Rum Historian by Marco Pierini
HISTORY OF CUBAN RUM
7. HANDBOOK FOR DISTILLERS
First Part
In my previous article - Sugar, Race and Growth in the December issue of our magazine – we saw how, in the first half of the 1800s, Cuba experienced strong demographic, economic and technical growth.
One of the protagonists of this growth was the Real Sociedad Economica de Amigos de Este Pais (Royal Economic Society of Friends of this Country).
After being founded in Havana in 1792, the Royal Society (whose name changed several times) spread throughout the island, and, like its fellow societies in Spain, it counted among its members representatives of the local economic élites, respected scholars, men of letters and Royal officials, all intent on promoting the development of Cuba. Oversimplifying, we can say that the Royal Society was at the same time a cultural society, a civic association, a charity, a gentlemen’s club and a political pressure group.
In 1832, the Royal Society instituted an award for the best proposals aimed at promoting the development of various sectors of the local economy and culture, among which, of course, sugar, and, what interests us most, rum.
Regarding rum, only one proposal was submitted to compete for the prize: the Cartilla para Alambiqueros (Handbook for Distillers) which, notwithstanding some doubts, was considered viable and got the prize. The Handbook was then published in 1833 in the proceedings of the Society.
I am indebted for this knowledge to my good friend, as well as great expert of Cuban rum, David Bermudez, whom I want to thank here for the generosity with which he has provided me with this document and all the other material on the history of rum that he has gathered over the years.
In my opinion this is an exceptional document and I thought it would be useful to translate and publish it in its entirety. It will take two articles, but trust me, it is well worth it. My interventions will be kept to a minimum. I only inserted a few comments of mine within square brackets when I deemed it useful for a better understanding.
Translating is never simple. As I have written on various occasions, the meaning of some words is sometimes obscure; moreover, the same words sometimes change in meaning according to where, when and whom they are used by. In early 1800s Cuba, rum was called aguardiente de caña (sugarcane burning water), rom or even, simply, aguardiente. Moreover, they made a distinction between low degree, cheap, common aguardiente and high degree, expensive, refino (refined). I left the most specific, technical terms in Spanish the first time they appear, giving the translation in brackets; afterwards I wrote them in the English translation.
I anticipate that a few passages are not quite clear to me. I am not an expert and I know little about the history of technology. Maybe the text is really obscure, or maybe I simply do not understand the technicalities of sugar making and distillation in the 1830s. In order to better understand, I ask our readers for help even now.
Moreover, the text was written in Spanish in 1832 and the Spanish of the early -nineteenth century was slightly different from contemporary Spanish. For the translation of the document into American English I enlisted the help of a professional translator, but they, as is almost always the case, don’t know anything about distillation, therefore in a few cases I had to intervene myself. I have tried to do my best; nevertheless, the fact remains that neither Spanish, the language of the original text, nor American English, the target language of the translation, are my mother tongue. Therefore, I apologize in advance for any errors and inaccuracies I may have made. Those of you interested, please let me know and I’ll send you the original text.
Notwithstanding all these problems, the Handbook for Distillers is a fundamental text for the history of Cuban rum. First of all, because it is a rare first-hand testimony of the state of the art of Cuban rum-making in the 1830s. There is another reason, though. Many, in the rum world, but even in academic circles, believe and write that the real history of Cuban rum started only with Bacardi. Well, that just is not true. Already in the previous articles of this series we have seen that the production and export of rum in Cuba date far back, at least since the beginning of the 1700s. Now, the Handbook proves that, as early as 1832, extremely modern continuous distillation apparatuses were already in use, and that the problem of how to improve the quality of the product was being seriously explored. This, just to be clear, 30 years before Don Facundo Bacardí started his rum business. We’ll get back to that.And now, with our minds, let’s immerse ourselves for a while in a rum distiller’s mind in Cuba, many years ago. Happy reading!
HANDBOOK FOR DISTILLERS.
Written in accordance with Article 5 of the Awards Program offered by the Royal Patriotic Society in the year 1832
Question. What do you ask of us?
Answer. That you may be kind enough to test me to be able to practice the art of distiller or rum distiller, which I have learnt under the master D. N.
Q. How long have you spent learning this art?
A. I have been an apprentice for two years, as stated in my certification.
Q. Which books did you read to learn the best way to distill spirits?
A. I studied the Handbook awarded by the Royal Patriotic Society in 1832, and then everything concerning distillation in Porter’s work on sugar.
[I think the book is George R. Porter’s The Nature and Property of Sugar Cane 1830]
Q. Where does rum come from?
A. On this island, it is extracted from the molasses from the curing house, and from the skimmings that are removed with a skimmer in the boiler houses.
Q. What is batición (wash)?
A. It is mixture of molasses or skimmings, mosto muerto (dead wort, dunder), live wort and water.
Q. What is dunder?
A. This is the residue left in the still after all the rum has been removed.
Q. What is live wort?
A. Live wort is the same wash at the strongest stage of fermentation.
Q. What are the proportions in which these materials are mixed?
A. For four barrels of molasses, put in six barrels of water, six of dunder, and four of live wort; this will make up a pipa, or curbato (maybe, tun). When the molasses is not thick due to the addition of some water, add one, two or three barrels to each pipa. When skimmings are used in the Windward Islands, they are put in equal proportion with the water and the dunder; and when these ingredients have been mixed well, the fermentation should be strong after 24 hours, and then three gallons of molasses are added to every 100 gallons of the fermenting caldo (broth). One or two days later, when the liquid is vigorously fermenting, add an equal amount of molasses. Six gallons of skimmings is the same as one gallon of molasses.
The most common wash is 10 gallons of molasses, 20 gallons of dunder, 30 gallons of skimmings, and 40 gallons of water. The sugar content of this wash is 15 per 100; and in the preceding wash it is 11 per 100.
In Jamaica, 50 gallons of dunder are added to six gallons of molasses, 36 gallons of skimmings, and eight gallons of water. And if there are no skimmings, put six more of molasses, which together make 12. Here, the sugar content is exactly 12 per 100. Add all the molasses as soon as the broth begins to ferment; this is better than putting it in twice, as mentioned above.
[The history of systems of measurements before the adoption of the metric system is a real quagmire. With the added complexity that units of measures often changed name and dimensions depending on the content (for example, liquids or grain), the Country and the years. Anyway, according to the classic work of José García de Arboleya, “Manual de la Isla de Cuba” published in La Havana in 1852, one Pipa of rum was equal to 540 bottles or 12 barrels. It seems to me that maybe the figures don’t add up.]
Q. How is it that in our countries, no live wort is added to the wash?
A. This is because the other ingredients ferment well without that aid. And assuming that the rum from Jamaica is so superior, it would seem convenient to employ the method which they have adopted.
Q. How does the wash work?
A. Once the necessary ingredients have been combined in tuns, leave everything quiet. If the proportion of sweetness does not exceed 15 per cent, it begins to ferment after 24 or 30 hours; it finishes fermenting after 7, 8, 10 or even 12 days. When the fermentation lasts too long, it is because there is too much sweet, and in that case, it takes 10 or 12 days. The pails in which the wash is placed must be left a quarter empty so that the foam caused by fermentation does not spill out. The fermentation should not exceed 94 degrees Fahrenheit [34 degrees Celsius], and to contain it a little if it exceeds this level of heat, add cold water; and if it does not reach this degree of heat at the strongest stage of fermentation, add hot water. To prevent an increase of heat beyond what is necessary, the dunder should be added when it has lost part of the heat it takes out of the still; and if it is added cold, take care that it is not spoilt.
Q. When is fermentation known to have finished?
A. It is considered to be finished when the crust that forms on the surface of the wash has disappeared, leaving it clean and smooth with only a few small bubbles of foam; the taste of the wash in this state is a little bitter, as if it wanted to start the acetic fermentation. It is then in the best state to be burnt.
Q. Once the fermentation process is completed, what needs to be done?
A. In this case, all that is left over should be removed, and then the mouth of the vessel should be covered as well as possible so that no spirit escapes; for this reason, tuns or casks with two bottoms are better than tuns with only one.
Q. What care do the barrels require once they have been emptied?
A. Once the wash has been removed from a barrel for the pot still, it must be thoroughly cleaned; and if it is believed to have contained any acetic or putrid fermentation, then it must be washed with lime water, and grouted on the inside with lime and water, as is done to the walls, so that the bad effect will not be transferred to the new batch or wash.
Q. Is it absolutely necessary to use dunder to create the washes?
R. Mr. Porter and many others say that dunder gives a bad taste to the spirits; among us we call this to have a taste of wort; it is true that this taste is lost once refined [that is, distilled a second time], but it lingers if not refined; and I believe that if in the first state it did not have such a taste, the rum would be much better. Much attention should be paid to this brunch in this island, for we have competitors who deal with it with great care. Porter says: “notwithstanding the general use of dunder to prepare the washes it seems very doubtful whether so much true advantage will result: whether it can equal the very probable harm it causes with respect to the quality and smoothness of the spirit obtained; it would be wise to test this subject, by using some other substance as a kind of ferment for washing during some period of the harvest, which will furnish means of judging the two systems with accuracy”. An individual (Mr. Matias Peralta) in charge of some of the best stills on the island has tried to replace the dunder with hot water and has had abysmal results; he himself observes that as the stills he runs are of continuous distillation, much of the rum would be lost if the dunder were thrown away, for the dunder carries a considerable portion of spirit, and for this reason he mixes in the dunder tank some of the residue that remains after refining, as it also carries a large part of spirit; this is the great defect of the continuous distillation stills, and the method mentioned above is the best that can be used. The residue from the refiner [that is, from second distillation] can be put into the washes with good results in place of the dunder, but as is not possible that there be as much as is necessary, it should be used mixed with the dunder.
Marco Pierini
