Chillfiltering and E150?

[Mr Fjeld]

I'd appreciate if anyone could enlighten me about this topic. Is chillfiltering and caramel in widespread use with the rum producers?

Cheers!
Christian

[Edward Hamilton]

That depends on what you call widespread. Many of the bigger companies which export to cold climates do some chill-filtering, but most of the small distillers don't do it. Caramel is one of those dark secrets that no one wants to talk about, but caramel is generally used to make rums consistent color. Consumers don't want to buy rums which vary in color from one batch to the next.

[Mr Fjeld]

Thanks for the reply:)
Great to learn that many small distillers won't do that - not that I'm experienced enough to know the difference if I tasted any of them. But it's nice to know one can get rum as "pure" as possible.

[aryan-rastafarian]

I don't see naything wrong wth chill filtering. yes, it may change the rum profile somewhat, however if you like the rum after it has been chill filtered then, simply put, you like the rum. if it were not to be chill filtered it could well be that you wouldnt like the blend, even though it is as 'pure' as you can get it, to use your words...

[angelsword]

Thanks for the reply:)
Great to learn that many small distillers won't do that - not that I'm experienced enough to know the difference if I tasted any of them. But it's nice to know one can get rum as "pure" as possible.

When I create some of my rums, certain pieces of wood or other natural ingredients have a certain milky effect with the alcohol. IF the rum is shaken before pouring these constituent parts add to the overall flavor. Otherwise they frequently settle out in a way that may be aesthetically unpleasing to some. It has little to do with purity.

[Mr Fjeld]

When I create some of my rums, certain pieces of wood or other natural ingredients have a certain milky effect with the alcohol. IF the rum is shaken before pouring these constituent parts add to the overall flavor. Otherwise they frequently settle out in a way that may be aesthetically unpleasing to some. It has little to do with purity.
Thanks for the response:)
When I say "pure" I don't mean cleanlines or anything like that. I'm rather hinting towards a spirit where as little as possible of the flavour has been taken out. I also agree with the sentiment expressed above that if you like the spirit then it doesn't matter if it's chillfiltered. However, I have some experience with single malts and I cannot help but feel that chill-filtering can take away some of the "fatty" character in the taste. I do prefer a spirit which is untampered with in this respect but I'm not anal about it. Personally I feel barrier filtering only is the way to go, but I do understand that a large proportion of casual drinkers become worried when their whisky or rum becomes hazy after adding water, ice or served at low temperatures. I'd like to see chill filtering and colouring abolished though.

Edit/added: Wow, you run a distillery? How cool! Is your rum readily available - in Europe?

[angelsword]

I'm working on a coconut rum today that will require chill filtering. With just normal fluctuations of ambient temperature, small balls of coconut oil can be seen floating in the rum! But if slightly warmed to where the oil blends in then it is more delicious that way.

Probably close to another year before my product will hit the shelves.

[Mr Fjeld]

I'm working on a coconut rum today that will require chill filtering. With just normal fluctuations of ambient temperature, small balls of coconut oil can be seen floating in the rum! But if slightly warmed to where the oil blends in then it is more delicious that way.

Probably close to another year before my product will hit the shelves.

That's awesome angelsword! I would love to try it when available if I can get hold of it :) Good luck with your rum/business project!

[angelsword]

I'll probably be entering some of last year's coconut rum in the tasting competition.

[angelsword]

Caramel is one of those dark secrets that no one wants to talk about, but caramel is generally used to make rums consistent color.
I wonder about why is this procedure "dark". But then I just tried a delicious scotch "Big Smoke" with an extremely light color that no one at the liquor store recommended because of the lack of color. Yet it still had a deep rich flavor!

[scheer]

E150, just caramel, is used very often, like in the whisky and beer industry to make sure that the colour stays the same in different batches of botteling the product. Chilfiltering is less used, but its done. The Caramel plays a vital part still in e.g. Rums Coming from Guyana, where most of the Navy style rums, are based on. Still very dark rums you see quite a bit in the UK, because of the history of Demerara Rum on the UK market.