Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

Hi All,

I'm currently in the process of building up my stockpile of rum, currently up to about 7 generations. I haven't oaked or altered any of my stock yet, I'm waiting till I have a large enough stash. My plan is to try a few experiments with different types of oak and char/toast levels etc.

Part of my plan would also be to produce something similar to Bacardi (white rum).

I have noticed many different opinions around here and elsewhere about how a white rum is produced. Some theories suggest its not oaked at all, some suggest reflux distillation, some suggest ageing in glass or SS. And some suggest oaking and then filtering it.

Someone on here claimed they were sure it was oaked and then filtered. Thanks to whoever got me onto this wave of thought. So I did a little research and found the following video which proves this theory to be correct. See here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7srgDTqh6nE

What I would like to know is what type of charcoal they use to filter their product? Or if anyone has experience with this method and what type or charcoal you use? Keen to know your thought guys.

I don't have any knowledge to add but good find on the video :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Great vid

Apparently Bacardi use coconut charcoal and some other "secret" charcoals...

I might start with coconut charcoal and take it from there.

Awesome vid mate makes me wanna go for a holiday! Ohh and make some :happy-partydance:

Shows the versatility of carbon filtering.

10-12 different carbons depending what congeners, esters and flavours they want to remove.

Yeah mate, I've been using coconut charcoal after oaking for 3 months. I run it fairly quickly through the filter until it's colourless, in an attempt to preserve as much of the flavour as possible. And yes, this method was actually developed or first used by Mr Barcadi himself, so they certainly do use that method.

For white rum, I use no dunder, and a slightly cooler/slower fermentation (although Barcadi still ferment at 38'C). I find that works better for me for light, fruity white rum rather than aiming for a deep and heavy character.

Also, if you want to copy Barcadi, I suggest making some rum in a bubbler with 5 plates and make some through a double pot still run, then combine to your preference. That's the basic gist of what Barcadi do...

Brendan wrote:Yeah mate, I've been using coconut charcoal after oaking for 3 months. I run it fairly quickly through the filter until it's colourless, in an attempt to preserve as much of the flavour as possible. And yes, this method was actually developed or first used by Mr Barcadi himself, so they certainly do use that method.

For white rum, I use no dunder, and a slightly cooler/slower fermentation (although Barcadi still ferment at 38'C). I find that works better for me for light, fruity white rum rather than aiming for a deep and heavy character.

Also, if you want to copy Barcadi, I suggest making some rum in a bubbler with 5 plates and make some through a double pot still run, then combine to your preference. That's the basic gist of what Barcadi do...

Hi Brendan, just out of interest what's your filter setup?

Ok, so 1 year on... and a few batches under my belt (enough to age about 85 litres on oak for 12 months), I have decided to revisit my idea for white rum.

BTW my Macrum has turned out a stellar success. I'm overwhelmed how much positive feedback I have received from the many that have sampled it.

I purchased a rather large filter system which stand almost as tall as I do, filled it with coconut charcoal and poured some of my precious golden nectar through it.

As you can see the charcoal completely strips out the colour. First pass through the filter and the liquor still has a big bold full mouth rum profile. Second pass through the filter and it's become a nice very white style rum, subtle flavours, lighter mouth weight and silky smooth. The coconut carbon pulls out the big caramel and toffee full mouth bold flavours and leaves behind all the gentle melon, floral and vanilla tones. I don't drink my brown rum straight but my double filtered white goes down WAYYYYY to easily.

FYI the filter I choose to purchase can be found here

VQ, can you tell me where you got the coconut charcoal from please as I'm interested in doing something similar

xcvator wrote:VQ, can you tell me where you got the coconut charcoal from please as I'm interested in doing something similar

I got mine from here: https://www.clarencewaterfilters.com.au ... ed-carbon/

Good luck, be sure to post your results :)

Google clarence water filters :)

And the filter setup is called Philter

5star sell an excellent charcoal filter.

Bit off topic but there is a good video done by discovery channel mega factories about the bacardi setup. they had a room full of small glass stills they use for checking abv of their wash.

not much info on the filltration process though unfortunately.

Is there a way to filter the colour out without losing the flavours?

bluc wrote:Is there a way to filter the colour out without losing the flavours?

what's the point? if you want an oaked rum, you want it to taste/look like an oaked rum. if you want a white rum, you want it to taste/look like a white rum. so why would you want a rum that looks like a white rum, but tastes like an oaked rum?

maddogpearse wrote:

bluc wrote:Is there a way to filter the colour out without losing the flavours?

what's the point? if you want an oaked rum, you want it to taste/look like an oaked rum. if you want a white rum, you want it to taste/look like a white rum. so why would you want a rum that looks like a white rum, but tastes like an oaked rum?

I agree with this. Can't say I know a way to change the color but leave the flavor either.

Barcardi is aged in oak like most other rums then charcoal filtered to remove undesirables, colour and some of the flavours.
Different charchoals remove different flavours of the rum giving a unique flavour.
As an example. You may like the flavour the oak gives it, vanillas and caramels but the molasses flavour comes over to strong making it to heavy and you want to tone that particular flavour down.So you play round with different charcoals, ratios of charcoal to spirit and filtration speed, till you find one that removes that flavour without affecting other flavours the molasses gives the rum.

If you just reduced the amount of molasses it would also reduce the desirable flavours of what you want the end product to taste like.
As far as colour goes you may want it clear just because you can...
At least that's why I think they do it

From my experience so far the filtration removes the flavors gained by the oaking process. The more passes through the carbon the more flavor comes out. It can pretty much be stripped back to white dog taste, but much smoother.

If you want clear but full flavored rum a quick pass through minimal charcoal would probably do the trick.

As Bacardi say different charcoals remove different flavor profiles. But I have no idea what other types of charcoal one could use.

Personally i think removing some of the raw molasses flavour could be benifical to tone it down a bit but leaving the oak profile as is. far as colour goes was just interested as a gimmick full flavoured clear rum.

I would be interested in having a play with filtering just to learn some more stuff about making rum and learning about the different ways of doing things. :-B