RUM. 



to a proper height for admitting the firfl charge of melaffes, 

 of which fix gallons for every hundred gallons of the fer- 

 menting liquor, is the general proportion to be given at 

 twice; viz. three per cent, at the firlt charge, and the other 

 feven per cent, a day or two afterwards, when the liquor is in 

 a high (late of fermentation ; the heat of which, however, 

 fhould not, in general, be fufteredto exceed from 90°to 94 

 Fahrenheit. The intulion of hot water will raife, and of 

 cold water abate the fermentation. The quantity of me- 

 laffes above-mentioned, added to a third of fcummings, 

 gives 115 per cent, of fweets, fix gallons of fcummings 

 being reckoned equal to one gallon of melaffes. When the 

 fermentation falls by eafy degrees from the fifth to the 

 feventh or eighth day, lo as then to become fine, and throw 

 up flowly a few clear beads or air-globules, it is ripe for dif- 

 tillation ; though when the liquor is firlt fet at the beginning 

 of the crop (the houfe being cold, and the cillerns not fa- 

 turated) it will not be fit for diitillation under ten or twelve 

 days. When this is the cafe, at a longer or fhorter period, 

 the liquor or wafh being conveyed into the largelt (till, which 

 mull not be filled higher than within eight or ten inches of 

 the brim, left the head fhould fly, a fteady and regular fire 

 muft be kept up until it boils, after which a little fuel will 

 fcrve. In about two hours the vapour or fpirit, being 

 condenfed by the ambient fluid, will force its way through 

 the worm in the fhape of a ftream, as clear and trani- 

 parent as cryftal, and it is fuffered to run until it is no 

 longer inflammable. The fpirit thus obtained is known by 

 the appellation of " low wines." To make it rum of 

 the Jamaica proof, it undergoes a fecond diitillation. Be- 

 tween the practice of the Jamaica diftillers, and that of 

 thofe of the Windward iflands, there is fome little variation 

 in the firlt procefs. This confifls chiefly in the more copious 

 ufe of dunder. As dunder ferves to diflolve the tenacity of 

 the faccharine matter, it fhould be proportioned, not only 

 to the quantity, but alfo to the nature of the fweets. If 

 the fweets in the fermenting cillern confilt of melaffes alone, 

 which is generally the cafe after the bufinefs of fugar-boiling 

 is finifhed, when no fcummings are to be had, a greater pro- 

 portion of dunder is necedary ; becaufe melades are a body 

 of greater tenacity than cane-liquor, and are rendered fo vif- 

 cous and indurated by the aftion of fire, as to be unfit for 

 fermentation without the molt powerful faline «nd acid fti- 

 mulators. For the fame reafon, at the beginning of the 



crop, when no melaffes can be had, and the fweets confilt of 

 cane-juice or fcummings alone, very little dunder is necef- 

 fary. In fuch cafe twenty per cent, at the utmolt will be fuffi- 

 cieut. Dunder, in a large quantity, injures the favour, 

 though it may increafe the quantity of the fpirit. Dr. Shaw- 

 fays, that the Englifh diftillers add many things to the fer- 

 menting liquor or wafh, in order to augment the vinofity of 

 the fpirit, or to give it a particular flavour. He obferves, 

 that a little tartar, nitre, or common fait, is fometimes thrown 

 in at the beginning of the operation, or in their Itead a little 

 of the vegetable or finer mineral ,'.eid. Thefe are thought to 

 be of great ufe in the fermenting of folutions of treacle, 

 honey, and fimilar fweet and rich vegetable juices, which 

 coiftain a fmall proportion of acid. A fimilar practice is 

 ijid to prevail among the diftillers in St. Chriitopher's, fome 

 of which conlider an addition of fea-water to the fermenting 

 liquor as a real and great improvement. Shaw recommends 

 thejuice of Seville oranges, lemons, and tamarinds, or other 

 very acid fruits, and, above all other things, an aqueous fo- 

 lution of tartar ; but Mr. Edwards is of opinion, that dundei 

 alone anlwers every purpoie. Dr. Shaw alio recommends to 

 the diltiller to introduce into the fermenting cittern a few 

 gallons of the rectified fpirit, which, he fays, will revert, 

 with a large addition, to the quantity of fpirit that would 

 otherwife have arifen from the diftillation. It is fuggefted 

 by Mr. Edwards, that a fmall quantity of vegetable afhes, 

 thrown into the rum-ltill, will be found ferviceable. The 

 alkaline falts are fuppofed to attenuate the fpirit, and keep 

 back the grofs and fetid oil, which the diftillers call the 

 " faints," but if too freely ufed, they will alfo keep back a 

 proportion of the fine eflential oil, on which the flavour of the 

 rum wholly depends. After all, the molt important objeil 

 of attention in making good rum is probably " cleanlinels ;" 

 for all adventitious or foreign fubitances deftroy or change 

 the peculiar flavour of the fpirit. It fhould, indeed, be an 

 invariable practice with the manager or diltiller to take care 

 that the cifterns are fealded, and even cleanfed with ltrong 

 lime-water, every time when they are ufed ; not merely on 

 account of the rum, but becaufe it has often happened that 

 the vapour of a foul ciltcrn has inftantly killed the firlt per- 

 fon that has entered it without due precaution. 



The following improved method of conducting the pro- 

 cefs, or of compounding the feveral ingredients, is very ge- 

 neral in Jamaica, -viz. 



Dunder one half, or 

 Sweets 12 per cent. 

 Water 



i 



Melaffes - 

 Scummings ' 



50 gallons 



6 gallons 



36 gallons 



(equal to fix ga.Ions 

 more of melalics ) 

 8 gallons 



42 gallons. 



Of this mixture, or " wafh," as it is fometimes called, 

 1200 gallons ought to produce 300 gallons of low-wines ; 

 and the ltill may be twice charged or drawn off in one day. 

 The method of adding all the melaffes at once, which is done 

 foon after the fermentation commences, renders the procefs 

 fafe and expeditious; whereas by charging the melaffes at 

 different times, the fermentation is checked, and the pro- 

 cefs delayed. 



The low-wines obtained in the manner above defcribed, 

 are drawn off into a butt or veffel, and, as opportunity 

 ferves, are conveyed into the fecond (till of 600 gallon , 

 to undergo a further diitillation. The Iteam begins to run 

 in about an hour and a half, and will give, in the courfc of 



the day, 220 gallons or two puncheons, of oil-pmof rum, 

 i. e. of fpirit in which olive oil will fink ; ami thus the manu- 

 facture, if fo it may be called, is complete. There will 

 remain in the ltill a confiderable quantity of weaker fpirit, 

 commonly about 70 gallons, which i. returned to the low- 

 wine butt. Thus 220 gallons of proof-rum are made, in 

 fact, from 530 gallons of low-wines, or about I 13 of rum 

 from 1 200 of wafh. By this procef» the Jamaica diltiller 

 may fill weekly, working only by day-light (a necedary 

 precaution in this employment), and at a fmall essence of 

 labour and fuel, twelve puncheons of rum, containing 1 ach 

 1 10 gallons of the Jamaica ftandard. The proportion of 

 the whole rum to the crop of iugar, is commonly eltimated 



