What's in Your Rum? — THE TIPSY MUSE

Copalli Distillery visit is the first trip where I learned first hand what sustainability means for the spirits industry. Prior to that, green, organic, and substantiality remained as buzz words and marketing terminology.

Infinity Pool, with Belize Beauty Destiny

Background

Copalli is located in Punta Gorda, southern Belize. Back in 2005, Todd Robinson, a marine conservationist, started buying the property of the surrounding rainforest and partnered with Anya Fernald of Belcamp. Today, through this progressive practice to support both the environment and the local community, over 20.000 acres of land is the home to a luxury Eco-lodge, an organic farm and the recent addition of Copalli Distillery.

Bottle Talk

During the visit, I got to spend a good amount of time with Ed Tiedge, the Master Distiller at Copalli Distillery, to learn about the product and his thought process.

Copalli Rum is made of three things only: heirloom sugar cane juice, canopy water straight from the rainforest, and yeast.

Sugar cane juice has only been used only in Agricole Rhum and Clairin rum so far, which contributes to the grassiness with a hint of sweetness in the rum profile. To get the best sugarcane juice in its freshest form, the sugarcane juice is pressed within 2 hours at the Copalli Distillery instead of the common practice of 12-24 hours.

Belize was a British colony, which is known for fuller body rum as a result of pot still. Copalli's first product, white rum, uses 75% column stills and 25% pot stills, then it rests in stainless steel for six months. This combo results in a very approachable rum but packed with flavors such as fruit notes and a hint of grassiness. It is an excellent introduction to those who are new to big characters such as Agricole Rhum and Clairin.

Another common practice for white rum is called charcoal filtration, it is a way to remove the substances, harsh flavors to "smooth" rum. However, the more you process your distillation, the less character is left in the bottle. Copalli rum doesn’t bother with this process, it is already using all of the purest ingredients, so why bother filtration?

At Copalli, I also had the opportunity to try the barrel-aged rum, 100% pot still then rest in an ex-bourbon cask. It is packed with flavor! While the white rum is very cocktail friendly, it may not stand out in drinks that call for strong and intense flavors, this is where a 100% pot still rum, whether aged or unaged, comes in play.

Sustainability Practices

Copalli takes a zero-impact production practice, that is easier said than done. There are many areas to cover, and it took Copalli four years to figure those out and they still continue to add improvements.

Let’s get to the specifics!

HARVESTING

At Copalli, every sugarcane is cut by hand during the harvest season instead of the more common practice of using cane fires. Cane fire is essentially a flash fire to burn off dried leaves in the field. Because of the high water content in sugar cane, the cane itself and sugar content are intact during the fire. However, this fire generates smoke that is bad for the local community, not to mention the carbon dioxide it releases. By hand cut only, a considerable amount of green materials are left in the field (not burnt) as mulch and fertilizer too.

Richard Brinckmann who is responsible for the farm

WATER MANAGEMENT

Copalli rum is using pure canopy water collected from the rainforest. After distillation, the sugarcane leaves a lot of liquid behind, which is called vinasse. Copalli does two things with it. First, they use it as liquid fertilizer on Copal Tree's farm because of its rich nutrients. Second, they use catchment ponds to neutralize the dirty water through probiotics. What comes from the land goes back to the land.

WASTE MANAGEMENT

Other than vinasse mentioned above, the other waste is the sugarcane fiber, which is used to fuel the boiler. The ash from the boiler provides additional nutrients and helps maintain a favorable PH in the soil.

These are just a few of the many practices from Copalli. My biggest takeaway during the trip is how everyone is responsible for keeping our planet clean, doing our job, and contributing in big and small ways.

Social Responsibility

Last but not least, Copalli contributes to the local community. It employs over 130 people, marking them the largest employer in Southern Belize. Copalli also spends up to 50K on education grants to help local girls to go to high schools.

The trip to Belize and Copalli is a memorable one. When you are so close to nature and seeing all of the lush green, there is a strong feeling of urgency that it is our responsibility to protect the earth and do our part, big or small. As a responsible consumer, perhaps the first question is to ask: What is in your rum?