Post #783204 by Prikli Pear on Thu, Jan 18, 2018 8:09 PM

I'm resurrecting this topic because I think there should be a dedicated thread to our various infused rum efforts, sharing different recipes, what works, doesn't, etc. Searching through the archives, I found this passion fruit-infused rum thread, which I'm totally going to attempt once I grow enough passion fruit, and this more recent pineapple-infused rum thread, which was interesting, but limited in scope.

Myself, I'm making a jackfruit-infused rum. If you've ever had jackfruit--which simply looks intimidating--you know this is where they got the inspiration for Juicy Fruit gum from. Only jackfruit's flavor is more intensely tropical. The first time I ever tasted it, I knew I wanted to incorporate it into a cocktail somehow. But there are few recipes online for jackfruit cocktails, and one I found said to muddle it. Jackfruit arils are very firm and rubbery, not juicy at all. It don't muddle. So I decided to infuse.

This is where some of you rum aficionados might want to look away. Because I'm using Castillo. Look, it was my go-to silver Puerto Rican mixer before I discovered Cruzan at the same price point. I think it's better than parent Bacardi--at least it's not pretending to be vodka. I wanted a light rum where the jackfruit flavor would show through, yet also retain a sense of being rum. It is what it is. So sue me.

To free up more juice, I froze the jackfruit arils. This worked well. The cell membranes burst, releasing juice and sugar. The fruit didn't get mushy like a peach or strawberry, but was dramatically softer and less structured. I divided the fruit up into three batches of a little less than a pound, blending it to a rough consistency with a cup of rum.

That's almost three pounds of jackfruit infusing into 1.75L of silver rum. There's a significant amount of sugar going into the rum, which I hadn't considered when starting this. I use fruit often in my homebrew projects, but the sugar's always converted to alcohol by the yeast, leaving only the (dry) fruit flavor. No yeasts at work in a spirit. I started the infusion on Monday, and plan to filter and bottle it this weekend. It's in the refrigerator, where I agitate it daily to keep things stirred up. The aroma is fantastic, and the tastes I've taken have been quite encouraging. It's a flavor bomb. It's also noticeably sweeter than your average rum, so cocktail recipes will need to be adjusted accordingly.

In hindsight, three pounds of fruit is probably overkill. Half that amount likely would've been just fine. Regardless, I'm optimistic that this is going to be something worth repeating in the future.