Oriental Pirate Happy Water - Rum in Japan

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🤗 01 Origin of Rum

Barrel-aged rum “ABUELO 12 Years Old”

Although there are conflicting opinions on the origins of rum, it is documented to have existed in the seventeenth century at the latest. The earliest rums appeared in Barbados and Puerto Rico in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, although the Caribbean island region where rum originated is not the original home of sugar cane. Legend has it that the sugar cane was brought from South Asia by the famous navigator Christopher Columbus in 1492, and it was only due to the favorable climate that it was widely cultivated as a sugar crop in the Caribbean. The history of sugar production in the Caribbean is much older than the history of rum.

As a processed agricultural product, the earliest rums were fermented directly from the juice of sugar cane and then distilled. Due to the development of the sugar industry in the same region, shortly after rum appeared, it was discovered that the waste molasses, a by-product of the refined sugar process, also contained sugar and could be fermented to produce alcohol, and thus the modern industrial rum appeared.

🤗 02 The Development and Flourishing of Rum

Sugar cane used to make rum

Rum, as a type of distilled spirit, had a higher alcohol content than other brews, which was the world's equivalent of precious metals in hard currency at the time. For a long time before the abolition of the slave trade in 1808, rum was used in Africa as money for the purchase of black slaves. Slave traders in the West Indies shipped spent molasses to the Americas, where the spent molasses was used to make rum, and then the rum was shipped to the continent of Africa for the purchase of slaves, and the purchased slaves were shipped to the West Indies as labor for the production of sugarcane and sugar, which in effect The production of rum increased. During the long ocean voyages, rum was an essential drink for sailors to relieve stress, cure diseases such as scurvy, and keep food and water fresh, and it spread among pirates. After various legends and literary works, the impression of the pirates' favorite drink became known to the public.

Due to the popularity of rum among seafarers, and other alcoholic beverages, the Second World War and the post-war period did not affect the production of raw materials and other reasons, but because of the war, the impact of the trade between Europe and the Americas has made the importation of distilled spirits (gin, whisky, brandy) in Europe has been greatly reduced, and rum has gradually taken over cocktails in large countries! --In the bars of the United States, rum-based cocktails also blossomed.

🤗 03 Classification of Rum

Cane Garden Three Star High Dark Rum

Unlike traditional brown spirits such as whiskey and brandy, rum that has not been matured in wooden barrels is also allowed to be sold, so generally speaking rum is divided into the following three types by flavor and color:

White rum:

Basically colorless and transparent, or showing a very light yellowish color, usually after distillation through the stainless steel tanks to store the matured original liquor plus water composition, but also through the unburnt oak barrels matured and then decolorized with activated charcoal way;

2, gold rum:

After a short period of oak barrel maturation of rum, the liquor is golden yellow, richer than the white rum flavor;

3, black rum:

With whisky is basically the same, with the scorched oak barrels, after a longer period of time (more than three years) maturation, to get the dark rum, the liquid is basically dark brown, complex flavor levels, personality changeable, pure drink or make cocktails are very good choice.

Rum Cocktail SPRING STAR

In addition to color, many rum connoisseurs like to classify rums by their method of production, and the aforementioned industrial rums are one such classification. However, industrial rums made from spent molasses and distilled in continuous stills do not have the subtle aromas of some yeasts and the special freshness of fresh ingredients. In contrast to industrial rums, agricultural rums produced by fermenting fresh sugarcane juice are an excellent vehicle for the elaboration of the yeast and the terroir of the material. Agricultural rums, which are basically distilled using only a single-stage still, have a variety of rich aromas brought by the yeast, as well as floral, fruity, and herbaceous aromas brought by the fresh sugarcane juice. It is also interesting to note that the actual rum produced by different distillations varies greatly depending on the yeast.

🤗 04 Japanese Rum

Having said that, rum is quite popular around the world, although it is native to Central America and developed in Cuba, Brazil, and the United States. Japan, where the technology of making alcohol is excellent, also had rum a long time ago, but unfortunately, after decades of changes, the rum of that time no longer exists either.

When it comes to rum in Japan, you have to look at the new rums of recent years. The distilled spirits boom of recent years has revitalized not only whisky, but also gin, shochu, and rum, and Japan's almost stagnant rum-making has evolved. There's a lot of rum being made in Japan's almost stagnant rum-making scene, from some of the old-school distilleries, both in and out of the sugarcane region, as well as from some of the newer artisanal rum distilleries, and there's no shortage of interesting products to choose from.

◆ THE OKINAWA ISLAND RUM

In August 2023, Mizuho Brewery, which has a history of more than 170 years, bottled its “ONE RUM” series of eight rums distilled under its banner and made with brown sugar from each of the eight islands of Okinawa, adding water to the bottle in a special year that marks the 400th anniversary of Okinawan brown sugar. This white rum is a combination of Mizuho Brewery's years of expertise in the use of brown sugar and the different flavors of brown sugar from all the brown sugar-producing regions of Okinawa. Unlike molasses and freshly squeezed sugar cane juice, the fermentation of brown sugar incredibly brings a touch of wakame to the rum, which, combined with the spirit's own aromas of coconut and fruit, as well as some tropical botanicals, makes this a very iconic bottle of Japanese rum.

◆ BOSO Rhum blanc Fleur

Within the Japanese metropolitan area, there is also a sugarcane production area, which is located at the southernmost tip of the Boso Peninsula in Chiba Prefecture, on the beach of Minami-Boso. The sugarcane fields located on the beach are blessed with the warm sunshine and the sea breeze from the Pacific Ocean, and the unique natural environment has produced unique sugarcane. Foso Oikura Steamhouse, located 10 minutes away from the sugar cane fields, uses these sugar canes to produce rum.

Thanks to the terroir of Chiba, the rum produced at Boso Okuikura Steamhouse has a natural feel to it. The “BOSO Rhum blanc Fleur” pictured here has an incredible green banana flavor in addition to the coconut flavor and sweetness that most rums have. Using this white rum, which has a flavor rarely found in distilled spirits, to make cocktails brings a very different experience.

◆　KOKUTO DE LEQUIO Yambaru Spiced Rum

Finally, when it comes to rum, it is of course impossible not to mention that Mr. Shingo Gohanai, who has been working to promote Okinawan brown sugar, has joined forces with Mr. Nakazato Nakazato of Mizuho Brewery to produce “KOKUTO DE LEQUIO Yambaru Spiced Rum,” a spiced rum made with Okinawan brown sugar, one year after the release of the rum-based brown sugar liqueur.

This spiced rum is also part of the Okinawan Brown Sugar Project, which not only uses Okinawan brown sugar for fermentation and distillation to make rum, but also focuses on the “Sikwasa” (an Okinawan tangerine, the juice of which is used in Okinawan cuisine, Okinawan-flavored beverages, health drinks, etc.), which is a peel that is difficult to dispose of because it is used in the production of the fruit juice every year.

Spiced rum itself is made by using distilled rum to macerate various spices and then distilling them. In the case of this spiced rum, the rum is distilled from fermented Okinawan brown sugar, impregnated with Okinawan spices such as tangerine peel, bay peaches, and pulverized beans, and then distilled to create a delicious spiced rum. This richly flavored spiced rum is used to make the Mint Daiquiri cocktail, which is the best of its kind.

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With the explosion of distilled spirits in Japan, a number of distilleries have sprung up all over the country, and not a few of them have started producing rum. In the near future, there will surely be more rums of different styles and flavors for us to savor.