Rum 101 on the Today Show

[Edward Hamilton]

The Today Show is planning to have a short Rum 101 segment to air in early May, but of course this is subject to change.

[Troy]

Very cool. Please let us know if you get the exact date.

[jlo mein]

Is the Today show running a series of specials on different types of liquors? Or will it only be rum?

[Edward Hamilton]

They did Tequila 101 Dec 29 last year. The timing seems curious to me, but I don't make the schedule. From what I've heard they are planning to do other spirits in the future.

[Edward Hamilton]

I've been told the plan is to broadcast Rum 101 on May 3 in the last half hour. But schedules change so it may be the following day or it may not be aired for some time. Any number of things could delay the broadcast.

[jlo mein]

Here's to hoping it airs today. I have the VCR recording it right now...I haven't used my VCR to record anything in 4 years!

[Edward Hamilton]

The Rum 101 segment got delayed until Matt Lauer gets back from his world tour. So it will air some time next month. The producer says he will let me know. At least it hasn't been cancelled.

[Edward Hamilton]

June 28th is being rumored as a the date Rum 101 is going to air. I won't hold my breath but I'm optimistic that it will be seen in the last half hour. If you miss it live, it will be on MSNBC.com (http://www.msnbc.msn.com)

[Edward Hamilton]

I just got confirmation from the producer of the segment that it will air in the last half hour of Thursday's Today Show. June 28th. But if something newsworthy, such as Paris Hilton getting out of jail, it could be delayed.

[Dood]

I just got confirmation from the producer of the segment that it will air in the last half hour of Thursday's Today Show. June 28th. But if something newsworthy, such as Paris Hilton getting out of jail, it could be delayed.

Well, good news, Paris gets out tomorrow...probably around 2 or 3 in the morning (PDT) I would imagine.

That means that Thursday's show should (hopefully) be a go. I'll have to set the Tivo to record it.

[Edward Hamilton]

Friday the Today Show aired their short Rum 101 (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19503080) segment. In case you're wondering, the cane fields in the segment are in Trinidad and the pot still shown in the clip is at the 10 Cane distillery.

Thanks to Martin Cate and the friendly folks at Forbidden Island (http://www.forbiddenislandalameda.com) for letting us film the introduction at their favorite bar.

You'll have to view a short commercial on MSNBC before the segment loads, but I hope you think it's worth the wait.

[angelsword]

Nice little spot!

[jlo mein]

Not a bad segment, although the host lady is rather obnoxious, always interrupting the man.

I noticed lately on TV/magazines/subway posters that Bacardi has a huge marketing campaign going. Hopefully this brings more buyers into rum, and perhaps they will try rums other than Bacardi.

[Aaron Wolin]

It pained me when she inquired about the "spicy" rums.

I really wish the hostess would have just let Phil talk a bit more about each type of rum. I saw a great deal of my friends on that table and was sad to see the hostess pass over them so quickly. I'm sure she only had a small amount of time allotted.

Overall it was a decent little segment for the brief timeslot. If it gets people noticing quality rum more and actually paying attention as to what goes into their drink than the segment did its job.

[Seahound]

I found it to be quite watered down. All she seemed interested in was the cocktails. I'd prefer if rum stayed unfashionable. If it becomes trendy then prices go up, and I'm quite happy paying 35 dollars for a 15 year old rum. The first rapper to mention Santa Teresa is going to triple the price just like what happened with Henessy and Grey Goose.

[Edward Hamilton]

I've been watching the rum market for signs of price quality distortion for many years and I have to disagree. Grey Goose has always been one of the most expensive labels on the shelf, that was the model that the late Sidney Frank based his whole business on. Grey Goose hasn't tripled in price.

Unlike vodka, which can be distilled on Monday, bottled Tuesday, shipped Wednesday, delivered Thursday and drunk Friday, it takes years to make a good aged rum. During the years it takes to make good rum, fads and rappers come and go. The rum distillers who are in business today are in business because they didn't try to cash in on a quick mention of their products by someone who probably isn't going to be more than a short flash in the pan.

As rum becomes more popular, the price is certainly going to go up, and unfortunately, some of the rum brands are going to suffer in terms of the quality of the spirits behind the label. But the good news is that as demand increases, more rum producers will be able to come to the market. If you don't believe me, think back to the rum selection on the liquor store shelf in 1997, only ten years ago. I was standing in Sams Wine & Spirits, arguably one of the stores with the largest selections of wine and spirits in the US at the time, where they had only 7 rum labels in their rum shelf. Today there are about 50 rums, of which more than half of which are what I would consider to be good rums, worth drinking in cocktails or on the rocks.

There are a number of good rums being bottled that have never been exported from their country of origin.

[Scottes]

Good point about the aging. But tequila would also fall under similar lines, considering how long blue agave takes to grow and the fact that many are aged at least for some time. But it did seem like tequila has gone through a serious "long term fad" that has caused high prices. (Well, it seems that way to me, though I haven't actually tracked it.)

So if tequila prices went through the roof, wouldn't it be possible for rum prices to do so, too? (Though we haven't seen a cane issue like the fungus problem that caused many problems with agave supply.)

[Edward Hamilton]

Tequila prices have risen in some sectors of that spirit class, most notably the higher quality tequilas. The big difference between rum and tequila is that rum can be made almost anywhere, even thousands of miles from a sugar cane field, while tequila can only be made in a relatively small region in Mexico. There are a number of rum producers who aren't exporting any of their rum, while almost every tequila distillery is running full tilt trying to keep up with the market demand and like real estate there isn't any more agave producing real estate on which to build. The rise in the price of bio fuels has driven some agave farmers to go back to other crops that yield more and better returns.

[Scottes]

Good points. You've made me less worried about the possibility of rum prices skyrocketing.

[Seahound]

In that case I just can't understand why a relatively simple to produce spirit like vodka carries such a high price tag (relatively speaking). Maybe its just because I don't care for vodka. In any case I hope that rum prices stay down, though a better selection might be worth a mild price hike. Even in the case of trends and whatall, it's really just Big B and the Cap'n who are really popular (so far).