A customer came by the Rum Bar in Key West the other day and asked I had Black Coral Rum, I had to admit that I didn't and I had not heard of it. He informed me that it is a product of South Florida, made in Riviera Beach. His inquiry got me thinking and so I did some research and found that this is another very interesting rum with its home in South Florida. As soon as I find out who is distributing this rum you will be able to see Black Coral Rum at the Rum Bar.
The cane
fields of South Florida is the life blood of Black Coral Rum. Sweet cane
molasses, made right here in Florida and with a smell that will make you
wanting some shoofly pie. Fermentations take place one at a time and under
the utmost scrutiny, creating a consistent product run after run. Only
the most clean, pure water is used in the creation of our rums,
avoiding undesirable flavors. Once the mash has spent its time
fermenting, the hand built custom still takes over and slowly heats the mash.
The brick fired stainless and copper still comes up
to temperature creating a waft of sweet rum scent that fills the air, as
well as alerts the neighbors of the daily event!
Now this is where
craft-distilleries differ from that of run of the mill production rums. We make
individual batches, thereby allowing us to separate the different types of
liquids present in the still. With taste, smell and skill
these cuts are made. Creating a rum from a multitude of flavors which the
still produces is a distillers job, and it’s all by the master
distiller. Once the lighter alcohols are taken out, we have clean rum pouring out of the
still for the next 24 hours. This is
where a distiller’s job is really done. Creating a rum that is not too harsh
nor too bland. the art of blending. The still is allowed to run until the
desired amount of tails has been collected into the main run tank, this is
again all done by taste. The fact that we could, collect all the rum and simply
charcoal filter it like most distilleries do does not fly.
The majority of the raw rum is aged in new charred White Oak
Barrels, but the other portion of the rum is
aged in different types of barrels to produce a more complex finished product. After a time in the barrels the rums are blended to become Black Coral “Original”
Rum. I'm really looking forward to tasting this rum, between the enthusiasm of the people that visited me and the story of the rums creation process, this looks like it is going to be a very special one. There is a Spiced expression as well. ;o)
