"Cuban rum has no secrets..."
Gregory Morrow
A pity we in the States cannot purchase it...!!!
http://www.granma.cu/ingles/2009/diciembre/mier16/cuba-rum-secrets.html
Cuban rum has no secrets
? A brief tour of its history
Luc�a Arbol�ez
. THE history of Cuban rum is as old as colonization itself, given that is a
product extracted from sugar cane, which was brought to the island by
Christopher Columbus on his second voyage to this continent. What followed
is well known, the roots of sugar cane from the Canary Islands flourished in
fertile Cuban soil, where they found an ideal microclimate to grow,
primarily around indigenous villages and trading posts.
There are many different stories about the origin of rum. One version says
that in 1650, a rum called "rumbillon" was brewed by pirates and corsairs
who worked this part of the Caribbean Sea.
In Cuba, however, it is said the extermination of the island's original
inhabitants coming up to the 16th century and the subsequent arrival of
African slaves taken by force from their native lands, contains another part
of the story.
It is thought that those slaves were accustomed to drinking what they called
"garapo," made from fermenting yucca and maize. Later, they began to extract
sugarcane juice which, after fermentation, turned into a strong liquor. The
liquid was originally obtained using rudimentary devices but later, presses
were used in the sugar plantations and mills, the juice was converted into
alcohol, and aguardiente was born.
Desired for its clarity and pleasant odor, rum came about through a process
of distillation, but it was not until the 19th century that it became a
quality product.
Different distilleries and brand names sprouted up across the island.
Distilleries were built in C�rdenas, Santiago de Cuba, Cienfuegos and
Havana. Many Cuban brands were sold abroad, including Matusal�n, Jiqu�,
Bocoy, Campe�n, Obispo, San Carlos, Albuerne, Castillo, Bacard� and Havana
Club.
Bacard� came to be known as the finest brand and became the largest exporter
for most of the 19th and 20th centuries. One of the principal actions of the
Revolutionary government that triumphed in 1959 was the nationalization of
the large private enterprises. The owners of Bacard� emigrated and, although
they took the brand name with them, they were unable to find plantations
elsewhere that provided the unique flavor of Cuban rum, "which remained in
our soil, on the plantations, in the wind, in the sun, the final syrup, the
alcohol, the barrels and the inherited technological process," according to
an eminent Cuban writer.
Since them, the Cuban rum industry has been reorganized and expanded.
Founded in C�rdenas in 1878, the Havana Club brand reemerged. Dedicated to
the export market, its emblem is the Giraldilla, a statue that symbolizing
the city of Havana.
In 1993, this brand was launched by the Franco-Cuban Havana Club
International company (the French firm Pernod-Ricard is responsible for its
worldwide distribution), and includes the A�ejo Blanco (White Rum), Tres
A�os Especial Reserva (Three-Year Special Reserve), Siete A�os, and Quince
A�os (Seven and Fifteen Years, respectively), as well as the new Cuban
Barrel Proof and Extra A�ejo M�ximo (Maximum Extra-Aged), all of which enjoy
great popularity on both the international and domestic markets.
For a long time Havana Club was on its own on the world market. However,
other equally important Cuban brands are now gaining international appeal,
including Mulata, Caney, Arecha, Legendario, Varadero, Santero and Caney.
CURRENT PRODUCTION
"Behind the secrets of one of the finest rums in the world is an essential
man, the maestro of time and of his universe of flavors, the maestro and
se�or of the bodega, the maestro rum maker, who knows every barrel like
shepherds know their sheep."
Jos� Navarro, Havana Club's prime maestro rum distiller, originally from
Santiago de Cuba and a qualified chemical engineer who has worked in the rum
industry since he was a young man, told us about his work and affirmed that
there is no secret in Cuban rum production, that its quality does not come
from a formula kept in a locked box, but simply from "a culture inherited
and passed on from generation to generation, from Cuban to Cuban, from heart
to heart."
"Cuba seems to have a talent for producing sugar cane and rum because the
plant grows well in our soil and the extracted molasses has an exceptional
quality with a natural microflora that makes our aguardiente something truly
special," Navarro emphasized.
After detailing the different stages in the production of rum, he emphasized
the importance of the human input, principally that of the maestro.
Highly specialized in his work, Jos� Navarro recognizes the value of his
co-workers, commenting on their high levels of technical knowledge and
capacity for identifying and selecting raw materials, as well as designing
equipment and introducing better technology, while maintaining the
historical quality of national rums without using essences or artifacts.
"He identifies the rum step by step, each stage of the production process
until the final mix, created with all of the creativity born out of his
identity, culture, and race.
"We prefer to call the maestro of rum the maestro of Cuban rum, since that
category now implies a permanent and direct identification with the culture
and inheritance of rum in our country," he concluded...."
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Earl Evleth
"Gregory Morrow" <godrestyeeme...@grymg.net> wrote:
> The owners of Bacard� emigrated and, although
> they took the brand name with them,
The irony here is that many of the rum producers, including Bacardi,
contributed to the revolutionary movement of Castro. But the Castro
group had a lot of communists and they wanted to nationalize everything.
Castro was a "come lately" in that regard. I heard that the Barcardis
did contribute money.
I knew an American sugar chemist, married to a Cuban woman and
professor at the University of Santiago in Cuba. He secretly
aided the revolutionaries by helping manufacturing bombs, and
was an apologist for Castro at the time I knew him. For a while
at least.
Once installed the revolutionaries turned on him and he and
his wife left Cuba for a new position in the US. So as all
too often the revolution eats its children. The hards did
not trust Americans.
Even with my own relations in Cuba and having published a number
of articles with one group in Havana, I found some of them
I encountered "hard" and they obviously distrusted me, an
American. Most others were friendly and presented no problem.
So the cadre of the Cuban revolution is composed of the softs
and the hards. And the hards still have an upper hand.
The situation is the same with Iran. Many Iranians have no
hard feelings towards the USA, but their "hards" do and will
not forget American attempts to dominate the country and
American support for the Shah.
M'Balz Es-Hari
news:C75790E7.190CFB%evl...@wanadoo.fr...
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...
Runge11
"Gregory Morrow" <godrestyeeme...@grymg.net> a �crit dans le
message de groupe de discussion :
SZidnc0oWesyPKzW...@earthlink.com...
> __________ Information provenant d'ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version de la
> base des signatures de virus 3948 (20090319) __________
>
> Le message a �t� v�rifi� par ESET NOD32 Antivirus.
>
> http://www.eset.com
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>
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Le message a �t� v�rifi� par ESET NOD32 Antivirus.
Mr Q. Z. Diablo
[snip anecdote]
> Fascinaa...
> Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...
I thought that it was rather interesting, actually. Earl often posts
tedious waffle arguing with Jim and Desmond so something other than
that should most definitely be encouraged.
--
A face full of divertamenti
yitzhak in eretz isreal (sic)
> On 2009-12-23, M'Balz Es-Hari <texa...@hotmail.com> unwisely decided to post the following to Usenet:
>> "Earl Evleth" <evl...@wanadoo.fr> wrote in message
>> news:C75790E7.190CFB%evl...@wanadoo.fr...
>
> [snip anecdote]
>
>> Fascinaa...
>> Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...
>
> I thought that it was rather interesting, actually. Earl often posts
> tedious waffle arguing with Jim and Desmond
Well he's wasting his time as far as I'm concerned, as he's plonked..
$ grep "evleth" News/Score
From: Earl Evleth <evleth@wanadoo\.fr>
Y.
--
Yitzhak Isaac Goldstein
AADP's 'left-wing Israeli intellectual'
'I love California. I practically grew up in Phoenix'
(Dan Quayle)
<http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/>
Earl Evleth
Q. Z. Diablo" <dia...@thisbitisnotreal.freakishandunnatural.net> wrote:
> I thought that it was rather interesting, actually.
Cuba is a fascinating place. Too bad Americans are not allowed
to visit it. Then people could decide for themselves.
However, the problem there is that tourists stay in the tourist
hotels which have good food.
The last time I was there on a official trip (the Cubans paid
my expenses and arranged my hotel stay) I stayed in a non-tourist
hotel, full of Cubans in from the provences. One generally eats
poorly in Cuba, people are rationed, so being on an official visits
permits Cubans to eat their fill. The hotel food was not bad but
one had to wait a while in line to get into the restaurant, until
a table was vacated. For an American the eating facilities were
challenging, particularly while sitting at the table one sees
cockroaches running up and down the walls.
In that regard we (Donna went on the first trip) saw things most
tourists did not see. Of note is that Cuban government officials
all seemed dressed in military uniforms and travel around in
military vehicles. The revolution is puritan and visible signs
of taking advantage of one's position are absent. So they
have no limousines, the Mercedes seen in town are those of the
Embassies. The top perk is being able to travel outside of Cuba.
One Cuban doctoral student who made several long visits to Paris was
paid well (by the French government). He had to pay part of it to
the government but did keep some. On returning to Cuba the money
was exchanged for credits he could use at the tourist store,
the only place in town would could get imported items, but all
transactions were in dollars. Getting in the store was guarded
by Cuban police.
On my last trip I took a bag full of food for a friend. And
bought some additional items at the tourist store. In dollars
but the dollars were from France, and my Credit card French, legally
Americans can not spend dollars in Cuba and American based credit
card use was forbidden by the US;
So you have and example of two dictatorships. The Cuban is well
know, the American one not.
Earl Evleth
"yitzhak in eretz isreal (sic)" <yit...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Well he's wasting his time as far as I'm concerned, as he's plonked.
Ah, word from our Ersatz neo-Israeli land stealer.