New Rum infusion

[Tiare]

Couldn`t help myself..
I have a bottle of dark rum that I got as a " euro 2 bonus" from a German delivery, its a rum that is made in St Croix, its called Kings Bay. I don`t think it tastes anything really..so I decided to give it a spice. I want it to get a bit of a warm lush taste with a sort of smoky flavor and with a hint of bitterness. So I added to the bottle 4 Tahitian vanilla, some sliced dried ancho chilies and some crushed cocoa beans.
I hope it will become a better mixing rum than it was.

[Dood]

Wow. That should be a good one.

[Dood]

BTW, I started my mulled apple cider infusion tonight. We'll see how it turns out in 2 weeks.

[Milicent]

I am currently reading through the posts for info. and tips for trying out my own infusion. I will be using Flor de Cana 4 year old Gold as the base. I'll keep you guys posted. I'm looking forward to hearing about how Tiare's infusion works. I like the idea of a rum along the lines of that Aztec treat of chili and chocolate. Sounds tasty.

[Rum Runner]

I too like Tiare's Mole' Mexican take on the infusion.. .

I'm experimenting with the local bitter orange and thyme here.

[angelsword]

So I added to the bottle 4 Tahitian vanilla, some sliced dried ancho chilies and some crushed cocoa beans.

I suggest no more than two square inches of Chile Ancho with no seeds to get a good flavor. More will be too hot!

How much cacao did you add?

[Dood]

I suggest no more than two square inches of Chile Ancho with no seeds to get a good flavor. More will be too hot!

How much cacao did you add?

Listen to the man...he knows what he's talking about.

[Edward Hamilton]

I suggest no more than two square inches of Chile Ancho with no seeds to get a good flavor. More will be too hot!

How much cacao did you add?

I'd second the no seeds axiom. Seeds may provide all kinds of unintended consequences.

[Tiare]

No seeds..I love hot chillies and my fav is the Jamaican Scotch Bonnet and then the Habanero, BUT in food..not drink.

And I only took a few cocoa beans, maybe 4. Maybe that´s not enough?

Its fun experimenting!:)

I look forward also to hear more later on the infusions you guys have made.

My Depaz spice rum is almost finished!

[RumBarPhilly]

I am currently reading through the posts for info. and tips for trying out my own infusion. I will be using Flor de Cana 4 year old Gold as the base. I'll keep you guys posted. I'm looking forward to hearing about how Tiare's infusion works. I like the idea of a rum along the lines of that Aztec treat of chili and chocolate. Sounds tasty.

Ive done numerous infusions. One of our most popular is our Chili Rum, I use Cruzan White as the base. We used to use Fresno Chilis, but have since experimented with hotter peppers, I tend to like the Fresnos the best. I use One pound of the peppers to three bottles.... so use about 5 oz of peppers to 750mL of rum, mix in about 1/2 cup of sugar as well. Let it sit for 24-36 hours, then strain out the peppers, seeds, and undissolved sugar, and yum!

[Tiare]

Yesterday i just HAD to take a sip to see how the infusion is doing..i know, it has only been a week...
I found that the ancho pepper flavor is just about enough. It imparts a sort of "odd" taste, a smokiness and a sort of bitterness ..
I took them out because now its just fine, i don`t want that flavor to be any stronger, and i imagine it can be interesting in a mixed drink.
But what i did was to add a few more cocoa beans and a slice of orange peel.
But as the base rum is not one of the best rums i don`t expect any miracles here but hopefully a improvement, and the rum already tastes better.

[angelsword]

And I only took a few cocoa beans, maybe 4. Maybe thatґs not enough?

I suggest creating them as separate flavors then blending to get the desired result. Lots of cacao is great, but consider the differences between raw and roasted. (I can't tell you my recipes.)

[Tiare]

The raw must be more bitter?

[Edward Hamilton]

I suggest creating them as separate flavors then blending to get the desired result.

This is the best way not to end up with a lot of something that has too much of one infusion ingredient, and to avoid the bitterness that all too often accompanies infusions where one or more ingredients were infused too long.

[Dood]

I suggested, out loud, that I might take the multiple infusion then blend approach around New Years.

I was informed by SWMBO that until I had an entire workshop in which to house these infusions (like some people I know), this approach would not be taken.

Last night I pulled the original Honey Crisp apple slices out of the cider infusion and replaced them with Red Delicious. The smell of the rum is already fantastic. I was also struck with what my next experiment might be: One Barrel and Apple would probably make an excellent "Caramel Apple" infusion with a minimal number of other ingredients.

[Tiare]

Sounds great Dood! and infusions is fun! wish I could taste yours..:p they sound better than mine..

My ancho chili/vanilla infusion is ok, but need more time. Tried a little in a cocktail tonight and it was fine but it was not THE infusion! I maybe should do a pineapple infusion..

[Dood]

Sounds great Dood! and infusions is fun! wish I could taste yours..:p they sound better than mine..

Flattery will get you everywhere.

Actually, to date, I've created only one infusion that I really like. I have a good feeling about this one, but to be completely honest I've had many more failures than successes thus far. I'm sure your ancho-vanilla rum is every bit as good as anything I've done thus far.

[Tiare]

Flattering? Dood, i`m serious here..;) I think that when it comes to infusions one have to keep on experimenting, the problem is that the better rums used the better end result if the infusion turns out well, but better rums cost more..and also I wouldn`t want to waste a real good rum with infusions. So then its just to try to find a medium good rum to use, or? The Kings bay I used now I used because it didn`t taste that good and I want to try to improve it a bit if possible. Its now after a week, acceptable to mix with other rums in cocktails and it will probably not get much better. Still I will follow the advices to make 2 infusions and then blend them. So I`ll take out the cocoa beans and put them in one bottle with the orange peel, and the vanilla in another.

[Dood]

My base-rum for the cider infusion is a blend of Appleton Special Gold and Wray & Nephew Overproof.

[Milicent]

I know I should use an overproof rum to help the infusion process. However, I don't have any right now and do have an abundance of Flor de Cana 4 year old Gold. So, that is my base. I am using raisins, dates, vanilla beans, cinnamon sticks, and whole fresh nutmeg (split). I'll keep you posting re the results.