Rum IQ

[Edward Hamilton]

I know most people in this forum have a pretty good knowledge of rum. I've added a Rum IQ (http://ministryofrum.com/quiz.php) quiz. Take a look and see how many times you have to try to get all of the questions right.

I have no doubt you will disagree with me, so I'll plan on answering your questions here.

[Tiare]

Hey Ed! this was fun!
I got 6 questions right and then it took me 3 times in all to get the other 4 right..I`m amazed to learn that all those spirits can be made anywhere in the world..i thought Tequila only could be made in Mexico..?

[Hank Koestner]

8 out of 10 on first try. Not Bad.

[Edward Hamilton]

Hey Ed! this was fun!
I got 6 questions right and then it took me 3 times in all to get the other 4 right..I`m amazed to learn that all those spirits can be made anywhere in the world..i thought Tequila only could be made in Mexico..?
Tequila can only be made in Mexico but unless it is 100% agave tequila it contains molasses based distillate.

[Lew Barrett]

I have a rum IQ of 4:o

[Milicent]

Great idea, Ed. Besides getting to test our rum IQ, this is a great and fun way to learn more about rum. Keep the ideas coming.

[Edward Hamilton]

I can see this is going to require a lot more work. More quizzes and more calculations. The current quiz is a beta test of what's coming.

[Milicent]

I will be keeping my eyes open. Thanks for your efforts, Ed. We all appreciate them.

[mcmachete]

9/10
You say Puerto Rican rums are lighter bodied than USVI rums, Ed?

[Edward Hamilton]

9/10
You say Puerto Rican rums are lighter bodied than USVI rums, Ed?

Yes, Puerto Rican rums are typically lighter in body than the rums from St Croix, the only rum producing island in the USVI. Ron del Barrilito is heavier than most of the other Puerto Rican rums, but that is the exception.

[mcmachete]

Yes, Puerto Rican rums are typically lighter in body than the rums from St Croix, the only rum producing island in the USVI. Ron del Barrilito is heavier than most of the other Puerto Rican rums, but that is the exception.

I don't disagree... I just saw them as more of a 'push' as far as body when I came to that question, particularly in contrast with the other options... I guess I'll have to just drink more rum and test that notion! Shucks.

Also, as to the origins of sugar cane, I chose Papau New Ginea simply because it was the only 'Asian' option - but I thought sugar cane originated in Indo-China (mainly India)... Any truth to that thought?

[Scottes]

Papua New Guinea was the origin, about 9,000 years ago. I'm pretty sure that the first historical note about sugar cane in India was only about 800 BCE. From there it made it into China, and later it was taken east by Alexander the Great.

[Edward Hamilton]

Papua New Guinea was the origin, about 9,000 years ago. I'm pretty sure that the first historical note about sugar cane in India was only about 800 BCE. From there it made it into China, and later it was taken east by Alexander the Great.

I think Alexander the Great is credited with taking sugar cane west (the other east). It was only in the last few hundred years that sugar cane made it the rest of the way around the world to the west coast of South America and to Hawaii.

[Scottes]

Yep, west. Go west, young sugar cane.

[RumBarPhilly]

I got the sugar cane origin question wrong. I thought I read somewhere (perhaps on an arehucas bottle) that sugar cane originated in the Canary Islands.

[mcmachete]

Found this on Wikipedia, which perhaps makes the information a bit dubious, but nonetheless gives me some small comfort that I didn't just start making stuff up...

"John F. Robyt (1998) locates the two most probable origins of sugar cultivation as North East India or the South Pacific, which provide evidence of sugarcane cultivation as early as 10,000 BC and 6,000 BC respectively.[2] Further archaeological evidence associates sugar with the Indus valley.[2]"

[mcmachete]

Well done, Jimbo.

I called attention to wikipedia's dubiousness, and only quoted it to confirm that I was, in fact, not nuts, and the India idea had to come from somewhere.

Tonight, I toast Papuans and New Gineans for their monumental contribution...

[Edward Hamilton]

While not trying to discredit the fine contributors to Wikipedia, I'll let their authors do that themselves, the origin of sugar cane is one of the few things on which there is agreement among rum distillers and blenders.

The above example does, however, demonstrate the power of internet forums in getting to the root of facts. As I work on the next book, I pause to review a few things I've written that will undoubtedly be scrutinized in this and other internet information sources.

[Dood]

I missed the lighter body question. I chose USVI, even though my (sizeable) gut kept telling me to change it to PR.

Once I saw I had missed it, I knew the right answer.

[Paulipbartender]

We had 2 x 9/10's and an unbearably smug 10/10 here in the office Ed. Thanks for that!!!

[Scottes]

I'm in work and don't have the book available for a quote or two, but for those interested in Sugar (who among us aren't, at least in some way?) I can highly recommend Bittersweet, by Peter Macinnis (http://www.amazon.com/Bittersweet-Story-Sugar-Peter-Macinnis/dp/1865086576/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1205172177&sr=8-2).

[Edward Hamilton]

We had 2 x 9/10's and an unbearably smug 10/10 here in the office Ed. Thanks for that!!!

Stay tuned, that was a beta test of the software as much as a preliminary rum knowledge test. I wrote thirty questions last night and will be posting more as time permits. So if you have any questions for your smug friends let me know. It's not my idea to trick anyone but to raise our collective knowledge about our favorite spirit.

[Edward Hamilton]

I've added another Rum IQ quiz about white rums. I'll be posting another about Dark Rums and Cachaзa and rhum agricole in the coming weeks.

[RumBarPhilly]

That was a good quiz! Got 6, then got 8, then all 10.

I am curious, though, about a couple of the ageing questions, like (SPOILER ALERT!!!) what 4 year old rum is the big seller? Also, what is Nicaragua's oldest rum?