The Great Sugar Test! Reasons YOU should participate!

The adulteration of spirits, especially rum, with sugar and other unlabeled additives is not new. Thanks to ALKO, the Swedes a few rums were finally revealed. Then came the amazing Johnny Drejer whose pioneering method changed the whole ball game. Distillers can no longer hide their illegal and deceptive use of sugar. Read all about it and see if your rum has been altered...
Locked

Will you sign, er I mean will you participate in The Great Project Sugar Test?

Yes, of course. I really, really care and want to make a difference.
3
75%
Maybe, I'm not sure I can follow simple instructions.
1
25%
No, like Dave Russell, I trust the distillers to follow the law.
0
No votes
 
Total votes: 4

User avatar
Capn Jimbo
Rum Evangelisti and Compleat Idiot
Posts: 3550
Joined: Mon Dec 11, 2006 3:53 pm
Location: Paradise: Fort Lauderdale of course...
Contact:

The Great Sugar Test! Reasons YOU should participate!

Post by Capn Jimbo »

And it's easy...


...and inexpensive. How inexpensive? How about $13.36 for two hydrometers/alcoholmeters (30-40 and 40-50%), a 100ml measuring cylinder ($1.99) and a thermometer in degrees Centigrade (1.49).

Total delivered: $16.84!

Now THAT constitutes cheap thrills. Please know that this equipment was reviewed with Johnny Drejer: the two hydrometers will test literally almost all of the spirits you'd want to test, and with accuracy comparable to Johnny's.

If that's too much, I recommend the "Starter Kit" (below) for $7, plus a 50ml test cylinder for $1.99, total of just $9 delivered. I have this kit - it's quite accurate enough for good home testing. The kit includes 3 readable hydrometers to test all your spirits, a thermometer and a correction table. I'd guess it's accurate to about 1 or 2 grams, which is fine.

Here's why you MUST do this:

1. You care about the issue of unlabelled sugar and cheating by the distillers.

2. It's VERY inexpensive.

3. It's really easy peasy. Even a monkey can do this.

4. You can report your findings to the Project, where I will gather and post your results and give you credit for your contribution to honesty and transparency.

5. Your findings will benefit many, many other people and finally help bring this issue to a head.



Flat Ass Bottom Line

Yup, those are some mighty good reasons. I KNOW we all care, but until now all we could do was complain and/or rely on ALKO and the Swedes. Along came the brilliant Johnny Drejer and what is truly a paradigm shattering method easily available to all of us.

We no longer have to wait for other sources to test, Nope, by all of us joining in - and with our massive personal collections - we can dramatically increase the number of tests available for the world to consider before buying yet another phonied up "premium" product.

I'm particularly excited about finally addressing the widespread denial in re Canadian Whiskey.


Who's in? Please post either way and why?
Last edited by Capn Jimbo on Tue Dec 29, 2015 8:49 am, edited 18 times in total.
User avatar
The Black Tot
Admiral
Posts: 282
Joined: Thu Aug 21, 2014 6:45 pm
Location: Houston TX and Caterham, UK

Post by The Black Tot »

Of course I will help.

However, most of my life is lived out of a suitcase at present, and also in environments where alcohol is banned, so it's going to take some time for me to get to the point where I have time for experiments.

I was already thinking about this, but it could be well into the summer before my first measurements show up.

I am nonetheless on board and I've probably got some rums by now that haven't been done yet. Stay tuned.
Mrspragoo
Cabin Boy
Posts: 22
Joined: Sun Aug 10, 2014 8:14 pm
Location: western n.y. state

Post by Mrspragoo »

I am in a very similar situation as black tot. But when I do get home I will gladly go through my growing collection and post my results.
User avatar
Capn Jimbo
Rum Evangelisti and Compleat Idiot
Posts: 3550
Joined: Mon Dec 11, 2006 3:53 pm
Location: Paradise: Fort Lauderdale of course...
Contact:

Post by Capn Jimbo »

Pragoo and Tot...


Tx for your post and commitments. It won't take all that many of us to make a HUGE public difference. Let's say 5 or 10 of us participate. I know that a number of us have some rather large collections, and together we probably have most of the rums being sold in the world.

Together, our collections are massive.

With such easy peasy testing, and publishing on a common database this will mean that the world's rum drinkers will finally have a massive database of estimated sugar content to consult.


But aren't we just amateurs?

Of course some will say our testers aren't professional, and Drejer's protocol isn't perfect but I'd counter those. Although the Great Rum Test listings will carry a disclaimer that these "tests" were done by members and may be subject to error, I tend to think that most readers will still find great value in them. If a particular rum gets a strange result, it will be retested.

Further, the brilliance of Drejer's method is that he ran his tests in comparison to the precise tests of ALKO - plus also testing known sugar solutions he created - and guess what? The method is remarkably accurate. Please recall that Richard Seales also feels the hydrometer method is quite competent is enough. Personally I don't care if the reading is 3g or 3.2g - but I do care if it's 30g, capish?

A good example is Johnny himself with Pussers. The Pussers most of us buy shows 6 grams, but the special issues (like the 15 and decanter versions) seem to have notably more sugar. He is scrupulous, and even he is mystified at this, but in his case the tests stand. Whether his test bottle actually had more sugar, or just more wood and other extracts or components that showed up as sugar, or whether those bottles were aberrations, you can be sure other members willthen test their 15's or decanters to verify his readings.

That's the beauty of Johnny's method - by being available to all of us, we can easily test our own bottles to confirm or deny odd readings. Now that's sweet!
Last edited by Capn Jimbo on Wed Sep 16, 2015 4:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.
da'rum
Minor God
Posts: 957
Joined: Wed Aug 29, 2012 7:09 pm

Post by da'rum »

i will if and when I buy something to drink.
in goes your eye out
User avatar
Capn Jimbo
Rum Evangelisti and Compleat Idiot
Posts: 3550
Joined: Mon Dec 11, 2006 3:53 pm
Location: Paradise: Fort Lauderdale of course...
Contact:

A Paradigm Change: Alterations Days are Numbered

Post by Capn Jimbo »

All thanks to Johhny Drejer...


As you know the last year has seen a sea change in the world of deception, dishonesty and the adulteration of rum. Yes, of course we are faced with these negatives:

1. The Big Three and the subsidies - in their third year are really killing Caribbean rum. They now control over 90% of the shelves and 100% of the prime, eye level shelves, now filled with altered, sugared crap.

2. Even Mount Gay and El Dorado have been affected.

3. There are ever more "new" issues, faux-premiumization, and even more widespread use of sugar.

But until now the average rum lover could do nothing more about it beyond complaining and outing the relatively few rums tested by ALKO and the Swedes. Although even that had an impact, it was the appearance of Johnny Drejer and his tests that changed the game as we knew it, not just because he's tested and reported a greater number of rums but much more importantly...


He created a super-easy, inexpensive and relatively accurate method and protocol that anyone - even the monkeys - can perform...

That's right, this paradigm change means that testing - for the first time ever - has now been decentralized and made possible for all to do. Although we tried to set up such a method, we failed - but thank the godz, Johnny has succeeded brilliantly. Better yet, Johhny and I are now in an extended email exchange wherein he has detailed his method, how and why it works, the proof, and recommended the minimal equipment needed for all of us - you and I - to perform these tests on our own collections!


Why is this important?


As a group of very concerned rum lovers, together we here at the Project as a group have a huge mutual collection of rum. It falls on each of us to make the minimal investment (about $17) for each of us to test the rums in our personal collections, and to email the results to the Project.

The Project in turn will organize and report them, with each rum credited to the tester(s), summarized and reported along with ALKO, the Swedes, Drejer and now The Great Rum Test by all of us, representing the public. The result will be that almost no distiller will be able to hide any longer behind a compliant TTB, thankful that their rum has not yet been tested by ALKO or the Swedes. Chances are one of us owns that rum, and can test it. This is decentralization at its best.

It puts the power back into our own hands. For the first time we can do something important for ourselves and for rum lovers everywhere. Such a huge and easily accessible database will have tremendous impact, and quickly. If anything will promote the production of pure and unadulterated rums, this is it.


Flat Ass Bottom Line


This can only happen if you participate. At this writing, already four of us have committed to this worthy project in just the first day. As all of our regulars pitch in, and results start being posted, you can be sure rum lovers everywhere will take note and join in. Remember, the world of rogue rum is a small one. Change is coming and coming much more quickly, thanks to Johnny Drejet and his tremendous breakthrough.

Please be part of the solution, or forever hold your peace...
User avatar
Capn Jimbo
Rum Evangelisti and Compleat Idiot
Posts: 3550
Joined: Mon Dec 11, 2006 3:53 pm
Location: Paradise: Fort Lauderdale of course...
Contact:

Post by Capn Jimbo »

Late breaking news...


The Fat Rum Pirate has agreed to order the equipment and to start testing and reporting sugar in all his new reviews. I assume that like me, he may revisit his collection of 90 rums.

Kudo's to the Pirate. The Great Sugar Test is on...
User avatar
Capn Jimbo
Rum Evangelisti and Compleat Idiot
Posts: 3550
Joined: Mon Dec 11, 2006 3:53 pm
Location: Paradise: Fort Lauderdale of course...
Contact:

Post by Capn Jimbo »

Add Mama...


Mama has recently expanded his capabilities by purchasing the semi-precision hydro's and will soon be posting his results, which will immediately be incorporated in the master list.

Rum lovers everywhere will be thankful. I sure am...
Locked