I continue to work, albeit slowly, on developing my private label rum brand called Naked in Jamaica based on the song I wrote and recorded of the same name and have blogged about before.
Aging in an Oak Barrel
In pursuing the blend we tried aging some in an oak barrel for six months, tasting samples every month for six months. In the end, it wasn’t conducive for a flavored rum such as Naked in Jamaica, which is actually great as it shortens the time in bringing the product to market. I continue to play with the blending but it takes time, for once you blend something it takes about a month to “marry,” allowing all the ingredients to blend together into a smooth taste. I’ve learned that blending is an art, not a science, for you don’t know how the different ingredients will react and affect the flavor when you put them together. We’ve received approval for the basic blend and the next step is to get approval for the labeling on the bottle, which has to meet certain requirements.
Chef Kermit doing some sampling of his own!
One fun thing I got to do was participate in an event called Cooking Men. I got to be Chef Kermit at a charitable fund-raiser where about 60 different members of the community supplied some kind of dish for the attendees paying to sample the different food stations. Fantasy of Flight chef, Cory Reynolds, came up with a Naked in Jamaica infused desert topped with a to-die-for rum sauce. We made way more than they required and ran out early! Hopefully, that’s a premonition of things to come!
Kermit