AT HOME EXPERIENCES: RUM MIXING MASTERCLASS
Before we get started here, I feel like it’s important to disclose that when it comes to rum, similarly to Jon Snow, I know nothing. Apart from indulging in the odd Captain Morgan’s and coke, my experiences of spiced rum are very few. Instead of trying copious bottles and brands until I discovered my favourite, I decided why not just make my own!
Liquor Studios are a company in Leeds who - during more normal times - offer in-person cocktail masterclasses, as well as spirit tastings and creation workshops. Although there was an option of at home cocktails and gin (one of my favs) masterclasses, I opted for rum in order to get more of a taste for it.
I decided the perfect time for it would be just before the grand reopening of the pubs and bars the following week. So, on April 10th, the weekend before the world started opening back up again here in the UK, I planned my experience.
A few days before the class, I received an impressive box in the post. It was all white, with a nice label, ribbon and even a magnetic opening. I was shocked when I discovered everything in the box. I wasn’t expecting them to be so generous for the £50 price tag!
There were 8 miniature bottles of flavoured rum, 1 white rum bottle of the same size, as well as a bottle of sugarcane syrup, a larger bottle of spiced rum base, a bottle of ginger beer mixer, a pipette, measuring cup and finally a sheet that connected the numbered bottles to the flavour of gin.
The Start of the Experience
For some reason, the Zoom link they sent added to my Google calendar as 5:00pm rather than 4, meaning that at 4:15pm having suddenly realised something wasn’t right I had to frantically log on to the call where the others had already started their experience and get everything set up in the background.
As someone who usually logs on 15 minutes early to wait for a class, this was definitely a stressful start to say the least, but these mix ups happen.
I said a quick hello and apologised to everyone. The host, Amy, was even kind enough to go back and quickly try to re-cap the start of the history of rum talk that was in progress.
She was explaining that the origins of rum are very heavily based in the slave trade, as rum is made from molasses, a biproduct from the production of sugar cane into sugar. I appreciated the honesty and acknowledgement of our often dark British history.
Next, Amy got us to sip a little of our white rum before explaining that alcohol is poison, and our body will instantly have a negative reaction to it. This might not be the best way to convince most people on the benefits of rum, but I found this interesting, and I’ll admit, quite amusing.
Amy explained that we needed to get our pallet and our brain used to the sensation of the said poison before we could properly begin tasting the differences in flavours.
Next, how could we talk about rum without mentioning pirates? Amy explained the original connection didn’t appear until the 1883 novel Treasure Island. Before this, there was absolutely no link (unless you want to class all of the British slave traders as pirates of course).
After some more fun facts about rum’s history and production, we got ready to begin our tasting, with a small introduction to the science of flavour and how we taste. Then, it was the time for the part we’d all been waiting for, the chance to smell, taste and mix our rums.
Rum Mixing and Tasting
Amy explained that we wanted to use 30ml of our spiced rum base, and then around 20ml of our other mixing flavours.
She warned that the first one we mixed would most likely not taste great, but to keep trying different flavours and quantities until we got something we were happy with. I was unfortunately not as skilled at this as I would have hoped and with every failed mixing experiment, I could feel myself getting more and more tipsy off my working supply.
Although I love fruity desserts, I think I realised after a while that the pineapple, passionfruit and orange flavours weren’t for me. After that I quickly decided I had to have a healthy amount of nutmeg in my mixture. I recently purchased fresh nutmeg and I’m currently in an obsession period where I grate it on EVERYTHING. Risotto, mac n cheese, dauphinoise potatoes, Thai curry, apple crumble, you name it, I’ve probably tried to put nutmeg on it.
Once I’d decided these two things, the recipe finally came a little more naturally. Using vanilla, nutmeg, clove and angelica (a completely new flavour to me), I created what I deem to be an incredibly tasty spiced rum.
After the class had finished, I took my time to carry on testing out the quantities until I was completely happy with my recipe. I then put my formula into an email along with my bespoke rum name and sent this off to Owen at Liquor Studio Leeds. Even though during the class they mentioned it would be 2-5 weeks for the bottle to arrive, this came the next day!
What I Thought of the Rum Mixing Experience
First and foremost, I need to comment on the value. Although one of the more expensive experiences we’ve taken in lockdown, this is one of the best when it comes to value for your money. Not only do you get an interactive 2-hour class and a generous amount of rum sent for the tasting, you also get a 50cl bottle of your bespoke blend sent to your door. When you factor in postage costs alone, this is insanely generous.
The experience itself was a fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon in lockdown, but the highlight is creating your own bottle to be able to show off to all your family and friends (if you don’t drink it all before you get the chance).
I would recommend this to anyone with even a remote interest in rum. If I lived anywhere near Leeds, I’d be game for trying one of their in-house gin creation workshops when the world starts to reopen, but unfortunately, this is the best I’ll get from down in London.
