I’m just sitting here, drinking some really cheap rum, and wondering why the more expensive version doesn’t burn quite so much. I think that I could probably make some educated guesses (along the lines of: more expensive = better) but i’m wondering if anyone can actually put into words why that is. Thanks in advance
In: Chemistry
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Two reasons, mostly: Distillation process and aging.
During the process of distillation of fermented sugars and water, the first and last compounds to evaporate are not ethanol, these are called heads and tails. Better distillations discards a bigger percentage of heads and tails, which also makes the resulting product more expensive to make.
Aging in barrels and filtering in charcoal allows for some of the more volatile and harsher compounds to evaporate or be captured, while also conferring some of the smokey or wooden flavor of oak. this process takes years, so it obviously increases costs too.
There’s a third reason, which is additives that make the drink smoother. This can be as simple as sugar to clear drinks or caramel to supposedly aged ones like rum or tequila. Glycerin is also sometimes used to add smoothness and an oily texture which you otherwise would only get from aging.
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