1 00:00:09,440 --> 00:00:12,320 Speaker 1: He kept mentioning, how I think he's kind of like 2 00:00:13,039 --> 00:00:15,880 Speaker 1: modus upper Randy was that rum brings people joy. He 3 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:19,520 Speaker 1: kept using that expression people joy, And I mean I 4 00:00:19,640 --> 00:00:25,320 Speaker 1: was feeling pretty joyous. Yeah, I was too. I wish 5 00:00:25,360 --> 00:00:28,240 Speaker 1: I could accurately convey how I felt when I had 6 00:00:28,280 --> 00:00:33,040 Speaker 1: that first taste of that first one of just wow, 7 00:00:33,360 --> 00:00:36,400 Speaker 1: like what like what is this? Like? Why have I 8 00:00:36,479 --> 00:00:39,280 Speaker 1: never had anything like this before? Because this is good? Yeah, 9 00:00:39,680 --> 00:00:42,879 Speaker 1: and you're telling yeah, I can't get it. I mean, 10 00:00:42,880 --> 00:00:49,000 Speaker 1: that's the thing is it's so representative of bad place. Hello, 11 00:00:49,040 --> 00:00:50,960 Speaker 1: and welcome to Savor Protection of I Heart Radio and 12 00:00:50,960 --> 00:00:53,479 Speaker 1: STEPH Media. I'm Ann and I'm Lauren voc Obam and 13 00:00:53,520 --> 00:00:57,520 Speaker 1: today we're talking about rum agricole and kind of specifically 14 00:00:57,640 --> 00:01:01,000 Speaker 1: an agricole style of realm made from Hawaii in sugarcane 15 00:01:01,160 --> 00:01:05,440 Speaker 1: or yes, which is very exciting. Yes, we got to 16 00:01:05,560 --> 00:01:08,680 Speaker 1: check out a rum agrical style distillery in Hawaii while 17 00:01:08,720 --> 00:01:11,920 Speaker 1: we were there, obviously called Cohana, and the he we 18 00:01:11,959 --> 00:01:14,600 Speaker 1: were referring to at the top was Kyle Rittner, Cohana's 19 00:01:14,760 --> 00:01:18,520 Speaker 1: brand manager and minority partner. And yeah, it was really cool, 20 00:01:18,760 --> 00:01:21,880 Speaker 1: Oh so cool, so cool that we've just been a 21 00:01:21,920 --> 00:01:24,280 Speaker 1: good ten minutes trying to figure out how to get 22 00:01:24,319 --> 00:01:26,800 Speaker 1: it delivered to the mainland. And it involves like going 23 00:01:26,840 --> 00:01:31,600 Speaker 1: to different states and relatives, friends. The whole scheme we're 24 00:01:31,600 --> 00:01:35,720 Speaker 1: planning really oh but worthwhile, very worthwhile. And the distillery 25 00:01:35,760 --> 00:01:39,840 Speaker 1: was really pretty um like green, the green of the sugarcane, 26 00:01:39,920 --> 00:01:41,760 Speaker 1: the red of the dirt, and the like blue and 27 00:01:41,800 --> 00:01:44,120 Speaker 1: green of the mountains and the sky. Yeah, because they 28 00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:46,399 Speaker 1: have their own sugarcane fields. Like we got to taste 29 00:01:46,440 --> 00:01:51,080 Speaker 1: some fresh sugarcane juice. Yeah, and of course we get 30 00:01:51,120 --> 00:01:55,240 Speaker 1: to do a tasting. And I think Cohana Rum was 31 00:01:55,440 --> 00:02:00,200 Speaker 1: on literally I think literally every venue that we into 32 00:02:00,280 --> 00:02:02,920 Speaker 1: in a while, from every restaurant we went to, which 33 00:02:02,960 --> 00:02:05,480 Speaker 1: I love, Yeah, all that, so many cocktails with it. 34 00:02:05,760 --> 00:02:08,200 Speaker 1: Everyone seemed to be pretty excited about what they were 35 00:02:08,240 --> 00:02:11,359 Speaker 1: doing there. Uh yeah. And you know, they're not a sponsor, 36 00:02:11,400 --> 00:02:14,520 Speaker 1: we're just fans, which brings us to an important point 37 00:02:14,720 --> 00:02:20,680 Speaker 1: drink responsibly. But yeah, I had never seen sugarcane growing 38 00:02:20,680 --> 00:02:24,400 Speaker 1: before or tasted its juice. Um, and I've only had 39 00:02:24,480 --> 00:02:28,839 Speaker 1: limited experience with these agricole style RUMs. So the whole 40 00:02:28,880 --> 00:02:33,400 Speaker 1: experience was just excellent. And this brings us to our question, 41 00:02:34,200 --> 00:02:43,320 Speaker 1: rum agricole. What is it? Well, rum agricole is a 42 00:02:43,360 --> 00:02:47,600 Speaker 1: liquor distilled from fresh pressed sugarcane juice um that's been fermented, 43 00:02:47,760 --> 00:02:50,960 Speaker 1: Meaning you harvest sugarcane, smooth out of sugary juice and 44 00:02:51,040 --> 00:02:54,880 Speaker 1: encourage yeast to eat those sugars and poop alcohol and 45 00:02:55,280 --> 00:03:00,840 Speaker 1: flavors yeast food. Yeah, and that leaves you with a 46 00:03:00,880 --> 00:03:02,799 Speaker 1: sort of wine um, some of the ground maybe eight 47 00:03:03,160 --> 00:03:06,760 Speaker 1: alcohol that probably isn't very delicious um. So you run 48 00:03:06,760 --> 00:03:08,840 Speaker 1: it through still in order to separate the stuff you 49 00:03:08,880 --> 00:03:12,720 Speaker 1: want to drink, mostly ethanol and water and flavors, from 50 00:03:12,760 --> 00:03:15,360 Speaker 1: these stuff you don't want to drink, like compounds that 51 00:03:15,400 --> 00:03:18,079 Speaker 1: are toxic to humans, like methanol and acid tone, plus 52 00:03:18,200 --> 00:03:21,440 Speaker 1: some of that water. And then you age that distilled 53 00:03:21,440 --> 00:03:24,240 Speaker 1: liquor for less or more time, either in wood if 54 00:03:24,320 --> 00:03:26,680 Speaker 1: you want it to pick up those warm and buttery 55 00:03:26,720 --> 00:03:30,600 Speaker 1: and scorched flavors and colors, or in steel if you don't. 56 00:03:31,400 --> 00:03:34,920 Speaker 1: Kyle actually explained the process more cleanly than anyone else 57 00:03:34,920 --> 00:03:37,440 Speaker 1: I've ever heard do it, and believe me, for purely 58 00:03:37,440 --> 00:03:40,000 Speaker 1: research purposes, I've heard a lot of people explain the 59 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:43,560 Speaker 1: distillation process um. But yeah, he he calls himself a 60 00:03:43,560 --> 00:03:46,920 Speaker 1: recovering chemist, which might be why so I wanted to 61 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:49,480 Speaker 1: include some of that here. So what happens is we'll 62 00:03:49,520 --> 00:03:53,440 Speaker 1: bring that fiallands of fresh sugarcane juice up, pump it 63 00:03:53,520 --> 00:03:57,240 Speaker 1: inside of this tank, and then we're going to add 64 00:03:57,800 --> 00:04:01,440 Speaker 1: the magic microbe, which is yeast. So yeast is what 65 00:04:01,720 --> 00:04:06,640 Speaker 1: is going to consume sugar and create joy um. Yeast 66 00:04:06,800 --> 00:04:09,520 Speaker 1: sacrifices itself so that we can all live better lives. 67 00:04:10,520 --> 00:04:12,960 Speaker 1: So after six days, which is frankly a really long 68 00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:16,440 Speaker 1: fermentation time for a run maker, we'll pump it into 69 00:04:16,440 --> 00:04:20,360 Speaker 1: our still. So up until this moment, we are growing cane, 70 00:04:21,120 --> 00:04:24,720 Speaker 1: we're fermenting cane, and we're using a couple of machines 71 00:04:24,800 --> 00:04:27,440 Speaker 1: to sort of move this stuff. But all of what 72 00:04:27,640 --> 00:04:31,080 Speaker 1: is happening would happen naturally. No matter what cane's gonna grow, 73 00:04:31,120 --> 00:04:35,040 Speaker 1: it's resilient. If you have sugar accessible to east, yeast 74 00:04:35,160 --> 00:04:36,440 Speaker 1: is going to consume it and do what it does. 75 00:04:36,480 --> 00:04:41,240 Speaker 1: So this is all processes that frankly don't need us. 76 00:04:41,760 --> 00:04:44,040 Speaker 1: They would they would occur at some level like we 77 00:04:44,080 --> 00:04:48,640 Speaker 1: are we are without you know, within reason, without a job. 78 00:04:51,480 --> 00:04:58,120 Speaker 1: All that matters creation wise, has already occurred. Distillation is 79 00:04:58,240 --> 00:05:03,600 Speaker 1: concentration fermentation in his creation. So fermentation makes your flavors. 80 00:05:03,600 --> 00:05:08,320 Speaker 1: Distillation concentrates things, so you're not when I'm distilling, I'm 81 00:05:08,360 --> 00:05:12,400 Speaker 1: not making any of those flavors. I'm finding ways to 82 00:05:12,440 --> 00:05:15,640 Speaker 1: concentrate and share them. Um. We talk about all the time. 83 00:05:15,680 --> 00:05:19,160 Speaker 1: There's sort of four steps of what happens in any spirit, 84 00:05:19,200 --> 00:05:22,560 Speaker 1: which is something has to be grown. You have to 85 00:05:22,600 --> 00:05:24,840 Speaker 1: find a yeast. It's going to consume the sugar that 86 00:05:24,920 --> 00:05:28,480 Speaker 1: ends up being accessible. You're going to put it into 87 00:05:28,480 --> 00:05:31,160 Speaker 1: a glorified tea cuttle that we call us still and 88 00:05:31,200 --> 00:05:34,320 Speaker 1: collect that. And then you're going to do whatever post 89 00:05:34,320 --> 00:05:37,080 Speaker 1: production stuff you get, which is maybe as simple as 90 00:05:37,080 --> 00:05:40,039 Speaker 1: pouring it into a glass or flavoring it with a 91 00:05:40,080 --> 00:05:49,000 Speaker 1: million different flavors and calling it popcorn, rum, caramel, marshmallow, whatever. Um. 92 00:05:49,040 --> 00:05:51,200 Speaker 1: You have. All you have those sort of four steps 93 00:05:51,480 --> 00:05:55,960 Speaker 1: and it goes you know, growth, creation, concentration, and I 94 00:05:56,000 --> 00:05:58,440 Speaker 1: don't have a good one for the last one. Sharing, 95 00:05:59,279 --> 00:06:04,919 Speaker 1: And that's that's the steps. But this is a little 96 00:06:04,960 --> 00:06:09,080 Speaker 1: different from how you make rum. Yes, so rum without 97 00:06:09,120 --> 00:06:12,520 Speaker 1: the agricole distinction, UM is what happens when you distill 98 00:06:12,600 --> 00:06:16,719 Speaker 1: fermented molasses, which is a byproduct of refining sugarcane juice 99 00:06:16,800 --> 00:06:20,760 Speaker 1: into white crystallized sugar. Molasses. Is very sweet and sort 100 00:06:20,800 --> 00:06:23,400 Speaker 1: of rich, but as with any processed product do you 101 00:06:23,440 --> 00:06:26,920 Speaker 1: wind up kind of flattening the flavor. So between these 102 00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:30,159 Speaker 1: two products, rum and agricole rum, you're dealing with just 103 00:06:30,200 --> 00:06:33,120 Speaker 1: a whole different flavor palette. Like where rum tends to 104 00:06:33,160 --> 00:06:36,120 Speaker 1: be mostly just candy sweet with flavors from barrel aging 105 00:06:36,240 --> 00:06:40,520 Speaker 1: or additives, agricole has those candy notes along with these 106 00:06:40,680 --> 00:06:44,599 Speaker 1: vegetable and savory and floral or fruity or citrusy or 107 00:06:44,640 --> 00:06:48,360 Speaker 1: grassy notes from the fresh sugarcane, which is after all 108 00:06:48,520 --> 00:06:51,640 Speaker 1: a grass sugar cane. Will be a whole other episode. 109 00:06:51,880 --> 00:06:53,400 Speaker 1: By the way, we did discuss it a little bit 110 00:06:53,400 --> 00:06:57,080 Speaker 1: in our two parter on Sugar from the Way Way Back. Um, 111 00:06:57,120 --> 00:07:00,200 Speaker 1: but yeah, I definitely want to revisit at some point. UM. 112 00:07:00,240 --> 00:07:03,279 Speaker 1: Agricole is spelled with an h R h u M 113 00:07:03,400 --> 00:07:06,279 Speaker 1: because that's the French spelling, and this style of liquor 114 00:07:06,320 --> 00:07:09,240 Speaker 1: was first popularized in the French Caribbean. Kyle talked a 115 00:07:09,240 --> 00:07:13,520 Speaker 1: little about the differences between the two products. So the 116 00:07:13,560 --> 00:07:18,080 Speaker 1: process of crushing sugar is actually the first process that 117 00:07:18,120 --> 00:07:22,120 Speaker 1: you would use in making granulated table sugar as well. 118 00:07:22,640 --> 00:07:26,520 Speaker 1: Once once you've actually got the stalks of cane, it's 119 00:07:26,520 --> 00:07:28,880 Speaker 1: a really straightforward thing. I mean, you could you could 120 00:07:28,960 --> 00:07:31,160 Speaker 1: muddle it down, you could pound it with mortar and 121 00:07:31,200 --> 00:07:32,880 Speaker 1: pestle and get the juice out of it or whatever 122 00:07:32,880 --> 00:07:36,240 Speaker 1: it is. We have a simple what's known as a 123 00:07:36,360 --> 00:07:42,400 Speaker 1: roller mill. There's just four circular rollers pressing down this 124 00:07:42,600 --> 00:07:46,600 Speaker 1: cane as tightly as it can. You want fresh, clean, 125 00:07:46,800 --> 00:07:50,960 Speaker 1: gorgeous juice, which means cut it, juice it quickly, and 126 00:07:51,280 --> 00:07:53,680 Speaker 1: juice is simply so it's just a roller mill. And 127 00:07:53,720 --> 00:07:56,600 Speaker 1: then you know, for the differences between sort of what 128 00:07:56,640 --> 00:07:59,160 Speaker 1: we do and what ends up happening with molasses space RUMs, 129 00:07:59,720 --> 00:08:02,200 Speaker 1: that's where the starting material ends for us, and then 130 00:08:02,240 --> 00:08:09,520 Speaker 1: we start the distillation process. You would be boiling, bleaching, processing, 131 00:08:10,080 --> 00:08:12,720 Speaker 1: and then collecting the remnants as you're starting material on 132 00:08:12,760 --> 00:08:17,120 Speaker 1: the other side. So while you know, I'm obviously I 133 00:08:17,160 --> 00:08:19,760 Speaker 1: come from the side much like the French where you 134 00:08:19,840 --> 00:08:22,920 Speaker 1: name your own things something beautiful like rum agricole and 135 00:08:22,960 --> 00:08:27,240 Speaker 1: call everybody else is something terrible like rum industriel like 136 00:08:27,720 --> 00:08:29,960 Speaker 1: that's that's maybe not the angle to take, Like it's 137 00:08:30,000 --> 00:08:32,840 Speaker 1: rum traditional is what I like to say. And and 138 00:08:32,880 --> 00:08:35,680 Speaker 1: there's there's an angle to the molasses rum that's super cool, 139 00:08:36,160 --> 00:08:38,760 Speaker 1: But for us it is it is really romantic to 140 00:08:38,800 --> 00:08:43,000 Speaker 1: be juicing of fresh plants and using that as our start. Oh, 141 00:08:43,080 --> 00:08:46,120 Speaker 1: it really does make a difference. We talked a bit 142 00:08:46,120 --> 00:08:48,720 Speaker 1: about a similar product made from the fermented juice of 143 00:08:48,760 --> 00:08:52,400 Speaker 1: fresh pressed cane in our Cappernia Cocktail episode, the main 144 00:08:52,440 --> 00:08:56,040 Speaker 1: liquor in that being cassa and yeah, it's production is 145 00:08:56,160 --> 00:08:59,240 Speaker 1: very similar to rum agricole, but cass is a specifically 146 00:08:59,440 --> 00:09:05,560 Speaker 1: Brazilian product. Haiti also produces a similar product, clear Hum. 147 00:09:05,600 --> 00:09:09,800 Speaker 1: I'm bad at French, but it's something like that thank 148 00:09:09,840 --> 00:09:13,960 Speaker 1: you um, though that only uses wild yeasts for fermentation um, 149 00:09:14,080 --> 00:09:16,160 Speaker 1: which get into the juice from open air that's allowed 150 00:09:16,200 --> 00:09:20,439 Speaker 1: to interact with the juice. Industrially produced yeasts tend to 151 00:09:20,480 --> 00:09:22,959 Speaker 1: add very few flavors to ferment. Most are bread for 152 00:09:23,080 --> 00:09:26,800 Speaker 1: efficient alcohol production and clean flavors. One of the things 153 00:09:26,800 --> 00:09:28,920 Speaker 1: that we actually nerded out about Akana is that they 154 00:09:28,960 --> 00:09:32,120 Speaker 1: primarily use this local yeast that grows on cacao. They 155 00:09:32,160 --> 00:09:34,240 Speaker 1: got some local farmers to help them propagate the strain 156 00:09:34,320 --> 00:09:37,440 Speaker 1: that they use. When we very first began, it was 157 00:09:38,080 --> 00:09:40,760 Speaker 1: sort of serendipitous. We ran across a farmer who was 158 00:09:41,120 --> 00:09:45,240 Speaker 1: trying to get the local communities of Cacao farmers to 159 00:09:45,280 --> 00:09:48,880 Speaker 1: buy into using kaw yeast to make chocolate. Chocolates are 160 00:09:48,880 --> 00:09:50,920 Speaker 1: fermentable as well, like all great things in the world. 161 00:09:51,400 --> 00:09:54,600 Speaker 1: So he was like, Oh, I'm gonna provide this cacaw yeast. 162 00:09:54,720 --> 00:09:59,120 Speaker 1: This is what we're gonna do. He didn't succeed, and 163 00:09:59,160 --> 00:10:02,199 Speaker 1: he came to the distillery because he didn't succeed, which 164 00:10:02,240 --> 00:10:04,520 Speaker 1: is awesome because he needed some rum. And they actually 165 00:10:04,520 --> 00:10:06,400 Speaker 1: started talking story with our guys at the time and 166 00:10:06,520 --> 00:10:09,640 Speaker 1: was like we were going through East experiments and more 167 00:10:09,679 --> 00:10:12,760 Speaker 1: traditional ones like Champagne East like stuff like that. That 168 00:10:12,840 --> 00:10:15,240 Speaker 1: was all what we were meant to go with. Where 169 00:10:15,280 --> 00:10:17,880 Speaker 1: all these like industrial yeasts, which I would be lying 170 00:10:17,880 --> 00:10:20,199 Speaker 1: to you if I didn't say, we do finish with 171 00:10:20,360 --> 00:10:23,640 Speaker 1: industrially East if necessary. So it it does get used, 172 00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:28,280 Speaker 1: but it's not sort of the beginnings of what we do. 173 00:10:28,360 --> 00:10:31,920 Speaker 1: So there's a just like any good scientists, they separated 174 00:10:32,000 --> 00:10:35,320 Speaker 1: off a bunch of yeast from the outside of a 175 00:10:35,320 --> 00:10:40,120 Speaker 1: cocow plant propagated it out and can basically give us 176 00:10:40,760 --> 00:10:45,800 Speaker 1: vials of fantastic, funky cocau east and that's what can 177 00:10:46,280 --> 00:10:50,800 Speaker 1: start the fermentation for what we do, which is pretty dope. Um, 178 00:10:50,880 --> 00:10:52,960 Speaker 1: what kind of flavors do you feel like you you 179 00:10:53,040 --> 00:10:54,960 Speaker 1: get out of that east that you wouldn't get from 180 00:10:55,000 --> 00:10:57,040 Speaker 1: more traditional you know, it's funny. I don't know if 181 00:10:57,040 --> 00:11:00,320 Speaker 1: I would say we we couldn't get them because there's 182 00:11:00,360 --> 00:11:04,920 Speaker 1: so many variables, but it definitely lends itself to more 183 00:11:05,720 --> 00:11:08,920 Speaker 1: more like raw flavors. It gets It allows the cane 184 00:11:08,920 --> 00:11:12,360 Speaker 1: to be a little more like outgoing and less sort 185 00:11:12,360 --> 00:11:14,839 Speaker 1: of like subdued. Like I don't you know, a lot 186 00:11:14,880 --> 00:11:17,600 Speaker 1: of a lot of the yeasts out there are are 187 00:11:17,880 --> 00:11:23,080 Speaker 1: so clean, they're so like perfect, you know, Yeah, and 188 00:11:23,200 --> 00:11:25,600 Speaker 1: that's super cool that that's possible that you can do that. 189 00:11:26,080 --> 00:11:27,880 Speaker 1: It's also super cool and you can be like, look, 190 00:11:27,960 --> 00:11:30,280 Speaker 1: this is wild, this is like this is a whole 191 00:11:30,280 --> 00:11:33,720 Speaker 1: different thing. So, especially for us doing a close top fermentation, 192 00:11:34,200 --> 00:11:36,440 Speaker 1: to have something that starts the process with some of 193 00:11:36,480 --> 00:11:41,640 Speaker 1: that like needed sort of natural funk to it. Yeah, 194 00:11:41,720 --> 00:11:46,000 Speaker 1: that's that's what it brings. Rum In general, both molasses 195 00:11:46,040 --> 00:11:48,640 Speaker 1: based and cane juice based doesn't have a lot of 196 00:11:48,760 --> 00:11:52,719 Speaker 1: labeling regulations here in the US, unlike products like whiskey. 197 00:11:52,800 --> 00:11:56,040 Speaker 1: That's because traditionally the US hasn't produced a lot of rum. 198 00:11:56,080 --> 00:11:59,920 Speaker 1: There's been no economic reason to regulate. We talked at 199 00:12:00,000 --> 00:12:02,400 Speaker 1: it about this with Chandra Lamb Luca Riello, who's the 200 00:12:02,440 --> 00:12:05,679 Speaker 1: director of Mythology and Spirits Education for Southern Glazers Wine 201 00:12:05,679 --> 00:12:08,200 Speaker 1: and Spirits of Hawaii. Rum is kind of like the 202 00:12:08,240 --> 00:12:11,559 Speaker 1: wild wild West. I mean there's not a lot of regulation, 203 00:12:12,000 --> 00:12:14,319 Speaker 1: like not like you know, when you have, like tequila 204 00:12:14,480 --> 00:12:17,240 Speaker 1: has to be made in Mexico, there's a certain there's 205 00:12:17,280 --> 00:12:20,559 Speaker 1: a non that has to follow. UM wine has their 206 00:12:20,600 --> 00:12:24,000 Speaker 1: different rules and regulations. With rum, you can call it 207 00:12:24,040 --> 00:12:26,920 Speaker 1: like and yeho, and nobody really knows what that means. 208 00:12:26,960 --> 00:12:30,839 Speaker 1: It could be a different definition to three different distilleries 209 00:12:30,840 --> 00:12:33,360 Speaker 1: and you get three different answers UM. So it's kind 210 00:12:33,360 --> 00:12:37,360 Speaker 1: of just appreciating the specific distilleries and what they're doing 211 00:12:37,400 --> 00:12:39,480 Speaker 1: behind the scenes to make their rum special and the 212 00:12:39,559 --> 00:12:45,760 Speaker 1: care that they take UM in making it. Yeah, So 213 00:12:45,920 --> 00:12:50,920 Speaker 1: Kohana is produced in Kuniya right on Oahu, and they've 214 00:12:50,920 --> 00:12:55,080 Speaker 1: actually done a ton of research like just gathering all 215 00:12:55,120 --> 00:12:58,440 Speaker 1: these different varietals of sugarcane that came on the original 216 00:12:58,480 --> 00:13:02,080 Speaker 1: canoes to um white. So they have thirty two different 217 00:13:02,160 --> 00:13:05,360 Speaker 1: varietals of sugar cane that they grow there and then 218 00:13:05,440 --> 00:13:09,520 Speaker 1: it's very grass to glass. They just let the cane grow, 219 00:13:10,080 --> 00:13:12,960 Speaker 1: they harvest it, they press it, they do a wild 220 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:17,280 Speaker 1: East fermentation with wild East cocao from the Big Island, 221 00:13:17,400 --> 00:13:20,680 Speaker 1: and then they just let it age and that's it. 222 00:13:20,679 --> 00:13:24,560 Speaker 1: It's very very simple process. You really taste that like 223 00:13:24,679 --> 00:13:28,040 Speaker 1: earthy grassiness. So the co hold that's in your glass 224 00:13:28,480 --> 00:13:31,600 Speaker 1: is that Cohana rum that's aged and used bourbon barrel, 225 00:13:31,679 --> 00:13:34,439 Speaker 1: so it has a richness to it and it's beautiful. 226 00:13:38,000 --> 00:13:41,800 Speaker 1: Let's talk more about those flavors. Uh yeah, because all 227 00:13:41,840 --> 00:13:44,840 Speaker 1: of that lack of regulation around rum means that rum 228 00:13:44,880 --> 00:13:47,959 Speaker 1: sold in the US can have added flavors, colors, or sugars. 229 00:13:48,320 --> 00:13:51,559 Speaker 1: Agricole styles tend to be just sugarcane juice, so they 230 00:13:51,640 --> 00:13:54,079 Speaker 1: tend to not be as sweet as we expect RUMs 231 00:13:54,080 --> 00:13:57,320 Speaker 1: to be. A wheel along with Superproducers, Andrew and Dylan 232 00:13:57,559 --> 00:14:00,000 Speaker 1: discussed their tasting experience at Cohana when we got back 233 00:14:00,000 --> 00:14:05,480 Speaker 1: to the studio. It's an agricol style rum, which means 234 00:14:05,480 --> 00:14:08,400 Speaker 1: that it's made directly from the press juice rather from molasses, 235 00:14:08,559 --> 00:14:12,079 Speaker 1: which many RUMs are made from. And um, yeah, there 236 00:14:12,120 --> 00:14:17,600 Speaker 1: were white RUMs there that are just so flavorful, yeah, 237 00:14:18,200 --> 00:14:22,080 Speaker 1: and and vegetable like grass. Yeah, but in a beautiful, 238 00:14:22,120 --> 00:14:26,880 Speaker 1: beautiful right way. Yeah. I've never had anything quite like it. 239 00:14:26,880 --> 00:14:29,720 Speaker 1: It was so good, It was so good the two 240 00:14:29,760 --> 00:14:33,080 Speaker 1: of you. I know there's a bottle, yes, I know it. 241 00:14:33,600 --> 00:14:38,080 Speaker 1: I can't stop thinking about. But they were dark RUMs 242 00:14:38,080 --> 00:14:40,040 Speaker 1: as well. And there was also a liqueur, which is 243 00:14:40,120 --> 00:14:43,920 Speaker 1: very lovely. Yeah. Yeah, coffee related or maybe like you're 244 00:14:43,960 --> 00:14:45,920 Speaker 1: supposed to put it in coffee. It came with that 245 00:14:46,200 --> 00:14:52,880 Speaker 1: rum cake, remember that In retrospect, I think we were 246 00:14:52,920 --> 00:14:55,840 Speaker 1: talking about their Coca LCA, which is made with Hawaiian 247 00:14:55,880 --> 00:14:58,800 Speaker 1: honey and cacao, which I'm pretty sure they sourced from 248 00:14:58,800 --> 00:15:03,480 Speaker 1: our friends at Manoah Chocolate. Yeah. But anyway, Um, there 249 00:15:03,480 --> 00:15:06,560 Speaker 1: are rules in place for rum agricoles out of certain 250 00:15:06,600 --> 00:15:09,400 Speaker 1: places like the AO c for the product out of 251 00:15:09,440 --> 00:15:14,520 Speaker 1: French controlled Martinique, just like sparkling wine from Champagne. But yeah, 252 00:15:14,560 --> 00:15:17,600 Speaker 1: there's more leeway for RUMs in the United States, so 253 00:15:17,680 --> 00:15:19,680 Speaker 1: you have to do a little bit of research. It's 254 00:15:19,680 --> 00:15:22,040 Speaker 1: been a barrier for entry to RUMs being considered on 255 00:15:22,080 --> 00:15:25,760 Speaker 1: par with whiskeys here, I think, but that's starting to change. 256 00:15:25,960 --> 00:15:28,560 Speaker 1: The sector has been experiencing quite a bit of growth 257 00:15:28,600 --> 00:15:31,560 Speaker 1: as interest in craft cocktails, craft liquors, and just in 258 00:15:31,600 --> 00:15:37,360 Speaker 1: general higher quality interesting ingredients has risen. Sales of premium RUMs, 259 00:15:37,360 --> 00:15:40,400 Speaker 1: the category that rum agricol falls under, went up by 260 00:15:40,440 --> 00:15:44,400 Speaker 1: twenty eight point five percent according to the Distilled Spirits Council. 261 00:15:44,840 --> 00:15:47,760 Speaker 1: While rum agricole production has long been mostly confined to 262 00:15:47,880 --> 00:15:51,680 Speaker 1: the French Caribbean and other French territories like Reunion off 263 00:15:51,720 --> 00:15:55,400 Speaker 1: of Madagascar, some distilleries have started producing some here in 264 00:15:55,400 --> 00:16:00,760 Speaker 1: the US in states that grows sugarcane like Louisiana, South Carolina, California, 265 00:16:00,800 --> 00:16:04,600 Speaker 1: and of course Hawaii. The US imported the first bottles 266 00:16:04,600 --> 00:16:07,960 Speaker 1: of rum agricole from Martinique only about fifteen years ago, 267 00:16:08,200 --> 00:16:11,560 Speaker 1: so this is pretty impressive. And recently the company behind 268 00:16:11,560 --> 00:16:14,520 Speaker 1: Compari purchased Rulan Teal s a s. Which is a 269 00:16:14,560 --> 00:16:18,120 Speaker 1: French company that produces, among other things, three rum agricoles 270 00:16:18,160 --> 00:16:22,440 Speaker 1: in Martinique. Persistence Market Research forecasts that the rum agricole 271 00:16:22,520 --> 00:16:25,720 Speaker 1: market will be valued at one point three billion dollars 272 00:16:25,760 --> 00:16:30,080 Speaker 1: by the end of twenty nineteen. Apparently in parts of 273 00:16:30,120 --> 00:16:34,200 Speaker 1: the French antilities that grows sugarcane. Rum agricole is so cheap, 274 00:16:34,360 --> 00:16:37,680 Speaker 1: plentiful and well loved that some of the big producers 275 00:16:37,680 --> 00:16:40,320 Speaker 1: sell it in two to three leader boxed from mylar 276 00:16:40,440 --> 00:16:44,280 Speaker 1: balloons pretty much like box. Oh man, yes, and they 277 00:16:44,360 --> 00:16:52,320 Speaker 1: call it bagricle. Oh, why is that not my life? Right? Oh? 278 00:16:52,360 --> 00:16:54,160 Speaker 1: I don't need that in my life. Actually, that would 279 00:16:54,200 --> 00:16:57,880 Speaker 1: be a day. Would we had to have a big group, Yeah, 280 00:16:57,880 --> 00:17:00,960 Speaker 1: that could be an only four parties purchase. Yes, like 281 00:17:01,080 --> 00:17:02,680 Speaker 1: we need to get rid of it tonight with a 282 00:17:02,760 --> 00:17:04,919 Speaker 1: bunch of people because I can't have it around me. 283 00:17:05,600 --> 00:17:08,639 Speaker 1: But anyway, It's also frequently enjoyed in a cocktail called 284 00:17:08,800 --> 00:17:12,320 Speaker 1: t punch or tie punch perhaps um small punch is 285 00:17:12,320 --> 00:17:15,679 Speaker 1: what that translates to. Typically, this is a proof of 286 00:17:15,680 --> 00:17:19,480 Speaker 1: white rum agricole, simple syrup, lime juice and a lime slice, 287 00:17:19,840 --> 00:17:24,560 Speaker 1: traditionally served in a short glass. No ice, Yeah, that's it. Yeah, 288 00:17:24,600 --> 00:17:27,959 Speaker 1: that is all I read. It's often served deconstructed, so 289 00:17:28,040 --> 00:17:31,040 Speaker 1: you know, different pieces, allowing the drinker to decide the 290 00:17:31,160 --> 00:17:34,320 Speaker 1: level of sweetness and strength of the drink. And there's 291 00:17:34,480 --> 00:17:39,200 Speaker 1: even a saying in Martinique about this process chacun prepares 292 00:17:39,240 --> 00:17:44,160 Speaker 1: a propomole or each one prepares their own death. Please 293 00:17:44,200 --> 00:17:46,119 Speaker 1: write it, and I want to know if that's true. 294 00:17:46,400 --> 00:17:49,399 Speaker 1: It's beautiful. Yeah, we talked a little bit about this 295 00:17:49,440 --> 00:17:51,679 Speaker 1: cocktail as a as a precursor to the Dacri in 296 00:17:51,720 --> 00:17:54,800 Speaker 1: our Daciri episode. But yes, this style of room has 297 00:17:54,840 --> 00:17:57,320 Speaker 1: been popular for over a century in the French Antillies 298 00:17:57,359 --> 00:18:00,040 Speaker 1: as a result of the island sugarcane industry trying to 299 00:18:00,119 --> 00:18:02,359 Speaker 1: find a way to use up all their sugar to 300 00:18:02,440 --> 00:18:05,800 Speaker 1: make rum when threatened by competition from cheaper beat sugar. 301 00:18:05,880 --> 00:18:09,560 Speaker 1: More on that in the history portion. The sugarcane industry 302 00:18:09,560 --> 00:18:11,880 Speaker 1: has played a big role in Hawaii's history as well, 303 00:18:11,880 --> 00:18:15,920 Speaker 1: but that didn't really translate to rum. Here's justin Park, 304 00:18:16,000 --> 00:18:20,000 Speaker 1: owner and founder of bar Leather apron On Oaker. Hawaii 305 00:18:20,040 --> 00:18:24,080 Speaker 1: doesn't have a long history of rum culture, you know 306 00:18:24,400 --> 00:18:27,240 Speaker 1: um like a lot of the Caribbean does. But sugarcane, 307 00:18:27,440 --> 00:18:30,200 Speaker 1: like sugar, was our our main export for a very 308 00:18:30,240 --> 00:18:32,439 Speaker 1: long time, So sugarcane was there. Is this processed in 309 00:18:32,440 --> 00:18:36,080 Speaker 1: a different way. I wish that we created something like 310 00:18:36,080 --> 00:18:40,560 Speaker 1: the dachary first, and we had like a Hawaiian rum, 311 00:18:40,560 --> 00:18:43,440 Speaker 1: which we do now there's a few distilities making run, 312 00:18:43,520 --> 00:18:46,920 Speaker 1: but something more along that line where it's like it's 313 00:18:46,920 --> 00:18:53,320 Speaker 1: a pretty simple three ingredient. Like a lot of people 314 00:18:53,320 --> 00:18:57,600 Speaker 1: seem to be of this opinion about the dacri. Yeah, yeah, 315 00:18:57,800 --> 00:18:59,640 Speaker 1: a lot of people said that, oh, we're we're about 316 00:18:59,680 --> 00:19:01,280 Speaker 1: to do a cocktail episode. We'll have to talk about 317 00:19:01,280 --> 00:19:05,040 Speaker 1: that more than absolutely. And so yeah, like many things 318 00:19:05,160 --> 00:19:08,840 Speaker 1: on Oahu, rum is a product that isn't exactly native, 319 00:19:08,920 --> 00:19:13,080 Speaker 1: but it's certainly well embraced. But how did we get here, 320 00:19:13,680 --> 00:19:16,040 Speaker 1: Well we'll get into the history of m agricult but 321 00:19:16,160 --> 00:19:17,920 Speaker 1: first we're getting into a quick break for a word 322 00:19:17,960 --> 00:19:28,959 Speaker 1: from our sponsor, and we're back. Thank you sponsor, Yes, 323 00:19:29,040 --> 00:19:33,919 Speaker 1: thank you. So rum history in the smallest of the nutshells, 324 00:19:33,960 --> 00:19:40,560 Speaker 1: teeny tiny yes. In Christopher Columbus, that guy introduced sugarcane 325 00:19:40,640 --> 00:19:45,480 Speaker 1: to the Caribbean, probably starting with the Bahamas or St. Dominique. 326 00:19:45,840 --> 00:19:48,400 Speaker 1: The areas that are now Barbados, Jamaica and Brazil were 327 00:19:48,440 --> 00:19:51,880 Speaker 1: the first to produce rum, making it the new world's 328 00:19:52,200 --> 00:19:56,439 Speaker 1: first distilled spirit. Sugarcane made it to Martinique somewhere around 329 00:19:56,600 --> 00:19:59,399 Speaker 1: sixteen fifty, which is also just a couple of decades 330 00:19:59,400 --> 00:20:02,400 Speaker 1: after the first wave of French colonizers started settling there, 331 00:20:02,440 --> 00:20:04,920 Speaker 1: and by the end of the seventeenth century, sugar productions 332 00:20:04,960 --> 00:20:07,199 Speaker 1: surpassed that of cotton and tobacco on the island, the 333 00:20:07,240 --> 00:20:11,159 Speaker 1: previous two big crops. The ports city of Saint Pierre 334 00:20:11,200 --> 00:20:14,560 Speaker 1: became a hub for sugar and rum production. Rum distillers 335 00:20:14,600 --> 00:20:17,400 Speaker 1: were often situated near ports so that their product could 336 00:20:17,400 --> 00:20:21,080 Speaker 1: be shipped to France as quickly as possible. A lot 337 00:20:21,080 --> 00:20:25,000 Speaker 1: of credit for refining of rum distillation on Martinique frequently 338 00:20:25,040 --> 00:20:29,520 Speaker 1: goes to two French priests, Jacques Doutet and Jean Baptiste. 339 00:20:29,560 --> 00:20:33,720 Speaker 1: The Bats arrived on Martinique in the sixt forties and 340 00:20:33,800 --> 00:20:36,480 Speaker 1: is touted as the inventor of a distilled sugarcane juice 341 00:20:36,480 --> 00:20:41,120 Speaker 1: called od vie, which translates to water of life. When 342 00:20:41,119 --> 00:20:43,359 Speaker 1: the middle of the eighteenth century rolled around, rum was 343 00:20:43,400 --> 00:20:46,639 Speaker 1: being made widely in the Caribbean, South America, and even 344 00:20:46,720 --> 00:20:51,400 Speaker 1: New England. Side note, some drink historians believe the rum 345 00:20:51,560 --> 00:20:53,840 Speaker 1: sling to be the world's first cocktail, but as you 346 00:20:53,880 --> 00:20:58,280 Speaker 1: can imagine that is a highly contested title, A lot 347 00:20:58,480 --> 00:21:01,159 Speaker 1: of argument debate about that. Oh that is that is 348 00:21:01,200 --> 00:21:04,680 Speaker 1: an episode for a whole whole other months right now. 349 00:21:05,800 --> 00:21:09,240 Speaker 1: Now backing up a bit and looking at Hawaii specifically, 350 00:21:09,800 --> 00:21:12,280 Speaker 1: when one of the waves of Polynesian settlers arrived on 351 00:21:12,280 --> 00:21:15,760 Speaker 1: Hawaii shores by canoe about eight hundred years ago, one 352 00:21:15,800 --> 00:21:18,840 Speaker 1: of the plants they brought with them was coal sugarcane. 353 00:21:19,320 --> 00:21:22,800 Speaker 1: The heirloom varietals found on Hawaii today are descended from 354 00:21:22,880 --> 00:21:26,360 Speaker 1: these plants. By the sixteen hundreds, it had spread widely 355 00:21:26,400 --> 00:21:29,240 Speaker 1: across the islands. It was planted in clumps or rows, 356 00:21:29,359 --> 00:21:32,159 Speaker 1: or as a border around taro fields to help with irrigation. 357 00:21:32,680 --> 00:21:36,119 Speaker 1: CO was highly valued, both medicinally and as a food stuff. 358 00:21:36,600 --> 00:21:39,840 Speaker 1: When James Cook arrived, he traded iron for co. The 359 00:21:39,840 --> 00:21:42,760 Speaker 1: first sugar mills started operating in the eighteen thirties, and 360 00:21:42,840 --> 00:21:46,399 Speaker 1: a century later employed over fifty thousand people and turned 361 00:21:46,400 --> 00:21:50,840 Speaker 1: out one million tons of sugar per year. It is 362 00:21:50,880 --> 00:21:55,120 Speaker 1: hard to overstate how much this industry shaped the islands 363 00:21:55,119 --> 00:21:57,840 Speaker 1: and how much it shaped the sugar cane that was 364 00:21:57,880 --> 00:22:00,639 Speaker 1: growing itself. Because varieties that were the most deficient for 365 00:22:00,720 --> 00:22:04,119 Speaker 1: producing mild sugar largely pushed out all the other, perhaps 366 00:22:04,119 --> 00:22:08,040 Speaker 1: more interesting varieties. But um, yes, okay, back to the Caribbean. 367 00:22:08,800 --> 00:22:10,920 Speaker 1: For a while a rum was made in pretty much 368 00:22:10,960 --> 00:22:13,879 Speaker 1: the same way across all of the islands. Um producers 369 00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:17,320 Speaker 1: took the cane, crushed and boiled it until they had sugar. 370 00:22:17,480 --> 00:22:20,120 Speaker 1: Molasses was a byproduct of the process, and not wanting 371 00:22:20,160 --> 00:22:23,280 Speaker 1: to waste an opportunity to make money, folks fermanted this 372 00:22:23,320 --> 00:22:26,880 Speaker 1: molasses and used it to make rum. The skimmings from 373 00:22:26,920 --> 00:22:30,359 Speaker 1: the boiling process were blended with the molasses, along with 374 00:22:30,560 --> 00:22:33,080 Speaker 1: some sediment from the steel, which is called dunder by 375 00:22:33,080 --> 00:22:38,440 Speaker 1: the way which differentiates the resulting room from colonial American room. 376 00:22:38,640 --> 00:22:43,359 Speaker 1: Or typically only molasses was used. Okay um uh. Rum 377 00:22:43,480 --> 00:22:46,640 Speaker 1: in the Caribbean changed though in the eighteen hundreds due 378 00:22:46,640 --> 00:22:49,159 Speaker 1: to a few things, but perhaps largely due to some 379 00:22:49,200 --> 00:22:54,560 Speaker 1: shipping blockades end a volcanic eruption. So let's let's let's 380 00:22:54,600 --> 00:22:57,560 Speaker 1: unpack those a bit. Uh. Starting with the blockades. So, 381 00:22:57,680 --> 00:23:00,160 Speaker 1: France and England were at war in the early part 382 00:23:00,160 --> 00:23:02,920 Speaker 1: of the century, and blockades made shipping sugar from the 383 00:23:02,960 --> 00:23:07,879 Speaker 1: French antillies to France difficult and expensive. Napoleon's solution was 384 00:23:07,920 --> 00:23:10,480 Speaker 1: to promote beach sugar in its place, since sugar beats 385 00:23:10,520 --> 00:23:13,720 Speaker 1: were grown in Europe, and his plan worked. By the 386 00:23:13,720 --> 00:23:16,800 Speaker 1: eighteen seventies, reliance on sugar from the French Caribbean had 387 00:23:16,840 --> 00:23:20,879 Speaker 1: substantially decreased, which was just devastating for the sugar industries 388 00:23:21,080 --> 00:23:25,040 Speaker 1: based on these islands. Like plantations closed, workers lost their jobs, 389 00:23:25,320 --> 00:23:28,439 Speaker 1: Entire economies that had been built on this sugar fell apart. 390 00:23:29,040 --> 00:23:32,359 Speaker 1: The plantations that continued to operate no longer had to 391 00:23:32,520 --> 00:23:35,280 Speaker 1: put in the effort of separating sugar and molasses since 392 00:23:35,320 --> 00:23:38,720 Speaker 1: refined sugar was no longer selling, So they instead we're 393 00:23:38,760 --> 00:23:40,840 Speaker 1: just like, well we still have these stills, let's ferment 394 00:23:40,960 --> 00:23:43,520 Speaker 1: this raw cane juice. And so not only was the 395 00:23:43,560 --> 00:23:47,160 Speaker 1: process simpler this way, but producers got more alcoholic yield 396 00:23:47,400 --> 00:23:49,760 Speaker 1: out of it. Um you also have the outlawing of 397 00:23:49,760 --> 00:23:53,600 Speaker 1: slavery by all of the European colonizing nations throughout the 398 00:23:53,640 --> 00:23:57,040 Speaker 1: first half of the eighteen hundreds, and the Industrial Revolution 399 00:23:57,119 --> 00:24:01,280 Speaker 1: ramping up um, influencing how rum was made. Another thing 400 00:24:01,480 --> 00:24:04,000 Speaker 1: that changed the worm world was the adoption of the column. 401 00:24:04,080 --> 00:24:07,400 Speaker 1: Still on the French islands, particularly those stills designed specifically 402 00:24:07,760 --> 00:24:12,560 Speaker 1: for maximum alcohol extraction from the sugar beat. Rum agricol 403 00:24:12,640 --> 00:24:15,520 Speaker 1: producers further tweaked these skills to lean lest toward alcohol 404 00:24:15,560 --> 00:24:19,600 Speaker 1: extraction and more toward flavor optimization, eventually arriving at what 405 00:24:19,640 --> 00:24:25,560 Speaker 1: we now call a creol column. Still, but what about 406 00:24:25,640 --> 00:24:30,959 Speaker 1: that volcanic eruption? Okay, So, in n two there was 407 00:24:31,080 --> 00:24:36,320 Speaker 1: a catastrophic eruption of Mount Polly and Martinique. It obliterated 408 00:24:36,440 --> 00:24:39,600 Speaker 1: the port city of Saint Pierre. Over thirty thousand people 409 00:24:39,640 --> 00:24:42,320 Speaker 1: were killed. It altered the course of the island's history 410 00:24:42,400 --> 00:24:46,280 Speaker 1: and um, and changed how geologists understand volcanic eruptions. It 411 00:24:46,320 --> 00:24:49,440 Speaker 1: was also the deadliest volcanic eruption of the twentieth century, 412 00:24:49,800 --> 00:24:54,480 Speaker 1: and it destroyed most of the larger molasses based rum distilleries, which, 413 00:24:54,880 --> 00:24:57,440 Speaker 1: in its own tragic way, made room for these smaller 414 00:24:57,520 --> 00:25:01,840 Speaker 1: actrical style distilleries to fill that void. World War One 415 00:25:02,119 --> 00:25:05,480 Speaker 1: also played an important role in French rum agriculse history. 416 00:25:05,880 --> 00:25:08,919 Speaker 1: French rum production was severely endered during wartime in the 417 00:25:08,960 --> 00:25:12,000 Speaker 1: French Islands, up to the air production and exports. To 418 00:25:12,119 --> 00:25:15,320 Speaker 1: make up for that, more and more people in France 419 00:25:15,320 --> 00:25:18,280 Speaker 1: grew familiar with and fell in love with distinct flavor 420 00:25:18,440 --> 00:25:22,800 Speaker 1: of these RUMs. Expecting a similar increase in demand. During 421 00:25:22,800 --> 00:25:25,479 Speaker 1: World War Two, rum agricult producers churned out a lot 422 00:25:25,480 --> 00:25:29,760 Speaker 1: of products, only to run into blockades that made exporting tricky. 423 00:25:29,920 --> 00:25:32,199 Speaker 1: So now with a lot of rum, they cast it 424 00:25:32,359 --> 00:25:36,480 Speaker 1: and voila aged French rum agricul for the first time 425 00:25:36,600 --> 00:25:40,520 Speaker 1: in large scale stores and for the first time available 426 00:25:40,560 --> 00:25:44,680 Speaker 1: as a premium product. Still, molasses based rum production didn't 427 00:25:44,720 --> 00:25:48,520 Speaker 1: start fading on Martinique until the nineteen sixties. These days, 428 00:25:48,680 --> 00:25:53,000 Speaker 1: only one is still in operation on the island. UM. Meanwhile, 429 00:25:53,160 --> 00:25:55,840 Speaker 1: the California gold Rats in the eighteen forties and fifties 430 00:25:55,960 --> 00:25:59,680 Speaker 1: pushed for greater sugar production in Hawaii, and then yet 431 00:25:59,720 --> 00:26:04,120 Speaker 1: another war helped Hawaii's agriculture industry, the Civil War UM. 432 00:26:04,280 --> 00:26:07,320 Speaker 1: Due to blockades of exports from the South, sugar prices 433 00:26:07,359 --> 00:26:10,760 Speaker 1: shot up five hundred and twenty five per cent in 434 00:26:10,840 --> 00:26:13,720 Speaker 1: eighteen sixty four alone, and as we talked about in 435 00:26:13,760 --> 00:26:17,720 Speaker 1: our Welcome to Oahu episode, this lucrative sugar industry led 436 00:26:17,920 --> 00:26:20,320 Speaker 1: to the U s overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy at 437 00:26:20,320 --> 00:26:23,399 Speaker 1: the end of the nineteenth century UM, but then by 438 00:26:23,440 --> 00:26:26,720 Speaker 1: the nineteen sixties, the rise of tourism and shifting production 439 00:26:26,760 --> 00:26:30,800 Speaker 1: methods and market prices for sugar basically bombed the commercial 440 00:26:30,800 --> 00:26:34,320 Speaker 1: production of Hawaiian sugarcane. I mean, after all, it's wildly 441 00:26:34,440 --> 00:26:37,960 Speaker 1: expensive to ship things to and from Hawaii. Um, the 442 00:26:38,040 --> 00:26:41,600 Speaker 1: last mill Hawaiian commercial and sugar wouldn't close until six 443 00:26:41,880 --> 00:26:43,480 Speaker 1: but yeah, it was on its way out for a 444 00:26:43,520 --> 00:26:49,440 Speaker 1: long time. In France, awarded that AOC status to Martinique's 445 00:26:49,480 --> 00:26:52,919 Speaker 1: rum Echo, granted that they meet the criteria laid out 446 00:26:52,920 --> 00:26:54,960 Speaker 1: in the document, which is the dcument is very long, 447 00:26:55,040 --> 00:26:57,520 Speaker 1: by the way, it's very extensive. It's been updated I 448 00:26:57,560 --> 00:27:01,640 Speaker 1: think twice in the past twenty years. Yeah, it's wild, 449 00:27:01,920 --> 00:27:05,520 Speaker 1: it is. It kind of funny. It's just one of 450 00:27:05,560 --> 00:27:08,440 Speaker 1: those really dry things that I really appreciate somebody to 451 00:27:08,600 --> 00:27:11,840 Speaker 1: the time to to really go like not other kinds 452 00:27:11,880 --> 00:27:16,560 Speaker 1: of yeast. This one, this one, that's it. And around 453 00:27:16,600 --> 00:27:20,000 Speaker 1: two four the first Martinique rum agricole was important, yes 454 00:27:20,040 --> 00:27:24,480 Speaker 1: to the US. And just last month in September often yeah, 455 00:27:24,480 --> 00:27:28,639 Speaker 1: Campari Group acquired that French spirits company Roman Tile, which 456 00:27:28,840 --> 00:27:34,760 Speaker 1: produces three rum agricoles. So could Agricole becoming two more 457 00:27:34,880 --> 00:27:40,320 Speaker 1: shops near you American citizens. Oh right, Um yeah, I mean, 458 00:27:40,359 --> 00:27:44,240 Speaker 1: after all, Compari Group was not entirely unresponsible for the 459 00:27:44,240 --> 00:27:47,159 Speaker 1: boom in apperl sprits Is and the availability of that 460 00:27:47,240 --> 00:27:50,359 Speaker 1: and other Amari plus i'd say the boom and bourbon. 461 00:27:50,880 --> 00:27:55,400 Speaker 1: They acquired April's maker, Barbaro back in two thousand three, 462 00:27:55,760 --> 00:28:00,199 Speaker 1: and then Wild Turkey, the bourbon maker in in the 463 00:28:00,200 --> 00:28:03,480 Speaker 1: Wild Turkey buyout was definitely like amidst an existing American 464 00:28:03,480 --> 00:28:07,640 Speaker 1: renaissance of bourbon drinking. But man, did Campari make apparel 465 00:28:07,680 --> 00:28:10,919 Speaker 1: a thing here? Uh? Also, one of the barriers of 466 00:28:11,080 --> 00:28:15,359 Speaker 1: French caribbean export to the United States has been bottle size. 467 00:28:15,480 --> 00:28:19,439 Speaker 1: The standard European liquor bottle is seven hundred millilaters and 468 00:28:19,600 --> 00:28:25,720 Speaker 1: the US standard is seven and fifty, and expanding a 469 00:28:25,800 --> 00:28:28,200 Speaker 1: production line to include a new bottle size has been 470 00:28:28,240 --> 00:28:31,159 Speaker 1: too expensive for small producers, but that would not be 471 00:28:31,240 --> 00:28:35,760 Speaker 1: a problem for Campari, not at all. Um. Supposedly the 472 00:28:35,760 --> 00:28:38,840 Speaker 1: first target market for their agricol runs is going to 473 00:28:38,920 --> 00:28:41,520 Speaker 1: be France, but oh gosh, I hope it opens up 474 00:28:41,560 --> 00:28:44,200 Speaker 1: the market for the product here too, because I only 475 00:28:44,200 --> 00:28:47,760 Speaker 1: brought one bottle back with me. Um. Oh yeah, and 476 00:28:48,160 --> 00:28:50,560 Speaker 1: I brought zero bottles back with me, and I have 477 00:28:50,720 --> 00:28:54,720 Speaker 1: many regrets about it. I really need to track down 478 00:28:54,760 --> 00:28:58,560 Speaker 1: some of the stuff that's produced Maitland side. Yeah, try 479 00:28:58,600 --> 00:29:01,600 Speaker 1: some of that too. There is some controversy around some 480 00:29:01,720 --> 00:29:05,160 Speaker 1: of that stuff, um, and I don't all I know 481 00:29:05,280 --> 00:29:10,040 Speaker 1: is it's based on like fresh pressed cane juice versus like, uh, evaporated, 482 00:29:11,520 --> 00:29:13,400 Speaker 1: But not not that all of the ones in the 483 00:29:13,400 --> 00:29:16,040 Speaker 1: mainland do that at all, but I just know, yeah, 484 00:29:16,080 --> 00:29:18,600 Speaker 1: I know that like one in California uses evaporated cane 485 00:29:18,680 --> 00:29:21,320 Speaker 1: juice and like have had to kind of defend themselves 486 00:29:21,320 --> 00:29:26,120 Speaker 1: against detractors, right, Yeah, definitely. I'm planning on going the 487 00:29:26,120 --> 00:29:27,840 Speaker 1: next time I'm at a liquor store. I'm going to 488 00:29:27,840 --> 00:29:29,280 Speaker 1: see if I can find because I don't think I've 489 00:29:29,280 --> 00:29:34,560 Speaker 1: ever been known to look um. By the way, I 490 00:29:34,600 --> 00:29:37,360 Speaker 1: read that bottle size thing in this French and Spanish 491 00:29:37,360 --> 00:29:42,840 Speaker 1: magazine called rum Porter. The magazine Dela Culture rum oh Man, 492 00:29:43,040 --> 00:29:51,800 Speaker 1: which rum damn so good. Um. Anyway, we do have 493 00:29:51,840 --> 00:29:53,800 Speaker 1: a little bit more for you, but first we're going 494 00:29:53,800 --> 00:29:55,360 Speaker 1: to take a one more quick break for a word 495 00:29:55,360 --> 00:30:06,520 Speaker 1: from our sponsor. And we're back. Thank you sponsored, Yes, 496 00:30:06,600 --> 00:30:09,200 Speaker 1: thank you, And we thought we would take a quick 497 00:30:09,280 --> 00:30:14,960 Speaker 1: moment to look forwards to the future, because, first of all, 498 00:30:15,040 --> 00:30:16,840 Speaker 1: as we said at the top of the rum, agricul 499 00:30:16,880 --> 00:30:22,200 Speaker 1: market is growing and improving, and secondly, distillation is relatively 500 00:30:22,320 --> 00:30:28,240 Speaker 1: new in Hawaii. Here's Kyle again, all right, barrel aging. 501 00:30:28,640 --> 00:30:31,880 Speaker 1: I try, I try really hard to tell a lot 502 00:30:31,920 --> 00:30:38,760 Speaker 1: of our story as I guess as kindly as I can. 503 00:30:39,720 --> 00:30:42,280 Speaker 1: I've been in the industry in Hawaii for the past 504 00:30:43,280 --> 00:30:48,719 Speaker 1: almost twenty years, and spirits manufacturing here generally revolved around 505 00:30:49,280 --> 00:30:52,440 Speaker 1: shipping something else out here, either red as selling it 506 00:30:52,560 --> 00:30:58,160 Speaker 1: or just bottling it and putting a Hawaii name on it. Um. 507 00:30:58,200 --> 00:31:02,720 Speaker 1: We we're adamant about getting outside of that and changing 508 00:31:02,720 --> 00:31:05,080 Speaker 1: away sort of. The bottom line was done and showing 509 00:31:05,080 --> 00:31:07,880 Speaker 1: people that while yes, it's expensive to be out here 510 00:31:07,920 --> 00:31:10,880 Speaker 1: and shipping and all of these problems exist, we ought 511 00:31:10,960 --> 00:31:13,800 Speaker 1: to be doing things the best way possible and barrel 512 00:31:13,800 --> 00:31:18,360 Speaker 1: aging on site our own distillate, was a big part 513 00:31:18,360 --> 00:31:20,600 Speaker 1: of that. And it's frankly, it's it might be the 514 00:31:20,680 --> 00:31:24,480 Speaker 1: sole reason why I jumped shipped fully into this. I 515 00:31:24,520 --> 00:31:28,560 Speaker 1: was in bars and restaurants beforehand. UM and going to 516 00:31:28,640 --> 00:31:32,320 Speaker 1: a full real barrel aging program was was a big 517 00:31:32,360 --> 00:31:34,520 Speaker 1: big move, not just for us, but just for Hawaii. 518 00:31:36,200 --> 00:31:40,200 Speaker 1: So that's pretty cool. Um. And also, the tiki cocktail 519 00:31:40,240 --> 00:31:43,800 Speaker 1: trend is still going strong. Think the heck and heavens, 520 00:31:43,800 --> 00:31:46,160 Speaker 1: I love it. Um it is it is problematic in 521 00:31:46,160 --> 00:31:48,120 Speaker 1: some ways, like I do wish that people with no 522 00:31:48,240 --> 00:31:52,400 Speaker 1: knowledge of Polynesian cultures would stop willy nilly appropriating imagery 523 00:31:52,400 --> 00:31:55,040 Speaker 1: and names, you know, without so much as like googling 524 00:31:55,040 --> 00:31:57,480 Speaker 1: first to make sure that they're not being silly at 525 00:31:57,480 --> 00:32:01,920 Speaker 1: best and offensive at worst. Um. But yes, rum is 526 00:32:02,280 --> 00:32:05,880 Speaker 1: perhaps obviously a big part of tiki cocktail making, and 527 00:32:06,080 --> 00:32:09,840 Speaker 1: agricole RUMs are poised to really add depth and breadth 528 00:32:09,880 --> 00:32:13,600 Speaker 1: to the category. Um here's Kyle again, there's I guess 529 00:32:13,600 --> 00:32:16,280 Speaker 1: there's two ways to look at that question. So first 530 00:32:16,320 --> 00:32:21,800 Speaker 1: of all, we have thirty six unique varietals of Hawaiian coe. 531 00:32:23,240 --> 00:32:26,200 Speaker 1: We will eventually have used all of them for single 532 00:32:26,280 --> 00:32:29,680 Speaker 1: varietal RUMs. Right now, we have twelve of them. So 533 00:32:29,760 --> 00:32:33,320 Speaker 1: you've got ka, which is sort of the most common 534 00:32:33,480 --> 00:32:36,160 Speaker 1: of the Hawaiian canes. It means white. It's just like 535 00:32:36,400 --> 00:32:42,120 Speaker 1: more most traditional. You have peely, my papa. There's Manula, 536 00:32:42,400 --> 00:32:44,320 Speaker 1: which is probably our favorite and the one that kind 537 00:32:44,320 --> 00:32:49,080 Speaker 1: of got us into doing this. So for us, some 538 00:32:49,160 --> 00:32:53,920 Speaker 1: of the excitement is like sticking to values and X 539 00:32:54,400 --> 00:32:57,640 Speaker 1: sort of expanding upon them. So it's like getting getting 540 00:32:57,720 --> 00:33:01,560 Speaker 1: rooms made with every single cane and really no what 541 00:33:01,680 --> 00:33:05,120 Speaker 1: the fermentations with every single varietole tastes like what the 542 00:33:05,160 --> 00:33:09,560 Speaker 1: distillation really and get all of that humming and and and. Frankly, 543 00:33:09,600 --> 00:33:13,960 Speaker 1: that's like a lifetime project. That's not a short thing. Um. 544 00:33:14,000 --> 00:33:16,760 Speaker 1: It might even be a multigenerational type of project to 545 00:33:16,840 --> 00:33:19,720 Speaker 1: really get into it, right if you think about what 546 00:33:19,760 --> 00:33:23,640 Speaker 1: are really the greatest distilleries in the world, the greatest viitnors, 547 00:33:23,680 --> 00:33:26,960 Speaker 1: the greatest brewers there, it's not a single generation. Takes 548 00:33:26,960 --> 00:33:29,600 Speaker 1: a long time to learn a lot um, and anybody 549 00:33:29,640 --> 00:33:31,880 Speaker 1: that pretends that it doesn't is out of their mind. 550 00:33:32,560 --> 00:33:35,720 Speaker 1: So that would be part of it. The two other 551 00:33:35,920 --> 00:33:39,080 Speaker 1: sort of I guess aspects that are I don't know 552 00:33:39,600 --> 00:33:43,320 Speaker 1: important to me is that we're we're always improving. I 553 00:33:43,400 --> 00:33:47,200 Speaker 1: talk a lot when I when I, you know, get 554 00:33:47,280 --> 00:33:51,680 Speaker 1: drunk enough about how our rum will never be as 555 00:33:51,760 --> 00:33:54,640 Speaker 1: bad as it was today. And I think we have 556 00:33:54,680 --> 00:33:58,960 Speaker 1: great rum, but like what was made today will actually 557 00:33:58,960 --> 00:34:01,760 Speaker 1: be our worst rum that we've ever met. It will 558 00:34:01,800 --> 00:34:04,120 Speaker 1: be worse than any roum we make going for Like, 559 00:34:04,200 --> 00:34:07,400 Speaker 1: you have this like your you must improve and that's 560 00:34:07,440 --> 00:34:10,359 Speaker 1: not like growth improvement, like you have to make more. 561 00:34:10,480 --> 00:34:12,839 Speaker 1: You have to do this, you get better, and like 562 00:34:12,880 --> 00:34:17,120 Speaker 1: there's there's this I guess it's synchronized gear, but you're improving. 563 00:34:17,120 --> 00:34:19,360 Speaker 1: You're like your your day is the same, but somehow 564 00:34:19,360 --> 00:34:20,920 Speaker 1: you're doing about it. There's a little bit of like 565 00:34:21,000 --> 00:34:26,239 Speaker 1: sort of the Japanese mentality of that that brings us 566 00:34:26,239 --> 00:34:29,600 Speaker 1: to the end of this episode. Man, do I hope 567 00:34:29,600 --> 00:34:32,520 Speaker 1: I can find some good rum agricole around here? Uh? 568 00:34:32,560 --> 00:34:35,560 Speaker 1: And just heads up, sneak peek. We are going to 569 00:34:35,640 --> 00:34:38,279 Speaker 1: be talking a little bit more about some of this 570 00:34:38,360 --> 00:34:41,760 Speaker 1: stuff in a future episode we're doing on cocktail culture 571 00:34:41,800 --> 00:34:45,640 Speaker 1: in Wain. Yes, absolutely, yes, So keep your eyes and 572 00:34:45,760 --> 00:34:48,480 Speaker 1: years out for that one. But in the meantime, you 573 00:34:48,560 --> 00:34:52,280 Speaker 1: can email us at hello at saber pod dot com. 574 00:34:52,320 --> 00:34:54,239 Speaker 1: You can also find us on social media. We are 575 00:34:54,280 --> 00:34:57,440 Speaker 1: on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook at saber pod and we 576 00:34:57,480 --> 00:34:59,680 Speaker 1: do hope to hear from you. Thanks to our super 577 00:34:59,719 --> 00:35:03,280 Speaker 1: produce Dylan Fagan and Andrew Howard, our executive producer Christopher 578 00:35:03,280 --> 00:35:07,280 Speaker 1: Hassiotas and all of our interviewees, and also Michelle McGowan, 579 00:35:07,360 --> 00:35:10,280 Speaker 1: Rice of the Hawaii Food and Wine Festival, Don Sakamotapaiva 580 00:35:10,400 --> 00:35:12,759 Speaker 1: of Put It on My Plate, and Joy Gooto and 581 00:35:12,800 --> 00:35:16,480 Speaker 1: Maria Hartfield of the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau for 582 00:35:16,520 --> 00:35:20,040 Speaker 1: putting us in touch with all of those interviewees. Savor 583 00:35:20,160 --> 00:35:22,120 Speaker 1: is a production of I Heart Radio and Stuff Media. 584 00:35:22,160 --> 00:35:24,080 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, you can visit 585 00:35:24,120 --> 00:35:27,279 Speaker 1: the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 586 00:35:27,360 --> 00:35:30,080 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows. Thanks to you for listening, 587 00:35:30,160 --> 00:35:31,719 Speaker 1: and we hope that lots more good things are coming 588 00:35:31,760 --> 00:35:46,200 Speaker 1: your way. What are you're looking at? Here is all 589 00:35:46,239 --> 00:35:50,440 Speaker 1: of the production space that we have at Kahana Distillers, 590 00:35:50,440 --> 00:35:55,319 Speaker 1: So you're looking at for fermentation tanks back there all 591 00:35:56,200 --> 00:35:59,920 Speaker 1: named the Latina. I t s my distiller and call 592 00:36:00,080 --> 00:36:02,279 Speaker 1: them each an individual Tina. So I've got Tina Fe, 593 00:36:02,280 --> 00:36:05,880 Speaker 1: I've got Christina Aguilera, I've got you know. Different different 594 00:36:05,920 --> 00:36:10,920 Speaker 1: Tinas represent different fermentation types. He hates it, which is 595 00:36:11,080 --> 00:36:12,600 Speaker 1: why I hope you guys make sure he gets on 596 00:36:12,640 --> 00:36:14,560 Speaker 1: the podcast. I Love you, Tyler,