Rum

The rum is a Eau-de-vie produced starting from the Canne with sugar.

Rum is resulting either from the juice of cane with sugar, or Vesou, and gives a agricultural rum , or containing Mélasse - aromatic concentrate said honey of cane to sugar, and gives traditional rum. This alcohol is produced by the Fermentation then distillation.

It is found in the composition of many Cocktails. The strongly odorous molecule which gives to rum its characteristic flavor is the 2-éthyl-3-méthylbutanoïque acid. (C₇H₁₄O₂).

The Vesou fermented but not distilled was formerly consumed under name “Fangourin”, in Mauritius and Reunion. The alcohol of Canne to sugar was consumed a long time in this manner, before the techniques of distillation are not imported in the islands. This cane wine to Sucre however is still produced, in an artisanal way, in Madagascar under name “Betsabetsa”.

the traditional rum is either colorless (white rum), or mature (slow maturation in the lightning of oak), or out-of-date was of oak (old rum).

the rum old is an aged rum was of Chêne (at least 3 years according to the French law).

Rum can be consumed pure, in Cocktail or be used in various receipts of kitchen (like the Baba with rum)

All the French departments of overseas produce rum: the Guadeloupe, the Martinique, the Guyana, the Meeting. The agricultural rum of the Martinique profits from a Appellation of controlled origin and is recognized like one of the agricultural rhums of great qualities. They represent on the other hand only one very weak part of the production and worldwide consumption primarily made of rum of sugar refinery (the United States, India, Cuba,…). The most known mark of the Meeting is Rhum Cart, and which has also its name (Traditional Rum of the Meeting) guarantee of a product of soil and recognition of a secular know-how. A mark however seems to be detached these last years for these great qualities with the Meeting: the rhums Savanna of Distilling of Savanna (recognized internationally by spirit experts). The rum of Cuba carries name “ron”, whose Havana Club (Association between the cuban government and Pernod-Ricard) is most known. The multinational Bacardi used this name a long time wrongly, since it is not cuban any more since Castro nationalized the alien companies in Cuba after his revolution. It is generally a little lighter than the others rhums (approximately 40°).

History

Originating in Asia, the cane with sugar was spread by the Arabs at the 8th century and was introduced in Americas by Spanish in 1493 at the time of the second voyage of Christophe Colomb, at the time of the first European installation in America on the island of Hispaniola. In France, the “ invention ” of the process of distillation of the cane and consequently of rum, is lent to the Père Labat, a missionary Dominicain French with the the Antilles to create a remedy for the fevers.

However, the first written mention of the existence of rum goes back to before the arrival from Labat in Americas and comes from the anglophone island from the Barbados in 1688. But it would seem that “rum distilleries” (place of manufacture of rum) existed on this island since 1627. Thus, the word rum would be an abbreviation of the English word rumbullion which means “great tumult”. According to another suggested explanation, the word “rum” would draw simply its origin from the termination of the Latin word saccharum (Sucre). The words tafia or were also used.

Its alleged medicinal virtues made of it an obligatory component of the rations aboard ships of the time. It was thus initially reserved for the Blacks, with the buccaneers and other pirates of the Nouveau World, rum was also used on the coasts of Africa like currency of exchange in the draft of the slaves. At the end of the 17th century, the French use the word “rum” to indicate the alcohol of cane. As a drink, it is spread in Europe and North America only during the 18th century.

The “Grog” (lengthened rum of Water) was invented in 1731 in order to decrease the problems involved in alcohol on board these same ships.

The agricultural rum of Martinique

At the 19th century, when the sugar companies gather in factory to produce sugar and rum starting from the molasses, of the owners continued to distill themselves the juice of their canes, which leads to the production of a rum house called “rum z' inhabitants” become the rum of propiétés agricultural or “agricultural rum”.

A first request for AOC, was made near INAO for the agricultural rum of Martinique but this one in 1972 was not estimated qualified. Yielding to the lobbies it recognized qualified but unable to study the request fault of knowing specificities of the cane with sugar (given geological and climatic). Studies were made on the composition of the ground, the climate, on the surfaces of production, the varieties of sugar canes, the techniques of production and viellissement and finameùent in November 1996, the agricultural rum of the Martinique was recognized and became a French AOC.

Only a dozen varieties of sugar canes is entitled to its production. The canes give different results according to the ground and the climate, and agricultural rum would seem to profit from a certain “vintage effect”;

The agricultural rum of Martinique exists in three categories:

the “white rum” with the flavors of flowers, plants or fruits, is obtained after a preparation of at least three months after distillation, it accounts for 83% of the production;
“rum straw” or “rum amber” is high under wood in large the lightnings of oak in which it veillit at least a year, it accounts for 8% of the production;
“rum old” must have spent at least three years in one was out of wood of chene of a capacity from 180 to 650 liters. The smaller the barrel is and the more it gives taste to alcohol, and the notes (grooves, nutmeg, coffee, cocoa) are marked, it accounts for 8% of the production.
There exists a fourth category, “rum out of age”, obtained after an ageing of at least six years in the barrels.

Consumption

The white rum and rum amber are seldom consumed such as they are. They generally enter the composition of Cocktails, of which most famous are the Punch S (Grower, Punch coconut,…), the Ti' punch (rum Lemon-yellow green), the Free Cuba (rum Coke), the Grog, the Daïquiri, the Mojito (rum-mint), the Piña colada (rum-coconut-pineapple) etc

Old rum is tasted and siroté slowly.

Rum “is also arranged”, according to the creole expression, by the Macération of plants and spice S various or mixed with fruit juices.

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