08/16/2021 6:01 AM
Clarín.com
Gourmet
Updated 08/16/2021 6:01 AM
On August 16,
International
Rum
Day
is celebrated
, a date that originates in the United States and was adopted by other countries until it became a moment of world celebration of this drink.
The most popular way to drink it is
mixed with lime, mint, sugar and ice
, which defines the famous Mojito, a must-have drink in bars around the world.
However, this distillate is also the protagonist of cocktails such as the daiquiri, the
piña colada,
even in a mixture that was previously the exclusive heritage of whiskey, such as Old Fashioned Rum.
The
origin of rum
dates back to the
16th century, in
the Antilles
, when the Spanish introduced sugar cane to America.
The inhabitants of the region discovered that after extracting the sugar from the canes, a very thick liquid remained: molasses, which when distilled, turned into rum.
Cuban Ginger drink (Photo: Habana Club)
It was the British who were in charge of taking it to Europe.
Over time, the popularity of this distillate grew to such an extent that today it has a day to commemorate it.
It is difficult to classify rum, since it is a drink that is produced in many countries, each with its own legislation and nomenclature.
However, they are classified according to their origin, color and elaboration.
Types of rum according to its origin
French rum
If its origin is in Martinique, Guadeloupe, Marie Galante, Haiti, French Guyana, Reunion or Mauritius Island, the
French Antilles
, where rum is made “solely and exclusively by fermentation and distillation of sugar cane juice”, they explain in the blog Cocktail and Drink.
The daiquiri can be prepared in several ways.
Photo Bacardi.
“Subsequently, the juice is filtered and stored in stainless steel tanks to ferment 36 hours.
It is then distilled in alembics, where the content obtained normally matures in American white oak barrels that contained bourbon whiskey inside ”, details the Verema.com portal.
Since 1996 this type of rum has its own designation of origin (AOC), so its quality controls are superior to those of the other two ways of making the drink.
English rum
It is the drink from the former
English colonies of the Caribbean
: Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua, Barbados, Virgin Islands, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, British Guyana or Mauritius.
In this case, the rum starts from the molasses, a semi-dense and viscous juice obtained by evaporating part of the water from the sugar cane juice.
It is aged in the same barrel.
Drinks with rum: Cuba Libre.
Photo: Cepas Group.
Spanish rum
In this case, it is the concoction that
has its origin in Cuba
, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, Colombia, Peru, Costa Rica and Ecuador.
Like rum from the former English colonies, it is made from molasses and is the sweetest of the three.
It is aged in casks (containers larger than American barrels) according to the
Jerez method of criaderas and soleras
, by which a little liquid is periodically removed from some casks to fill others, which are also stacked in rows of three floors according to their antiquity.
Types of rum according to its color
White
It is a rum made with any of the three processes, which has hardly been aged in barrels.
However, as traditional French rums are made from cane juice and not molasses (which, being a reduction, is darker), they are mostly light.
Its flavor is milder.
Ron Old Fashioned.
Photo: Havana Club.
Amber
It is the rum that, at least, has spent a year in barrels.
Dark or stale
It is the rum that has been
aged in casks or barrels for
a minimum of three years, or rum from English or Spanish traditions with long maturations.
Its flavor is more complex.
Types of rum according to its elaboration
Handcrafted
It maintains the classic procedures and respects the tradition, whatever of the three.
He tends to give more time to each step, so he generally wins in aromas and nuances.
Industrial
"It is a lighter rum, from the distillation of products derived from sugar cane, mainly molasses," they describe in Verema.com.
It allows the addition of aromas and sweeteners and is the drink for young people who are not looking for complexity.
5 cocktails with rum to make at home
1. Mojito
Mojito, one of the most famous rum drinks.
Photo: Pixels.
See here the step by step to prepare mojito
2. Daiquiri
Daiquiri recipe.
Photo: Ron Zacapa
See here the step by step to prepare Daiquiri
3. Free Cuba
Cuba libre recipe
See here the step by step to prepare Cuba libre.
4. Old fashion rum
Ron Old Fashioned.
Photo: Havana Club.
See here the step by step to prepare Old fashion rum.
5. Rum Julep
See here the step by step to prepare Rum Julep.
With information from
La Vanguardia
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