Cuba has a long tradition with sugar and rum. Beginning in the 1500s, sugar was cultivated on the island, becoming its biggest export and cash crop. Slaves were brought from Haiti to work the fields, cutting the cane. In the 1700s, as distillation became more prevalent, the crop was used to produce rum, and soon entire villages were created to process the sugar cane and distill it into rum. The sugarcane is crushed to obtain juice, which is then fermented with a mixture of yeast and water.
During this fermentation process the rum is stirred in large vats. The type of yeast used will help determine the final flavor of the rum, with slow acting yeast giving a fuller, richer flavor, whereas faster acting yeast produces a lighter taste. When the fermentation is complete, the liquid is distilled using either a column or pot still. After distillation the rum is transferred to casks for aging. Often wooden barrels are aged, giving the finished rum a darker color and enhanced flavor.
By the early 1800s, Cuba was the second country in the world to have a sophisticated train network, allowing the movement of sugar cane from the fields to the factories and then finished bottles of rum to warehouses for shipment worldwide. The most...
