DIY Spiced Rum Recipe

By
Updated August 09, 2018

Many commercial spiced rums use the spices to cover up inferior rum. At home, you can create a more elegant and bold version, tailored to your taste.

Experimenting with flavors and honing your personal recipe is pretty simple—taste the mixture every day, and if a flavor is too dominant, remove that ingredient and keep steeping the rest.

Notes: Sample the mixture every day to ensure you like the flavor mix. It may be necessary to remove a flavoring item early to prevent it from taking over. You may even want to add more of an ingredient you like, although I would recommend waiting until the last day to do that. The reason for breaking up the spices is to be able to remove a small portion to adjust flavor if needed. You can use all light rum instead of a combination of light and gold.

Recipe Details

DIY Spiced Rum Recipe

Active 10 mins
Total 0 mins
Serves 28 servings
Makes 3 1/2 cups

Ingredients

  • 1 orange

  • 1 vanilla bean

  • 1 star anise pod

  • 3 cups light rum

  • 1/2 cup gold rum

  • 1 cinnamon stick

  • 2 cloves

  • 3 allspice berries

  • 2 cardamom pods

  • 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg

  • 1/8-inch thin slice of ginger, roughly the size of a nickel

  • 3 black peppercorns

Directions

  1. Zest half of the orange using a zester or peeler, making sure there is no white pith. Split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape into a sealable glass jar or bottle, then cut into smaller segments. Break up the anise with a mortar and pestle or by pressing with a spoon. Add these along with all other ingredients into the jar or bottle, cover and shake.

  2. Let steep for two days, then sample to see if any flavor adjustments are needed (remove anything that seems to be taking over the flavor). Shake daily. Continue to steep and adjust for up to five days total, until desired flavor is achieved. I recommend removing the ginger on the second or third day, as it releases flavor more quickly than other items.

  3. Once desired flavor is achieved, strain through a fine-mesh sieve to remove the larger items and then strain again through a coffee filter into a bottle.

Special equipment

Zester or peeler, fine-mesh strainer and coffee filter

This Recipe Appears In

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
65Calories
0gFat
0gCarbs
0gProtein
×
Nutrition Facts
Servings: 28
Amount per serving
Calories65
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 0g0%
Saturated Fat 0g0%
Cholesterol 0mg0%
Sodium 1mg0%
Total Carbohydrate 0g0%
Dietary Fiber 0g0%
Total Sugars 0g
Protein 0g
Vitamin C 0mg0%
Calcium 1mg0%
Iron 0mg0%
Potassium 3mg0%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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