Still Spirits Jamaican Dark Rum essence, how to use it

What the essence actually does

A dark rum gets its character from molasses and from time in wood, and neither of those is something you can rush at home, which is why the essence exists. Still Spirits Jamaican Dark Rum takes a clean neutral base and puts a dark rum profile straight into it, so you end up with the molasses depth and the oak note without waiting on a barrel that most people don't own anyway.

It's worth being clear about what this is, because the two things get muddled constantly. You're not distilling anything here. You're buying a bottle of neutral spirit or making a base you're licensed to make, and then flavouring it, which is a completely different activity and needs nothing from anybody.

How much to use

The rate is on the bottle and that's the number to work to, because these get reformulated from time to time and a figure written into a blog post doesn't follow along. What I'd add on top of the pack is that a dark rum essence is heavy, so if you're splitting a bottle across more than one batch, measure it rather than pouring by eye.

Stir it right through before you taste it. Essence that hasn't been mixed properly sits in the bottom of the demijohn and gives you a mouthful that tells you nothing about the batch.

Give it a week before you judge it

It keeps changing for a week or two after you add it, and the first glass isn't the one to make decisions on. People taste it on day one, decide it's thin, add more, and then find themselves stuck with something far heavier than they were aiming at. Put it away and come back to it.

What it suits

It has enough body to sip on its own, and it holds up in anything where the rum is meant to be the loud part of the drink. It also does good work in cooking, so a rum glaze or a fruitcake will take it happily.

If you want something lighter and more golden than this, the Jamaican Gold is the other end of the same idea, and plenty of people keep both on the shelf and pick per batch.

Shop related products

• Still Spirits Top Shelf Jamaican Dark Rum Essence 50ml. This is the bottle the post is about.
• Still Spirits Premium Classic Dark Jamaican Rum. Taste this one against the other if you want to compare the two.
• Still Spirits Aussie Gold Rum Spirit Flavouring 50ml. This is the gold profile, lighter than the dark and better in a mixed drink.
• Still Spirits Oak Cask 50ml. Use this when you want more cask character behind the rum.

Did you know we also hold the Sam Willards oak soakers in bourbon and in whiskey, plus a rum one, along with bourbon barrel chips, in the shop where they never make it onto the website. Give us a ring on (08) 8536 4333 to check what's on the shelf.

Where to go next

The homebrew range has the rest of them, and Brewhilder will talk you through what suits the spirit you are making.

Worth reading next: How to flavour a spirit at home with essences and How to store and age a spirit you made at home.

I'm the one who always tips in a bit extra on the first go and then spends the rest of the batch calling it a house style.