In this blog (which I admit isn’t updated anywhere near enough) there are numerous posts about electronics, food and drink. Electronics is fun. Food is fun and drink – surprisingly enough – is also fun…

Let’s have a look at drink though.

I’ve made beer (not a lot and a long time ago), it’s probably something to do again but it always seems such a messy process.)

I’ve made wine and is something that I will certainly do again. It’s a fun but yeah, slower process than beer making, not as messy though.

I’ve made liqueurs, quick and tasty. Tasty and relatively simple. To make though they do tend to require a constant supply of vodka as a base. It gets expensive quickly.

What I haven’t made, until now, is (hypothetically) spirits like rum or gin. Sure, at school we all did the distillation thing and had a giggle at something so subversive but to make the real thing? For yourself. From scratch? For real? Won’t I get arrested?

And that’s kind of the issue…

In some countries, distilling your own spirits is (very) illegal. Some countries (hello New Zealand) it’s perfectly legal. In most countries however, it’s a grey area. It’s (probably) ok for personal use but most certainly not to sell. There may be a permit required and records needed to be kept and shown to the customs and excise man.

There is also the question of safety…

Whilst it’s not difficult to distill your own, it’s very important to do it correctly. Two main hazards spring to mind:

• Methanol poisoning
• Explosions from alcohol vapour.

Couple that with cost of equipment, the potential cost of energy and all the materials, then maybe it’s not like making a bit of tea wine or milk stout. But…

Then again…

Whats life without a challenge?

I will put up a few posts about hypothetically making spirits. Rum in particular. It’s relatively simple to get a reasonable product. It can be done at home and it can be done safely.

A great introduction into a rabbit hole of a hobby 😉

Watch this space for a series of posts on how you could (if you wanted to) make your own rum.