Can you recommend a good quality rum?

[Anonymous]

So, we went to Provence during the summer and during one of our market's visit, I got excited and bought a coconut spice blend to make coconut rum. I also bought some vanilla beans to which the guy said to immerse them (partially) in rum and they would last me about 5 or 6 years.

Well, I still didn't get around any of that but I want to do it asap. Any suggestions of a good rum? This thing smells sooo good! And after preparing it, I will have to wait at least one month before trying, so, the sooner the better



Also, any suggestions on WHERE, what kind of container to put those things on? The coconut rum and the vanilla beans partially immersed on rum.


Thanks!

[Anonymous]

I like Cruzan.

[Anonymous]

I don't know about the rum, but the Container Store may have the bottles. They have narrow-necked glass bottles with rubber stoppers, that look quite good.
I used them to give home-made limoncello as gifts once.

[Anonymous]

Not sure what the best kind of rum would be for those uses. My favorites for drinking are all dark rums:
Myers, Mount Gay (mixed with tonic and a lime, or in a hot buttered rum)
Goslings (with ginger beer)
Pusser's (in a pain killer)

The only time I drink white rum is in mojito or a bootleg, and I think I've only had Bacardi for those.

[Anonymous]

I'd use a quart canning jar. Wide mouth, easy to use, screw-on, sealing lid.
After your month or whatever the infusion period is, you can transfer it into something that's more decorative/permanent.
You can get canning jars at any hardware store (and many larger grocery stores, targets, walmarts, etc.).

[Anonymous]

I would put the ingredients in the rum bottle. Narrow mouthed is better than wide mouthed, because you want to minimize oxidation.

Store it in a cool, dark, place. If you have wine storage, that's a good option.

I would not use expensive rum since you won't be able to taste the rum anyhow. Some very cheap rums I like are Domincan Club, Plantation, Screech, Stolen, and Pampero.

[Anonymous]

World market always has cool bottles and jars if you don't want mason jars, but I'd def use a mason for the vanilla.

Agree with PP about Cruzan. I like to soak my vanilla beans in bourbon, too.

[Anonymous]

Flor de Cana and barbancourt are both very good, reasonably priced

[Anonymous]

Don Q is good and not too expensive

[Anonymous]

I would put the ingredients in the rum bottle. Narrow mouthed is better than wide mouthed, because you want to minimize oxidation.

Store it in a cool, dark, place. If you have wine storage, that's a good option.

I would not use expensive rum since you won't be able to taste the rum anyhow. Some very cheap rums I like are Domincan Club, Plantation, Screech, Stolen, and Pampero.

Is that true for spirits? I'm a wine nerd so I know all about oxidation and wine, but I thought with spirits it didn't matter that much. I could easily be wrong, though. What happens?

[Anonymous]

Well, I suppose there's at least two things happening:

One is that the alcohol itself oxidizes. This would technically happen faster in liquor than wine, since there's more alcohol to oxidize. But it takes a very long time to be noticeable.

The other is that the stuff in the liquor other than the alcohol can oxidize. This is the bigger problem with wine, because wine has a lot of tannins, etc. that can oxidize quickly. Its not going to be a big issue with a neutral grain spirit, which doesn't have much in it other than alcohol and water, which is why I don't much worry about vodka going bad even if its been in my freezer or wine cellar for a million years.

But if you're infusing liquor with other stuff that can oxidize, its a bit of a bigger issue. Some infusions have very short shelf lives; a basil infusion is an extreme example; it taste good for a few days, but eventually taste like wet leaves. I think its a best practice for all of them to minimize exposure to oxygen, heat, and light.

(I don't want to overclaim this for vanilla extract though; I've had a bottle of rum with some vanilla beans in it in my refrigerator for a couple years and it tastes fine. I doubt if it were in a wider bottle it would taste significantly worse).

[Anonymous]

OK, good points. Scratch my canning jar suggestion.

I wonder if that's why the bacon-infused bourbon I tried a few years ago tasted like s**t. I used Woodford Reserve and Niman Ranch bacon, followed a recipe, and let it infuse about 3 weeks. It tasted like a college prank; I had to throw it out.

I've had bacon-infused bourbon in bars and it was tasty. Some things I guess you leave to the pros.

[Anonymous]

Zacapa Rum 12 years aged. Great sipping rum. I use it a lot for cooking.

[Anonymous]

Think about making vanilla bean sugar.

[Anonymous]

Ron Zacapa is my husbands favorite rum.