How To Distill Rum

Learning how to distill rum can be a very rewarding process that could save you some money. You only need a few supplies and some molasses to begin. It may be tricky at first, but many people say that the art of distilling rum at home is worth it once they get the hang of it. 

To distill rum, you will need:

• One part molasses
• One to four parts water
• Fruit for flavoring (optional)
• Oak or stainless steel whiskey barrel
• Pot still
• Yeast

1. Warm the molasses. A sink with hot water works quite well. Warm it just enough so that the molasses becomes liquid. 
2. Make your wash. A wash is your mixture of water and molasses. The amount of water depends on the concentration of sugar in the molasses. Dilute your molasses with hot water so that the entire mixture is about 15% sugar. Typically, this means three or four parts water to one part molasses. Most types of molasses are 50-60% sugar. Let your wash cool. 
3. Add yeast. You can use wine making yeast for this. Hydrate the yeast, then stir it into the wash. 
4. Let it ferment. Your rum mixture needs to sit for 36 hours or up to two weeks so that all the sugar ferments. 
5. Distill the rum. Pour the rum mixture through a clean pot still. Clean the pot still and poor it through again. Clean the pot still again and poor it through one more time. It might not smell like rum at this point. There is one more step to make it taste and smell like rum. 
6. Age the rum. Traditional rum distillers use stainless steel or oak whiskey barrels. The type of barrel you use will determine the final flavor of the rum. Add your favorite fruit during the aging process to flavor the rum. 

Now that you know how to distill rum, get creative. Mix the finished rum product with your favorite spices for better flavor.