15 Feb Maceration of arranged rums
The maceration of arranged rums is an operation which consists in soaking, for a certain time, fruits, spices, herbs…in rum to flavor it, perfume it, transform it into liquor. Indeed, they do not all release their aromas in the same way and at the same pace.
In Guadeloupe, the bottles were placed in the sun for 2-3 days to speed up the maceration time, so the fruit cooked in the sun and released its sugar and flavor more quickly.
In Reunion, apparently the bottles were buried under corrugated iron to act as a solar oven and speed up the maceration process. However, spices or fruits are not denatured by this last method!
Citrus: 7-15 days (provided the internal white layer is scraped off, to avoid bitterness)
Example:
Spices :
- Cinnamon: 15 days
- Vanilla: 2-3 months
- Ginger: 1 month
- Sweet peppers: min. 15 days
Ripe fruit :
- Tropical fruits: Pineapple, mango, lychees, Passion fruit: min. 15 days
- Banana: 2 months
- Stone fruits: apricot, peach: 3 months
- Red fruits: raspberry, strawberry: 15 days
- Dried fruits: raisins: min. 3 months
- Nuts: almonds, macadamia nuts: min. 3 months
Practical advice :
-Make a fruit syrup with the chosen fruits before bottling them in order to release more perfume.
-And regularly taste your preparation so that it is sweet and “rheumatized” to your liking.
-Be careful, avoid air contact with your bottle, which causes oxidation, i.e. browning of your fruit. At a glance, the preparation is not very pretty!
