heart and the tails called the seconds. (Say it with a french pronunciation seh-kuhnndz rather than like seconds on a clock.)

    At Privateer Rum in Massachusetts, they make a special rum called The Queen's Share that is a redistillation of just seconds. We'll get to that in a second. 

    Seconds in Cognac

    Frapin stillThe first place I heard the term seconds was in Cognac, and frankly I don't know much about it. Luckily for us, Privateer Rum's head distiller Maggie Campbell was trained by Hubert Germain-Robin, a frenchman who has distilled fantastic cognac-style brandies in California since 1984. Campbell was able to fill me in on how this cut of the spirit is used in some cognacs.

    To review the process: Cognac is distilled twice in pot stills. The first distillation is the wine distillation. The second one is called the brouillis or low-wines distillation. In cognac, since they only distill for a small part of the year after the grape harvest/fermentation period, they do not make a separate product out of the seconds, but they do often recycle them back into a their next batch of wine bound for distillation, or in the next batch's second distillation. 

    Note that in single-malt scotch whisky and in some other spirits production they also put the heads/tails back into the first or second distillation, just to get all of the usable alcohol out of it. So this isn't unique to cognac or the seconds. But different brands/categories decide where they "re-pitch" (put into the next distillation batch) the heads, tails, and sometimes seconds. These may be in different places.

    Queens shareCampbell says of seconds in cognac: 

    In Cognac each distiller has their recipe as to where they re-pitch each one and claim how it changes the flavor of the following distillates. 

    Some producers redistill the heads and tails and put them into the wine, and others put them into the low wines (brouillis).

    They say if it goes into the wine the ABV is significantly raised on the first installation causing the rest of the distillations to be higher in alcohol. Apparently when it goes in the wine there's less concentration of congeners and lighter flavor brandy is made. This is what Martel does.

    If the heads and tails go into the brouillis (second distillation) then it makes it richer and deeper. This is what Hennessey does.

    Note that doesn't account for the seconds and where they go. Next time I'm in cognac I'm going to research this further. 

    Seconds in Rum and the Queen's Share

    So at Privateer Rum, they do not re-pitch the heads and tails at all so that they don't affect the heart of the distillation or build up.  

    But the seconds are collected during each distillation and saved. From the explainer sheet:

    As the hearts run off the still they become more powerful & flavorful approaching the tails cut. Even once these tails have overpowered the hearts and we’ve made our cut, some of these rich hearts are still intertwined with the bitter tails. At this stage we collect… the ‘seconds’. 

    These seconds (collected over many runs) are redistilled (a third distillation); the tails of this distillation are discarded; and this special batch of rum is then aged separately.

    This is what made up the release of the first single barrel of Privateer's Queen's Share. It was aged 3 years and bottled. 

    If you've read this far, I've got bad news for you: There wasn't very much of it and it's probably long-since sold out.

     

     

     

     

  • Dunder and Dragons: Making Rum at Lost Spirits Distillery

    Lost Spirits Distillery in Monterey County, California, is a kooky little place, resembling more a back yard miniature golf course than a typical distillery. Most of the equipment is outdoors, including the pot still that's shaped like a dragon, miniature grain-smoking pagoda, and the above-ground pool that serves as the cooling water for the condenser. 

    IMG_1469

    The distillery is run by Bryan Davis and Joanne Haruta. You may remember them from several years back when they ran a distillery in Spain that produced Obsello absinthe and Port of Barcelona gin. Davis is a former art teacher and zoo exhibit designer but he has picked up more than a little bit of chemistry as we'll soon see.

    So, that dragon-shaped pot still: It's powered by an old apartment building steam boiler for heat. The body of the still (300 gallons) looks like a big barbecue grill but it's made out of roofing copper. The shape was built in a way to minimize removing flavors, rather than rectifying much like tall round pot stills. Davis says, "We engineer the fermentation so much that we want to capture more of the flavor in distillation."

    IMG_1424
    IMG_1424

    The dragon tail is the lynne arm, which dips into a horizontal condenser. The water for the condenser comes from the bottom of a swimming pool, which heats up over the day of distilling, sometimes reaching 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

    With their old still, which was built out of wood, they would hop in the warm pool at the end of the day and use it as a hot tub. But chlorine and wood doesn't mix – the still actually got corked and they had to replace it. (For those of you barrel-aging cocktails, never rinse your barrels with chlorinated tap water for this reason.)

    Davis would like you to know that the pool water does not actually go into the whiskey; it stays in the pipes for cooling purposes only. 

    The dragon's head is a steam release, so while distilling steam shoots out its mouth. 

      IMG_1467
    IMG_1467

    Making Rum at Lost Spirits

    At this distillery they make whiskey and rum. The whiskey I wrote about for Whisky Advocate and I'll try to publish some more info here when the story comes out. 

    We watched an incredibly scientific Powerpoint presentation about the rum called, "Engineering Rum: The Fruit Nature Forgot to Make." I'll cover what I think I learned from it. 

    There will probably be some mistakes in the below text, so please don't take it as gospel but as starter info for further exploration. 

    • The goal, in part, as Lost Spirits, is to make high-ester rum 
    • A given rum may have up to 300 unique esters
    • Simple phenol smell is that familiar Band-Aid smell, but phenols as a group are a category
    • To make a high-ester rum, you need to make acids
    • Phenolic acids come from when we burn things. (In scotch whisky we're always talking about the phenol content of smoky whiskies.)
    • Lignin in sugar cane contains phenols you release by heating
    • For their rum, they want to start with a molasses that has high phenolics; has low anisoles (anise flavors); and is free of sulfur compounds. They use Grade-A molasses particularly for the latter reason. 

    Dunder

    • Rum nerds have heard about dunder pits- pits of decaying vegetation (and sometimes things like a rotting goat head) in wood-lined pits, found in old distilleries particularly on Jamaica. 
    • These pits acts as a bacteria starter. To these pits distillers in the olden days added stillage from distillation (the leftover stuff from distilling).
    • Then the dunder pit contents would be added to fermenting molasses to increase the esters in the rum distilled from it. 

    At Lost Spirits, they imitate the dunder pit process in a more… clean way. They mash up bananas and add lab-controlled bacteria to it. Then they add this to the fermenting molasses.  

    In the process of fermentation, there is a battle of yeast versus bacteria. The byproduct of yeast's battle against bacteria is acetic acid and trace carboxylic acid. Yeast under stress bind acids to alcohol and make esters. They accomplish this stress by adding dunder to yeast.

    As the goal is to get funky, stanky (high-esther, high-acid) rum out of the still, their still is a low-rectification model (short and squat). This will allow more of these compounds to pass over in distillation.  

    Aging Rum at Lost Spirits

    RumOne flavor they want to get out of their rum is a honey flavor, which is phenol-ethyl acetate. This comes from ethyl acetate (ester) plus phenol. And the ethyl acetate comes from from acetic acid (that comes from wood, yeast, and bacteria), wood as a catalyst, and ethanol. 

    Got that? Yeah me neither but sorta. 

    To age their rum they use new American oak barrels, smoked and charred to release lots more esters. These barrels are then seasoned with sherry. 

    Another flavor they want to crank up in their rum in rancio, a flavor found in old cognac and other spirits but that usually doesn't turn up until about 30 years of aging. However, Davis notes that it shows up earlier in solera-aged spirits, which are aged in super old barrels.

    Rancio comes from lignin (from long-aged wood barrels) decomposing in liquid. So they have figured out a way to copy this process and are patenting it. So all I know is what they're doing; not how. 

    Rums Coming Out of the Distillery

    Rums coming out of the distillery come in small batches and include Navy-style rum, Cuban-style rum, Colonial American-style rum, and Polynesian-style rum. I'm not sure what the difference is between the various styles, but they're all high-proof.

    I believe that the navy-style rum is the easiest to find. Some of it comes in at a whopping 68% and retails for about $45, which is an absurd bargain. 

    Science is delicious! 

     

  • Why Add Sugar to Rum When it’s Made from Sugar in the First Place?

    As mentioned in yesterday's post, rum is distilled from any sugar cane derivative like fermented fresh cane juice or molasses. But some producers add sugar to their finished rum after distillation.

    Sugar1

    Adding sugar to any spirit can soften it and hide some flaws, but if you look at the (allegedly) sweetened rums in this post on RefinedVices.com, you'll notice two general patterns among the rum bottlings that allegedly have sugar added:

    1. They come from big companies that shouldn't need to add sugar to cover a bad distillate. They know how to distill.
    2. They're aged rums, rather than white rums. 

     Well it turns out that adding sugar to spirits also gives them the guise of age.

    Ian Burrell, global rum expert and founder of Rum Experience, commented on the original Facebook post of the sugar values with some really interesting information. He wrote: 

    I recently did a private tasting for 50 consumers with two rums both finished in sherry casks. One was notably sweeter than the other. When I asked the guests to let me know which they felt was the oldest, 80% said the sweeter one. When I asked which they prefer 60% said the sweeter one.

    I then gave them a 3rd rum, which they were unaware was actually Rum no.1 (the dryer rum) with a touch of sugar added to it. All agreed that this was the best rum of the three.

    I then pointed out that Rum number 3 (which was in fact the OLDEST RUM) was the Rum no 1 with sugar added, and that they had perceived the added sweetness as extra aging and smoothness.

    These rums with high levels of sugar added to them are what I call "Dessert Rums" but they still and will always have a place on our bars, restaurant and spirit cabinet because consumers will buy rums (& other spirits) according to how they taste and not how they are made. But WE must educate them, when feasible, that part of the taste that they are appreciating is the added sugar, wine, vermouth, spice, etc.

    What was really interesting about my exercise with the 50 tasters was the ones that preferred the dryer rum also liked whisky. While the “sweeter loving” rum drinkers like cognac.

    That last dig on cognac drinkers? It's because cognac also has a dirty secret: much cognac has sugar added to it too. 

     

  • How Much Sugar is Added to your Rum?

    It's a funny thing about rum: It all is distilled from a fermented sugar cane derivative (fresh cane juice, molasses, or something in between), but sugar doesn't pass through the distillation process, so some producers add sugar back into the distilled rum to sweeten it up.

    Recently on Facebook, people have posted lists of sugar levels in commercial brands of rum. One reportedly comes from the Finnish government and another from the Swedish government. I won't post them directly here but the lists are here on RefinedVices.com.

    You should really take a look. They show commercial brands of rums with anything from 0 grams/liter of sugar added up to 46 grams per liter.

    **Note – You should verify the content against the originals. The Swedish government's site is: https://www.systembolaget.se (thanks Magnus!) and the sugar content is listed for some individual products. I don't know about the other list so I can't verify its authenticity nor how current either of the lists/measurements are. Furthermore, I do not know if the rums we get in the US are the same as in other countries, even if the labels match.  In other words, do not treat those lists as absolute truth. 

    But how much sugar is that really?

    Allegedly, specific bottlings of rum by brands including Plantation, Bacardi, Zacapa, and Angostura contain between 17-22 grams of sugar per liter. This looks to be the average amount of sugar added by those brands that add sugar. Other brands are either much higher (40 g/l) or quite low (5-9 g/l). 

    So I wanted to know how much sugar is 20 grams and how sweet that makes a liter of liquid taste. So I measured it. My scale isn't the most accurate thing in the world, but here's how 20 grams came out:

    Sugar1

    Sugar2

     Which comes out to a heaping half ounce, or probably a little under 3/4 ounces. 

    Sugar3

    Heck, it's not uncommon for there to be that much sugar added to a single cocktail. And keep in mind that's the quantity for a full liter of rum, not 750 ml bottle.

    I then added the sugar to 1 liter of water to see how sweet it was. In water, it was certainly noticeably sweet, but not soda-sweet. 

    For example, the driest soda I can think of is Q Tonic's grapefruit, orange, and lemon sodas. They have 13g sugar per 8 ounces, which by my calculation means 55 grams of sugar per liter; more than twice as much as is these rums. 

    I'm not saying that you want your rum as sweet as Coke, nor you necessarily want any sugar added to your rum at all. But for these rums having what sounds like a lot of sugar added to them, it's not really a ton.