Ti Punch

Rhum JM

Another rum distillery we visited in Martinique was Rhum JM.  Located on the very northern end of the island, Rhum JM does not see as many visitors as the other distilleries.

Rhum JM’s operation did not seem as advanced, nor its capacity as large as some of the other distilleries on the island such as St. James, which we also visited.

When we arrived the first thing we noticed was the smell.  Whatever they were pumping into that pond was bad, really bad.  We hurried into their air conditioned and smell proof museum/tasting room.  All of the signage on the displays was in French and tours were not available.  So, that only left tasting.

In French with limited English, our hostess recommended we try the national drink of Martinique, a Ti Punch, pronounced “tea pauncchh.”  Ti Punch is short for “Petit Punch,” meaning a “small punch.”  Because the drink is strongly alcoholic, I question whether they are talking about its size or effect.

“Chacun prepare sa proper”

(Each prepares his own death)

Traditionally, instead of serving a mixed drink the bartender or host will place out the ingredients, and everyone will prepare the drink to his or her own taste.  Let’s begin.

Pour a small amount (about 2 tablespoons) of cane syrup into a small tumbler.  Sugar can be used, but the syrup makes for a better drink.

Two ounces of rhum agricole are added to the glass.  Rhum agricole is rum made from squeezed sugar cane instead of molasses.  White rum is traditional, but many of us less indoctrinated prefer rum that has been aged a little.  White rum can be a bit rough around the edges.

Roll a fresh lime around on a hard surface to release the juice, cut in half and squeeze into the glass.

Next, using your “Bois Lele,” a multipronged swizzle stick, mix the ingredients.  Using a spoon is not acceptable.

Traditionally, Ti Punch is consumed neat (sans ice), but we Americans have to have ice in everything.

This posting dedicated to Rahel, a true Ti Punch aficionado.

See: http://habibisails.blogspot.com/

Road Trip

Volkswagen Up a.k.a. Street Legal Go-cart

While anchored of Fort De France, Martinique, we rented a car at the local Budget office.  Martinique is a good place to explore.  It is a rather large island, the roads are in good shape, there is signage, they drive on the left, and they are not too crazy.

Using an older Lonely Planet guidebook, our first stop (of course) was a butterfly farm on the northwest side of the island.

Unfortunately it was closed on Mondays.  A piece of information that was missing from our guidebook. 

Our next stop was Rhum Depaz distillery.  It was open.

We now have visited so many distilleries, they let me give the tours.  Here is where the sugar cane is grown that is used to make the rum.  Each year at Depaz 250 hectares of cane is harvested over a 5 month period.

The 1902 eruption of Mt. Pelee that wiped out St. Pierre, also took the original Depaz plantation and distillery.  By 1932, the surviving member of the family had rebuilt and was back in production.  The water used in making Depaz rum is filtered through the volcanic rock deposited by the 1902 eruption making it the finest water for rum production.

Sorry but, the Depaz family plantation home is not part of the tour.

The cane is hauled to the crusher in wagons pulled by tractors.  In this case a John Deer, reminding me of my days in Kansas.

Rhum Depaz is an equal opportunity tractor buyer.  A Volvo tractor?  Does the driver have to wear Birkenstocks?

Here is a brand that I am not familiar with.  It is probably made by Peugeot.  But, I digress, back to the tour.

In 1932 the crusher was water powered.

Today, these large boilers power most of the equipment at Rhum Depaz.

Depaz does not have their fermentation tanks on display.  Too bad, that is Pollie’s favorite part.  She likes the smell.

The distillation process is however on display and quite impressive.  25000 liters of rum are produced each day at Rhum Depaz.

Rhum Depaz incorporates a state of the art quality control system on their distillation to ensure a consistent product.

Here one of my colleagues double checks the product to ensure Rhum Depaz’s high quality.

The rum is then placed in charred oak barrels for aging.  With my employee discount, we purchased a bottle that was aged for 12 years.

Thank you for taking the Depaz Distillery tour.  Please stop at the tasting room to sample Rhum Depaz.  Now I have to get back to work.

Habitation Clement

No, Habitation Clement is not a golf course, even though its grounds are better manicured than most.  It is a sugar plantation and distillery.

Beyond the manicured area are acres of sugar cane and banana trees.

The plantation, Mahogany, was purchased by Homer Clement (born in Trinidad in 1852) in 1887 following the sugar crisis of 1880.  Homer Clement, a physician and politician, did not start producing Rhum Clement until 1917.  After Homer’s death in 1923 his son Charles Clement (1901 – 1973) continued operations and modernized the distillery.

Animal powered cane crusher

The distillery process for Rhum Clement has been moved into modern facilities, but the original equipment has been preserved and is on display throughout the grounds of Habitation Clement.

An impressive part of the display was the steam powered cane crusher that replaced the animal powered crusher.

After the pressure from the steam was used to power equipment, the heat from the steam was used in the distillation process.

Originally, cane from the fields was brought to the distillery via steam powered rail tractors.  Evidently, the cane must be quickly processed after harvest so as to retain the sugar content.

After World War II, the Marshall Plan introduced le GMC to replace the rail tractors.

The aging process in oak barrels was the only part of the process that was on the tour.  By Martinique standards, “old rum” must stay in the barrels at least 3 years.  Rhum Clement is aged for 3, 8 and 10 years.  The smell of alcohol in these buildings is very strong.  About 8% of the volume of the barrel is lost each year to evaporation through the oak and is replaced with rum of the same age. 

Today, the property is a heritage site and part of the Clement Foundation that supports contemporary art exhibits.  In 1991 the site was chosen to host the Presidents Francois Mitterrand and George Bush following the Gulf War.

And, they make some really good rum.

Rivers Rum Distillery

Established in 1785, Rivers Rum is the oldest distillery on Grenada.

The process starts with bundles of sugar cane.

The bundles are fed to the crusher via a conveyor belt.

Both the conveyor belt and the crusher are powered by a water wheel driven by a diverted stream.

Sugar Cane Crusher

Rivers Rum has not suffered much modernization since 1785.

Once all of the juice is removed from the cane, it is returned to the fields as mulch.

The cane juice is delivered to the boiling house via a wooden guttering system.

In the boiling house the cane juice is processed into syrup by being boiled in a sequence of copper pots and with the addition of lime as a purifier and to achieve the proper acidity.

The syrup is then placed in a tank and allowed to cool.

After two days, it is pumped upstairs to the tanks where the fermentation process occurs using yeast from the atmosphere.

The fermented juice is sent to the distillery which has three sections, the boiler, the vaporizer and the condenser.

All of the heat used in the process is produced by burning wood.

The final stage, bottling and crating, is all done by hand.

Rivers Rum does not have facilities for aging in casks so all they offer is light or flavored rum.  Their rum has a very high alcohol content.  I would rate it one step above moonshine, but their distillery was a fascinating step back in time.