I’ve never been into the alcohol. As you can see in many videos of mine (take “Roni takes a shot“, for one), it just isn’t my thing. But I’ve always been interested in how alcoholic drinks are made, both on the backend and mixology fronts. And strangely enough, while I’ve always thought that even the smell of beer was repugnant, I actually am curious to try Newport Storm’s blueberry beer again. Crisp and light. Nothing like the piss smell that I normally associate with beer.
Going to Newport Storm allowed me to see some of the process behind making rum. After tasting each of the different steps along the way (and trying some of the beers), I went back to see the aging rum barrels. I gleefully exclaimed that I felt like I was on a pirate ship.
The whole experience was exactly what I pictured. A knowledgeable, friendly tour guide (in the form of Lindsay), tasting of different products and a thorough explanation of how it all went down.
You can see a video of my experience below.
Some things I learned:
- The rum comes out of the still at 180 proof (90% alcohol).
- It’s proofed to 108, added to oak barrels and aged 2 years. The flavor and color come the from barrel, which are used bourbon barrels.
- The oaky smoke of the rum comes from the barrel, which is charred on the interior. Vanilla is a natural chemical in oak wood, which can be tasted in the rum.
- After 2 years, it’s taken out of the barrel, filtered and labelled from the individual barrel number. Each rum is only from one barrel.
