Rum
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I really don't know where you get your information from, other than family sources, WHICH may be very good today and back in the prohibition days, BUT we're talking 1770-1800, not the 1930's. :wink:
First, RUM when first distilled is Tafia if it comes from cane juice, and not molasses and cane juice. It is quite harsh, and placing it in barrels and shipping it ages it quickly due to ocean agitation. It does need aging, especially when run out of a pot-still.
Rye whiskey is actually corn liquor with 40% distilled spirits of rye added. The ratio was pretty much 40% rye grain, and 60% corn. While it may be as "good" as straight moonshine or corn liquor or white whiskey (pick your term as you wish) out of the pot-still, when one ages it, it mellows much much faster. Hence its popularity. George Washington was very capable of distilling straight corn, but he instead went to rye and built a huge facility, because as you mentioned distilled spirits ounce per ounce are worth more at market than the grain, and rye was worth more than straight corn. :wink: He also had deep enough pockets to store his product for three years before shipping it to market..., a small producer couldn't afford that.
Fruit brandy, corn whiskey, rye, or any of these require a surplus of a crop. Corn was planted as a crop to be used as a quick way to claim land, but it quickly was switched over to a majority of wheat or rye when possible in the colonies, and the original 13 states. You can't distill grain that isn't malted, and you can't malt what you don't have.
LD
First, RUM when first distilled is Tafia if it comes from cane juice, and not molasses and cane juice. It is quite harsh, and placing it in barrels and shipping it ages it quickly due to ocean agitation. It does need aging, especially when run out of a pot-still.
Rye whiskey is actually corn liquor with 40% distilled spirits of rye added. The ratio was pretty much 40% rye grain, and 60% corn. While it may be as "good" as straight moonshine or corn liquor or white whiskey (pick your term as you wish) out of the pot-still, when one ages it, it mellows much much faster. Hence its popularity. George Washington was very capable of distilling straight corn, but he instead went to rye and built a huge facility, because as you mentioned distilled spirits ounce per ounce are worth more at market than the grain, and rye was worth more than straight corn. :wink: He also had deep enough pockets to store his product for three years before shipping it to market..., a small producer couldn't afford that.
Fruit brandy, corn whiskey, rye, or any of these require a surplus of a crop. Corn was planted as a crop to be used as a quick way to claim land, but it quickly was switched over to a majority of wheat or rye when possible in the colonies, and the original 13 states. You can't distill grain that isn't malted, and you can't malt what you don't have.
LD
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Thank you for your contribution but our family was "in the business" from at least 1785 (there are no family written records older than that) to the late 1950s.
(The family, on both sides, were in the USA before the AWI & in the case of the Bankhead branch, they arrived in SC in the 1640s. - I just don't know much about the pre-1800 family business other than the family was always "in swine production", raised horses/mules for commercial sale & got into the liquor business relatively early.)
As far as I know our family never made rum but were "medium to large" producers of "poteen", fruit liquors, scotch & straight white corn liquor for 150+ years.
(At one time they family made a considerable amount of rye whiskey but it wasn't as well liked in AL, MS & TX as straight corn whiskey or fruit liquors. Further rye is more difficult/expensive to make in commercial quantity, so we "went with" what the majority of customers wanted.)
Note: Fruit-based liquors (like peach, apricot, wild grape & pear based liquors) were always $$$$$$ at commercial sale but they are a very seasonal product & thus an excellent "profit center" for only a few weeks per year.
yours, satx
(The family, on both sides, were in the USA before the AWI & in the case of the Bankhead branch, they arrived in SC in the 1640s. - I just don't know much about the pre-1800 family business other than the family was always "in swine production", raised horses/mules for commercial sale & got into the liquor business relatively early.)
As far as I know our family never made rum but were "medium to large" producers of "poteen", fruit liquors, scotch & straight white corn liquor for 150+ years.
(At one time they family made a considerable amount of rye whiskey but it wasn't as well liked in AL, MS & TX as straight corn whiskey or fruit liquors. Further rye is more difficult/expensive to make in commercial quantity, so we "went with" what the majority of customers wanted.)
Note: Fruit-based liquors (like peach, apricot, wild grape & pear based liquors) were always $$$$$$ at commercial sale but they are a very seasonal product & thus an excellent "profit center" for only a few weeks per year.
yours, satx
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UNDERSTOOD. - A fellow shouldn't take needless chances, so a preventative measure or 3 is wise.
(CHUCKLE)
yours, satx
(CHUCKLE)
yours, satx
AH! Poteen or potcheen, depending on the Irishman and his accent... now THAT is some good stuff, though good moonshine comes close, it's just not quite the same, right? :wink:
Here's my family's heritage. El Dorado Demerara Rum Still made with cane sugar. Though I admit, the 15 year old "Special Reserve" is probably waaaay more aged than you'd ever find in the colonies, except by happy accident. For those who "don't like rum"..., try the 15 year old demerara from El Dorado and see if your opinion changes. It's pricey, BUT 1/2 the price of 21 year old, and the 50 year old stuff is going for $3500 a bottle. :youcrazy:
LD
Here's my family's heritage. El Dorado Demerara Rum Still made with cane sugar. Though I admit, the 15 year old "Special Reserve" is probably waaaay more aged than you'd ever find in the colonies, except by happy accident. For those who "don't like rum"..., try the 15 year old demerara from El Dorado and see if your opinion changes. It's pricey, BUT 1/2 the price of 21 year old, and the 50 year old stuff is going for $3500 a bottle. :youcrazy:
LD
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I happen to like poteen/potcheen IF it's well made.
MOST of the old 18th/19th century recipes are a mixture of barley/wheat/rye/oats, (sometimes) other grains and treacle (molasses).
(I've found a few old recipes that have up to 20% of cooked/mashed potatoes by volume.)
In the USA most commercial/illegal distillers quickly stopped making poteen with oats & potatoes, as in "commercial distillation" both oats & potatoes tend to scorch, if not constantly stirred & ruin the "beer".
(At least in the Southland, Irish/Scotch emigrants continued to use oats & potatoes in their "small batch" concoctions for home/farm use.)
A historical "family" note: Our family has been "blessed with" (or "cursed with", depending one one's viewpoint) some truly strong/independent women since the first members of the family emigrated to SC in the mid-1600s.
One of those strong women was Eithne Grainne (nee O'Meilly) Bankhead, a redheaded (and said to be beautiful) Irish hellion, who married into the family in 1847 & when her groom died about 10 years later, she took over the family liquor business & "ran things" with an iron hand for over five decades. = She is remembered for her fiery temper, hardheadedness, her devoutness to her Roman Catholic faith & her known propensity to use a knife,a gun & noose to protect home & hearth.= During TWBTS period, she reportedly hanged any number of "invaders", "spies", "line-crossers" & "outlaws" in her front door-yard.
(My mother's generation called her "Hag Eithne", as the older that she became the HARDER/MEANER that she was to "family enemies". - In her defense, I suspect that she HAD to be that way to survive as a widow, with 8 children, on the MS/TX frontier.- She lived to be 104YO.)
yours, satx
MOST of the old 18th/19th century recipes are a mixture of barley/wheat/rye/oats, (sometimes) other grains and treacle (molasses).
(I've found a few old recipes that have up to 20% of cooked/mashed potatoes by volume.)
In the USA most commercial/illegal distillers quickly stopped making poteen with oats & potatoes, as in "commercial distillation" both oats & potatoes tend to scorch, if not constantly stirred & ruin the "beer".
(At least in the Southland, Irish/Scotch emigrants continued to use oats & potatoes in their "small batch" concoctions for home/farm use.)
A historical "family" note: Our family has been "blessed with" (or "cursed with", depending one one's viewpoint) some truly strong/independent women since the first members of the family emigrated to SC in the mid-1600s.
One of those strong women was Eithne Grainne (nee O'Meilly) Bankhead, a redheaded (and said to be beautiful) Irish hellion, who married into the family in 1847 & when her groom died about 10 years later, she took over the family liquor business & "ran things" with an iron hand for over five decades. = She is remembered for her fiery temper, hardheadedness, her devoutness to her Roman Catholic faith & her known propensity to use a knife,a gun & noose to protect home & hearth.= During TWBTS period, she reportedly hanged any number of "invaders", "spies", "line-crossers" & "outlaws" in her front door-yard.
(My mother's generation called her "Hag Eithne", as the older that she became the HARDER/MEANER that she was to "family enemies". - In her defense, I suspect that she HAD to be that way to survive as a widow, with 8 children, on the MS/TX frontier.- She lived to be 104YO.)
yours, satx
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satx78247 said:
This is getting off topic, but is another example of why your Hag Eithne needed to be that tough.
I had a gg-grandmother of that period who was then living in Arkansas, but had moved there from TX. She had family in Ohio, but was married to a Scots Irish fellow from TN, who was a Confederate soldier during the war. While she was home alone with her young children, a band of men, who I assume were some kind of partisan hooligans, came to burn her farm. She was sick in bed, and couldn't get up, so the men carried her outside, in her bed, and burned her house down with the children watching.
Her husband was hung as a spy during the war, but I never have found out what side hung him or for what.
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Interesting.= Early America, especially on "the frontier" wasn't a place for "sissies".
(I salute your ancestor for "doing what had to be done" back then.)
I just find it interesting that a woman in that period became the family's "business leader" in the liquor/livestock business, at a time when most men/women believed that a farm wife should be wife/mother but NOT "engage in commerce" of any sort, as it wasn't considered a "fitting role" for a woman.
(MY ancestor was a huntress/markswoman/horsewoman of "some note" too.)
yours, satx
(I salute your ancestor for "doing what had to be done" back then.)
I just find it interesting that a woman in that period became the family's "business leader" in the liquor/livestock business, at a time when most men/women believed that a farm wife should be wife/mother but NOT "engage in commerce" of any sort, as it wasn't considered a "fitting role" for a woman.
(MY ancestor was a huntress/markswoman/horsewoman of "some note" too.)
yours, satx
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It was an awful time, with much dehumanizing of the other side (from either side) which led to such atrocities. This dehumanizing process seems to continue to this day from the winning side. This, in itself, lends a good reason to take a sip of rum from time to time.
(See how I brought it back on topic) :wink:
(See how I brought it back on topic) :wink:
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WELL SAID & THANK YOU.
yours, satx
yours, satx
I like British Navy Pusser's Rum 3 centuries history. Great flavor.
Bet it is HC/PC
Bet it is HC/PC
IF you can get it over 80 proof! Some states require it to be "stepped on". :shake:
LD
LD
NOPE, but with the right little bit of malted grain added..., it can be made into Vodka.
LD
LD
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By definition, Rum is made from Sugar cane or Sugar cane products.flehto said:
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Actually most POLISH-MADE vodka is mostly made of (and SOME brands are ALL potato) potatoes.
Truthfully most any grain or starchy vegetable can be made into vodka, using a REFLUX (FRACTIONATING) still, with varying degrees of drinkability".
(I know a fellow in GA that makes perfectly drinkable "vodka" out of sweet potatoes.)
My GUESS is that vodka is the easiest of all liquors to make with the right still.
(Though grappa is REALLY easy, too, presuming that you are already making homemade wine..)
yours, satx
Truthfully most any grain or starchy vegetable can be made into vodka, using a REFLUX (FRACTIONATING) still, with varying degrees of drinkability".
(I know a fellow in GA that makes perfectly drinkable "vodka" out of sweet potatoes.)
My GUESS is that vodka is the easiest of all liquors to make with the right still.
(Though grappa is REALLY easy, too, presuming that you are already making homemade wine..)
yours, satx
82 proof here in NHLoyalist Dave said:
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151 proof Rum in MT and we can also get Everclear, which is 190 proof grain alcohol.
Did a little research on the various liquors and ignoring the obvious starting mat'l and the "rules" of what a certain liquor should be made from, have concluded that whatever mat'l is plentiful like potatoes, various grains, corn sugar. etc, will make a mash that ferments and then is distilled and the final product of all the mat'ls used is alcohol or distilled spirits and might vary slightly only as far as proof.
So....if potato mash is fermented and then distilled and the distilled spirits are aged in newly charred oak bbls for a period of time, would the end product be bourbon? I say yes....but can not be legallylabeled bourbon.
Bourbon starts out as distilled spirits and the aging in charred oak bbls imparts the flavor and color. The charring only causes a layer of sugar to form and this in turn flavors and colors the distilled spirits after aging for a number of years.
Many lower priced whiskeys are just distilled spirits w/ flavoring and coloring added. The labels bear this out. It's a "shortcut" to make whiskey.
So....if all the liquors start out as distilled spirits and are made into the various liquors by different processes, then the distilled spirits can be mad from whatever mat'l is used for the mash.....Fred
So....if potato mash is fermented and then distilled and the distilled spirits are aged in newly charred oak bbls for a period of time, would the end product be bourbon? I say yes....but can not be legallylabeled bourbon.
Bourbon starts out as distilled spirits and the aging in charred oak bbls imparts the flavor and color. The charring only causes a layer of sugar to form and this in turn flavors and colors the distilled spirits after aging for a number of years.
Many lower priced whiskeys are just distilled spirits w/ flavoring and coloring added. The labels bear this out. It's a "shortcut" to make whiskey.
So....if all the liquors start out as distilled spirits and are made into the various liquors by different processes, then the distilled spirits can be mad from whatever mat'l is used for the mash.....Fred
Cruzatte
50 Cal.
I don't think so. What you have if I understand correctly is vodka. To the purists, bourbon is properly made from corn. To real purists, bourbon only, and properly comes from Bourbon County, Kentucky.flehto said:
