Words are important Dept: Fairgame Rum???

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Capn Jimbo
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Words are important Dept: Fairgame Rum???

Post by Capn Jimbo »

When is a rum not a rum?


The line is hard to distinguish with the copy that follows. An artisan distiller in North Carolina - otherwise using classic techniques and an "alembic" still - would do better to watch their language. Now they do make an 80 proof "Amber Rum", fairly described:
"Amber Rum

Released Summer 2016 Our Amber Rum is crafted from organic Panela sugar, a rich and very raw sugar made in Colombia from evaporated cane juice. This raw sugar brings a lively floral and grassy aroma and deep sweetness to the rum that blackstrap molasses rums couldn’t dream of. When we approached this rum we were inspired by the dark rich pot distilled rums of the Caribbean and the funky elegant Rhum Agricoles of Martinique. Slow fermentation with Caribbean rum yeast, careful distillation on our Alembic pot still, and bourbon barrel aging make for an incredibly unique Amber Rum. We enjoy this rum on its own, or in a range of cocktails, especially of the Tiki variety.
While I would take issue that the choice of processed panela sugar (brown, from the boiling and evaporation of cane juice), that panela somehow duplicates the fresh cane juice rums used in say Martinique or Haiti, this "rum" clearly meets the definition of rum (made from cane sugar or its byproducts).

Remember that the regs are quite clear and differentiate rum from say whiskey or bourbon based on the raw materials. So what if you make a spirit made from an undefined raw material, say sorghum - which is a cereal grain used in the south (home of Fairgame) for sweetening, to produce ethanol, etc. It is NOT a sugar cane, and just like sugars from say beets, in no way qualifies to be defined as a "rum".

But check out their copy:
" No’Lasses is a unique spirit created as a Rum, but made from southern grown Sorghum Cane. We blend our home-grown and fresh-pressed sorghum cane juice with award-winning Sorghum Cane syrup. It is slow fermented and twice distilled in our alembic copper still then matured in used bourbon oak barrels — a true farm-to-glass experience. Having made our own Sorghum Cane syrup for years, we are proud to bring you the flavor of this traditional southern crop in our Sorghum Cane Spirit. How can you have Mo’Lasses if you ain’t had No’Lasses yet!"
Yup, they are actually using the words "rum", "molasses" and "cane" - very carefully - to strongly associate this spirit with rum. It is not, and will never be. Based on this tortured logic and copy, you could claim that a spirit made from malted barley - a whiskey - was "created as a Rum". Bushwa! That's like saying my wife gave birth to a unique girl created as boy, but without the boy parts, lol...

Sorry guys. Because your "unique spirit" fails to meet any definition for rum, whiskey, bourbon, gin or vokda, we know why you had to call it "No'Lasses", a made up name whose sole purpose seems to be to fulfill the made up sorghum-rum connection....




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http://fairgamebeverage.com/spirits/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorghum
Note: wanna know what "NoLasses" really is? As things are, the Standards of Identity have one for it: "DISTILLED SPIRITS SPECIALTY" - Distilled spirits not defined under any other class. Generally, any class and/or type of distilled spirits that contain or are treated with flavoring and/or coloring materials and/or nonstandard blending or treating materials or processes.
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Capn Jimbo
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Post by Capn Jimbo »

Of course...


...a prompt email was dispatched to the boys at Fair, to wit:
"Hello, Capn Jimbo here, of The Rum Project, the largest and most active free and non-commercial rum appreciation site and forum on the net, in our tenth year...

I'm having a problem with your "NoLasses" product, which you describe and promote as "created as a Rum". You also include descriptors such a "cane", "Rum", "molasses", et al. The implication seems to be that your product is or is nearly a form of rum?

The regulations and standards of identity clearly differentiate rum, whiskey, bourbon, vodka, gin, brandy, tequila and others - and your product is none of them. To me, this product is not a rum nor "created as a Rum". The mere fact that it is based on sugars fermented into alcohol which is then distilled can be applied to almost any spirit.

Actually the SID's seem to have a category for it: the Standards of Identity have one for it: "DISTILLED SPIRITS SPECIALTY" - Distilled spirits not defined under any other class. Generally, any class and/or type of distilled spirits that contain or are treated with flavoring and/or coloring materials and/or nonstandard blending or treating materials or processes."

Can you clarify this? Do you mean to call or strongly associate this product with rum? And if so, why and how? "
Stay tuned...




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https://ttb.gov/spirits/bam/chapter4.pdf
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Capn Jimbo
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Post by Capn Jimbo »

To their credit, a fast reply, from Fairgame's distiller:
"Hi Capn Jim,

Thanks for your interest in our NoLasses Sorghum Spirit. As you noticed, this product is NOT made from Sugarcane. We do produce two fantastic sugarcane spirits which are legally, Rums.

The NoLasses is a unique spirit. It is made from the cooked syrup of Sweet Sorghum Cane juice, some call that molasses. I have been growing Sweet Sorghum and making molasses from it for years. If you are familiar with the process, you will know that Sweet Sorghum is a grass plant quite similar to sugar cane.

The Sorghum Cane is crushed on a roller mill, extracting a flavorful sweet juice which is then cooked down to a sweet syrup. It is this syrup, or molasses that is the foundation of NoLasses. Sorghum Cane is a traditional southern crop, which provided a sweetener to farm families for years when refined sugar was too expensive or too hard to find.

You are correct that there is no Standard of Identity for a Sorghum Cane spirit. And you are correct that the TTB has assigned me a DSS category. You may be aware of a handful of other Sorghum spirits out there, made not from the grain, but from the cane juice. They have labels ranging from Whiskey to Rum, as well as DSS. The TTB does not seem to apply their standards equally.

Here's my position. We ferment sorghum cane syrup with a rum yeast (isolated from carribbean sugarcane plantation), pot distill it two times, and age in used bourbon barrels. No sweeteners, coloring, nothing else. The flavor has a deep sweetness and a slight grassy/peaty flavor to it. It's incredible. And unfortunately, the public is not well aware of the rich history of Sorghum Cane, and the TTB would not allow me to even use the word Cane on our label.

So we labelled it as they demanded, and describe it to our customers off the label as a Sorghum Rum. I'll stand by that description. Sorghum Cane may be grown across the US, while Sugarcane can only be grown in the deep south. I would not call this simply a Rum, but rather a Sorghum Rum. I believe that a subclass of rum should be created for spirits distilled from 100% sorghum cane juice or syrup that is a Sorghum Rum, much like we have a range of grains that may be labelled as a Whiskey.

I do not believe that honey, or beet sugar, or stevia, or some other non-cane juice fermentable should be called a Rum. But I do believe that not allowing Sorghum to have it's place in the SID is relegating it to the past and dooming it's market potential as a source of excellent craft spirits.

You may not agree, there are rum purists, and I'm fine with that. We make an excellent Amber Rum from raw panela sugar, as well as a fantastic Agricole Rum from fresh pressed SC cane juice. They may be more your style.

thanks!
chris


Chris Jude
Head Distiller"
More later on this, but the transparency and openness is appreciated. My initial reactions:

1. He admits it is not legally a rum, and that the TTB will not allow the label to use the word "Rum", nor to use the word "cane". That's easy - because it's simply not a rum.

2. No matter how you cut it, it's simply not a rum. In his answer, he plays the same game with the word "molasses", and the product's name "NoLasses". Molasses' primary definition is "by-product of refining sugarcane or sugar beets into sugar." The phrase "sorghum molasses" is used colloquially (casually, in conversation, unstudied and informal), but is in no way a correct legal term. Per the Wiki:
"Sweet sorghum syrup may be colloquially called "sorghum molasses" in the southern United States.[3][4][5][6] Similar products include treacle, honey, maple syrup, corn syrup, and invert syrup. Most of these alternative syrups have milder flavors."
Let's be clear: I have used an automotive oil thickener that was called "Motor Oil Honey". And indeed, pouring it from the can, it looked and poured just like real honey. That too is colloquial, capiche?

3. Another false comparison is his noting that sorghum, as in my Motor Oil Honey, is affiliated as a grass that also grows in a "cane". But that too is a VERY loose comparison. Sorghum, like corn, is actually a grain that worldwide is mostly grown for its food value (72% carbohydrates, 4% fat and 11% protein, plus essential dietary vitamins and minerals). Sorghum has the same rough food value as oats. Compare to sugar cane is grown yup, for sugar - a sweetener and condiment, compare to salt. It's food value is minimal.

4. Like the mouse that roared, the distiller wants to formalize "sorghum" spirit as a "rum", and seems upset that the TTP has caused him to label the product as a DSS (Distilled Specialty Spirit). A DSS is so different from rum, whiskey, brandy, tequila - et al - that it rightfully cannot be presented as any of these well known spirits. The marketing flouts the TTB, by strongly implying that "NoLasses" is a kind of rum.

To me, this product is no more a rum than Motor Oil Honey is a honey, but relies on visual and colloquial similarties. It grows in stalks, colloquially called canes. It has a natural sweetness, like honey, beet or corn sugar. A spirit can be made from it. The very same can be said of corn; indeed sorghum is far closer to food grains like corn or oats in almost every way, than it will ever be to legal sugar cane.

Sugar - contained by most fermentables - is not definitive. That it grows in stalks is not definitive. That it's primary use is for food is contradictory. The same goes for "molasses" - whose primary definition is a "byproduct of sugar refining from either sugar cane or beets; other uses of the term are simply conversational or colloquial as well.

5. The distiller tries to reframe the argument against "rum purists", I guess some form of implied elitism. Hardly. The law is the law and despite his fervent plea, sorghum is neither a true and legal "rum", nor a "whiskey", despite the attempts of a handful of very small distillers to claim otherwise. To defend rum has nothing to with "elitism" but everything to do with the law and the long held expectations of generations of both rum and whiskey drinkers.


Flat Ass Bottom Line

The distiller - otherwise very well intended - seems to be playing with words, just as the manufacturer of Motor Oil Honey. It's not a rum, it's never been and will never be. Count on that and as always I speak - not as a "purist", but as a Compleat Idiot who understands the difference...




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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorghum
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molasses
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The Black Tot
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Post by The Black Tot »

He should call it "SORGRHUM"

New word, new category, he can patent it, it pays the homage to the Southern tradition of Sorghum he suggests that he wishes...

Everybody wins.
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Capn Jimbo
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Post by Capn Jimbo »

Leave it to the Tot to solve the dilemma...


...love it, funny. I'd prefer Sorghlooser, lol...
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