A Place to Remember
Never judge a book by its cover. During my Christmas vacation in 2002, I went on a remarkable site seeing adventure that took me to a factory that was over 200 years old. The River Antoine Rum Factory is found in River Antoine, St. Patrick’s, Grenada. This factory was built during the 16th century in which many slaves worked. As the name suggests, it is where rum, Grenada’s finest, is produced. Even though I was knowledgeable of this site, this place was very interesting and filled with old traditional methods, thus making it the most treasured historical site in my homeland and in my mind.
On that Friday morning, my fellow colleagues and I embarked on a journey to visit some amazing places in Grenada. At first, I thought that this tour was just a waste of my time, but at the end of it I was proud to have been involved in touring these places, especially the rum factory. Some of the sites we visited included a sulfur spring that made my toe rings shine instantly as I stood in its warm water.
We ate at a restaurant that provided hot towels to
sterilize our hands before eating; it was the first time we have experienced
such service.
The morning adventure was exciting and pleasurable, but little did I know that the afternoon would have been even better.
As we drove through the River Antoine Rum Factory’s entrance, I thought ‘that
old building they are taking me to see,’ but then I saw a huge wooden wheel
being propelled by water in the air. I came out of the bus, and around me was
stood aged buildings with workers busy at their job. Our tour guide was a woman.
First, she gave us a brief history of the place, and then we started exploring.
We went to the water wheel, the boiler room, the fermenting chambers, and then
the distillery section where the rum was collected and then bottled. Gallons of
water were diverted from the nearby river into the collecting channel of the
water wheel. The force of the water made the wheel turn at a speed of
approximately forty turns per minute. The propelled wheel was used to haul the
sugar cane which was placed manually along the track of the grinding machine.
The canes were squeezed dry by the iron jaws of the machine, and their juices
ran along the collecting channel unto the boiling room. The dried remains were
placed into a wheelbarrow and placed into tall heaps outside the boiler room
which carpeted the ground.
The boiler room housed four large coppers that were used to boil the cane juice. At the outside of the room, the cane remains were used as fuel which was placed into the fireside by a man using a long fork. He picked the cane straw and shoved it into the pit, again and again… It was overwhelming to see a man doing his job with such joy even though it was in such a hot environment. The first copper received the most heat which decreased along the succeeding coppers. The cane juice boiled with immense rage in the first copper, and then it was stirred and turned over using large wooden bowls with long handles. As we stood on the wooden stairs, three workers scooped the boiling liquid into the second copper, then into the third and so forth at different intervals. The solution was then drained into a channel which went into the fermenting chamber.
We proceeded along a narrow walkway bordered by stone walls where at the top, the fermenting chambers could have been seen. The four fermenting chambers were similar to the boiling coppers in that the cane solution was allowed to remain in each for a certain period of time. However, each chamber was made of concrete walls and floors. The room was filled with the freshness of pure alcohol. The scent came mostly from chamber number four. In it was 100 percent alcohol mixed with water. The fermenting process was a natural one caused by bacteria where small bubbles of gas were emitted along with froth at the top. From the fourth chamber the alcohol solution was sent to the distillery.
The rum was finally made in the distillery where it was evaporated in an enormous steel kettle. The heat source was large logs obtained from the forest. At times, the cane remains were also used. The alcohol vapor was condensed using the water diverted water from the river as well. The alcohol (rum) was then stored in underground chambers. The older rum was utilized first, but it was sampled to ensure finest in taste before bottling.
I was thrilled when we were told that we would actually taste the rum. The rum
was pumped up into a jar and small quantities were placed in plastic glasses. I
speedily took a glass, and then slowly drained the crystal clear rum into my
mouth. The taste was like no other rum I’d tasted before. It was smooth and
light. After swallowing, I was shocked at how fast the rum evaporated off my
tongue and left a fresh sensation in my mouth. This rum had lived up to its
reputation as being the best rum in the world.
As I departed, I was still in amazement by how such a small workforce of family and friends made such fine rum. I then figured the secret of the factory: it was the methods being used to allow the rum to naturally ferment and mature. Even though I thought that the River Antoine Rum factory was just another old place, my involvement in its tour made me see that it was an interesting place. The rum factory showed me that looks can be deceiving.
Copyright 2003
Property of Stacey Paryag