We can overlook that “white rum” is actually clear rather than white and accept that the term refers to rum with little or no coloring.
The bedrock problem with using white rum as a category or style is that the rums encompass several well-defined styles that aren’t the same or interchangeable.
The good thing about white rum: It has much more taste, and much more different natural tastes that many other white spirits like wodka or gin. You may call it:
- boring barcadi etc. brand white (resembling corn and vodka)
- funky jamaica white rums (amazing!)
- green tasting rhum agricole, eg from marie galante (great, but not my last word)
- very funky haitian clairin (I love them!)
- quity funky white batavian arrack (love them too!)
And the best: All these white rums are quite fair in the price. (You cant say the same about brown rums)
The similarities of (nearly) all white rums: The price/taste-relation is really great.
I know quite a lot of worse similarities.
So better celebrate white rums as the umltimate price/taste-giants
And lets use the label of white rum to look for the best of them (and ignore the boring ones)
Or in the words of a great artist coming from the rum producing world: Dont worry, be happy.
PS: I came to your blog via your stories about the amsterdam e&ascheer after searching for more informations about batavia arracks. You did a really great work!
This really broke down the clear rums for me, much appreciated. Simple Nomenclature and impossible to confuse. Have you ever done a similar breakdown for the golden browns?
Colombian legislation determines that White Rums are rums that are aged more than 6 months but less than a year, indistinct of colour. So you could have a white rum that is gold in colour.
Hence, why bother filtering a rum that has been in a barrel just to make it clear?
Would you say that Multi-Island Blends would elevate classic tiki cocktails? For instance, I’ve been using Tiki Lovers white when a recipe calls for Lightly Filtered. Aged and I love it. I didn’t realize this type of rum is relatively new… only that it seems to impart more flavor. Or is it best to stick with the original type of rum called for?
Many of the multi-origin blends work wonderfully in tropical/tiki cocktails. I absolutely think folks should use them as they see fit.
However, and this is an important point: If you are trying to faithfully recreate the flavor of the old original recipes, then the aged/filtered rums are what you should use.
If recreating the original isn't important, and you just want something that tastes great, use whatever the hell works for you.
Well said. When I see "white rum" or "light rum" in a recipe, I assume it means lightly aged and filtered, because I feel that is far and away the category that non-aficionados mean when they say "white rum." Frankly, many are unaware that there are any categories of rum beyond "white" or "light," and "dark." This doesn't mean I'll actually use it in a recipe calling for "white rum." I will often use a multi-island blend, but I do so knowing that it probably wasn't the author's intent. I also ask myself if a recipe is even worth trying, if the originator was that ignorant of rum categories.🤣
That's a fair assumption if it's an older recipes. "White rum" in mid-20th century in America almost certainly was aged/filtered. Multi-region blends didn't yet exist, and agricole's weren't yet in America. Nor were Jamaican overproofs, clairins, etc...
Excellent points! Thank you for tackling this issue.
Don't be that angry.
The good thing about white rum: It has much more taste, and much more different natural tastes that many other white spirits like wodka or gin. You may call it:
- boring barcadi etc. brand white (resembling corn and vodka)
- funky jamaica white rums (amazing!)
- green tasting rhum agricole, eg from marie galante (great, but not my last word)
- very funky haitian clairin (I love them!)
- quity funky white batavian arrack (love them too!)
And the best: All these white rums are quite fair in the price. (You cant say the same about brown rums)
The similarities of (nearly) all white rums: The price/taste-relation is really great.
I know quite a lot of worse similarities.
So better celebrate white rums as the umltimate price/taste-giants
And lets use the label of white rum to look for the best of them (and ignore the boring ones)
Or in the words of a great artist coming from the rum producing world: Dont worry, be happy.
PS: I came to your blog via your stories about the amsterdam e&ascheer after searching for more informations about batavia arracks. You did a really great work!
This really broke down the clear rums for me, much appreciated. Simple Nomenclature and impossible to confuse. Have you ever done a similar breakdown for the golden browns?
Thanks! I've pondered doing it for "gold" rums, but the distinctions aren't quite so clear cut. Maybe some day though.
Colombian legislation determines that White Rums are rums that are aged more than 6 months but less than a year, indistinct of colour. So you could have a white rum that is gold in colour.
Hence, why bother filtering a rum that has been in a barrel just to make it clear?
Would you say that Multi-Island Blends would elevate classic tiki cocktails? For instance, I’ve been using Tiki Lovers white when a recipe calls for Lightly Filtered. Aged and I love it. I didn’t realize this type of rum is relatively new… only that it seems to impart more flavor. Or is it best to stick with the original type of rum called for?
Many of the multi-origin blends work wonderfully in tropical/tiki cocktails. I absolutely think folks should use them as they see fit.
However, and this is an important point: If you are trying to faithfully recreate the flavor of the old original recipes, then the aged/filtered rums are what you should use.
If recreating the original isn't important, and you just want something that tastes great, use whatever the hell works for you.
Well said. When I see "white rum" or "light rum" in a recipe, I assume it means lightly aged and filtered, because I feel that is far and away the category that non-aficionados mean when they say "white rum." Frankly, many are unaware that there are any categories of rum beyond "white" or "light," and "dark." This doesn't mean I'll actually use it in a recipe calling for "white rum." I will often use a multi-island blend, but I do so knowing that it probably wasn't the author's intent. I also ask myself if a recipe is even worth trying, if the originator was that ignorant of rum categories.🤣
That's a fair assumption if it's an older recipes. "White rum" in mid-20th century in America almost certainly was aged/filtered. Multi-region blends didn't yet exist, and agricole's weren't yet in America. Nor were Jamaican overproofs, clairins, etc...