Do you need to shake rum?

[Wizzion]

Before drinking, should you shake the rum?
To get all the flavours spread equally troughout the rum.

[Jolipapa]

Usually it's rather you who gets shacken.
But that's just after you crack the bottle opened...

As good ole' R&R says : shackin' it all over...

[Skulman]

Usually it's rather you who gets shacken.
But that's just after you crack the bottle opened...

As good ole' R&R says : shackin' it all over...

So is that a yes or no to the question? :confused:

[Ellis34]

I have never heard of that being asked. in the years that I have been drinking rum (not near as long as some of the members), I have never shaken a bottel to "stir it out" or anything. There are not precipitates in rum that I know of that would need to be dispersed.

I will ask a chemist friend of mine if drinking alcohol at the strength of rum would ahve to be stired.

[Wizzion]

At a guess I would say that is probably flocculation.

As the alcohol evaporates, the remaining alcohol will drop fatty acids usually held in suspension out of the solution, These can usually be shaken back into the liquid without affecting the flavour too much

Actually I read somewhere on this forums that some of the fat acids in the rum start to sink but that they can be easily shaken back into the rum. Chemically speaking they do not need to be precipitates to start to sink into the bottle.

This would mostly be about rums that you keep a long time. I mean if you have a bottle for over a year it should be expected that some of the heavier parts of the rum would sink to the bottle.

Also would it hurt the rum to shake it? I can't think of a real reason why but who knows.

[Jolipapa]

So is that a yes or no to the question?

For me it is definitely no! I have some very old alcohol and never noticed any sediment.
If you're making your own spiced rum/punch/rhum arrangé, all it needs is an occasional swing, like in the song's sweet chariot.

On a slightly different subject, if you leave a glass with a drop of Havana Club 7y, and some other rums, after the rum evaporated just remains the caramel. But until now it never had enough time to sediment at the bottom of the bottle! HMMR LOL

[Wizzion]

For me it is definitely no! I have some very old alcohol and never noticed any sediment.
If you're making your own spiced rum/punch/rhum arrangé, all it needs is an occasional swing, like in the song's sweet chariot.

On a slightly different subject, if you leave a glass with a drop of Havana Club 7y, and some other rums, after the rum evaporated just remains the caramel. But until now it never had enough time to sediment at the bottom of the bottle! HMMR LOL

Well you wouldn't actually be able to see this with your eyes. Since it isn't about the solid particles but liquids sinking to the bottom of the bottle. You would have to poor a glass of rum without shaking and then one with shaking to bottle and taste the difference if you want to do a home test. I can't actually try it since I do not have any rum that I have had for more then a few months :(.

[Jolipapa]

Since it isn't about the solid particles but liquids sinking to the bottom of the bottle.
If so, 12, 15 or older barrels are shaken before filling the bottles?

[Wizzion]

If so, 12, 15 or older barrels are shaken before filling the bottles?

I wouldn´t know. Do they?

I am not saying that it is the case I am simply saying that if it is you wouldn´t be able to tell it with the naked eye.