The days are getting
longer and the summer season is beckoning. With a bit of foresight this is an
excellent time to deploy the most natural summer base spirit: rum.
Rum is a sugarcane
distillate, which sets it apart from gin, vodka and whisky. These three must
(or can) be made from a grain distillate. Since sugarcane needs a warm climate
to grow well, rum stuck to the Caribbean region after being imported from South
Asia. A tropical drink indeed.
As with gin, I’m not
going to bother with all the technicalities of rum production: there are
internet articles aplenty which do the job nicely. I’m not a rum connoisseur
either, although I know a liquor store owner who has a personal preference for
rum. Talking to him, I realized there’s a rich world of rum out there, for some
as fascinating as wine or whisky. Climate, ingredients and methodical
differences give each region a typical character.
Although the making
of rum goes back a long time, it’s still part of the ‘young bunch’ of the base
spirits. Vodka and whisky are by far the oldest, cognac is the youngest. Rum
has been made since the beginning of the 17th century, just like
gin.
Rum evokes images of
island nations, pirates and navy rations. It’s definitely a seaman’s liquor.
The British Navy
started issuing daily rations of rum in 1655. Until that time, the daily drink
ration was a gallon of beer. I’ve read all kinds of reasons why they switched
to rum: beer went bad in warmer climates, rum didn’t take up as much space,
there was a successful lobby of West Indian planters… However the case, it all
added up to the introduction of the daily tot,
which was half a pint (284 ml) of neat rum as a daily ration. This was before
Admiral Edward Vernon thought it better for crew performance to dilute the rum
with water in a 1 to 4 ratio, inventing grog.
When rum was still
distributed neat, some sailors would test the alcohol level by mixing gunpowder
with the rum and trying to light the mixture. If it ignited, that meant there
was proof that the rum hadn’t been
diluted too much: it can only catch fire at 57% ABV (alcohol by volume). That’s
where the term alcohol proof comes from.
In the Imperial
system, 100° proof spirit is 4/7 ABV (57%). That system is true to its origin.
In the US system this connection has been lost: alcohol proof is simply double
the ABV percentage. So 100 proof spirit is 50% ABV. Mind the difference: one
uses degrees, the other doesn’t.
When a cocktail
recipe calls for overproof rum, it
has to well above 100° proof (114 proof in the US). Since US regulations
usually prevent rums over 155 proof form entering the country, most overproof
rums fall into the zone between 150 and 155 proof.
There are several
ways to categorize rums: by country, by style and by colour.
Style is effectively
defined by the language of the region, which gives us English, French and Spanish
style rums. Cachaça could be considered as a Brazilian rum, adding a fourth
language (Portuguese).
·
English
rums are dark and full. Regions that produce them are Jamaica, the Demerara
region of Guyana, Trinidad & Tobego, Bermuda and Barbados, to name a few.
·
French
rhum is spelled differently. Most interesting are the agricultural rums (rhum
agricole) that are produced in Haiti, Guadeloupe and Martinique.
·
Spanish
rums tend to be smooth. There’s the añejo rums (aged rums) that have aged some
years in casks, but also the light rums that combine gently in mixed
drinks. A lot of countries use this
style: Cuba, Puerto Rico, Panama, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela
and the Virgin Islands, amongst others.
If you arrange by
colour, you get this grouping:
·
Light
rum – also white rum or silver rum (aged in stainless steel tanks and possibly
filtered)
·
Gold
rum – also amber rum (colour is from aging on wooden barrels, but might be
enhanced by adding caramel)
·
Dark
rum – also black rum
·
Spiced
rum – not really a colour, but a special category
Which one is
appropriate for your cocktail recipe might be specified. Sometimes a cocktail
recipe even prescribes a certain brand. But in some cases you’ll have to use
your own judgment.
Things aren’t as
clear-cut as they are with gin. Often it will mean you will need to compare
what you happen to have in stock with what you think is the right kind of rum
for a particular cocktail.
Rum tends to combine
well with fruit juices, especially lime.
Although pirates and
grog don’t sound very sophisticated, rum can be stylish as well. There are sipping
rums that can easily compete with good cognacs and whiskies.
And when Prohibition
had the US in its grip, well-to-do Americans were glad to visit Cuba and other Caribbean
countries to enjoy alcohol at leisure. This led to an excellent cocktail
tradition in Cuba, well versed in mixing rum.
The angels also seem
to be fond of rum. Since temperature is high where rum is produced, maturation
in a barrel goes a lot faster than with whisky and cognac. The angel’s share,
the portion that evaporates each year, is normally about 2 percent per year.
But with rum, this might be as high as 10 percent.
Apparently there are
a lot of angels in the Caribbean… or Caribbean angels really like to booze up.
XYZ
So what if we take a
White Lady and substitute rum for gin? Well, than you get the XYZ.
Gary Regan must have
missed this cocktail when he came with the Missing Link in 2002, stating he had
not found a simple New Orleans Sour with a rum base until then. But the XYZ was
already in The Savoy Cocktail Book,
so no missing link in my opinion.
So where does the
name come from? In the game Bar Oasis,
it is explained that it’s the last cocktail you drink before the party ends.
Like XYZ ends the alphabet. I’m not really sure that’s the origin, but I like
the story just the same.
In the game, where
you play a struggling bartender, it is even used to usher annoying customers
out of the bar. Placing an XYZ in front of a guest who knows a bit about
cocktails will result in that person recognizing your subtle message: last
round, time to close up.
2 parts gold rum
1 part Cointreau
1 part lemon juice
glass: cocktail
Shake with ice and strain into the
glass.
There doesn’t seem to
be a consensus on the type of rum to use. Above recipe works fine for gold rum,
but light rum can be trickier.
To give a white XYZ a
more stable base, it’s possible to turn to dry vermouth. I got this idea when
trying out a variation of the Culross. The Culross uses apricot brandy instead
of Cointreau, but still has rum and lemon. To that is also added an aperitif wine:
Lillet or dry vermouth. Since the XYZ is just an ingredient swap away, I tried
the same pattern. And I liked the effect.
2 parts light rum
1 part dry vermouth
1 part Cointreau
1 part lemon juice
glass: cocktail
Shake with ice and strain into the
glass.
I haven’t tried a
Lillet version yet, although that also sounds promising. That’s an ingredient
that we’ll get to in time.
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