what Was, what Is, and what Will Be

As one might expect, taking college students to a rum factory is akin to throwing a bunch of children into a candy store that has unlimited free samples and abandoning them for a bit while you go read a book.  OK, it wasn’t that chaotic, but you see the potential.  The morning was actually filled with a lot of learning, with topics ranging from the history of the factory and the process of distillation to a brief foray into, oddly enough, a large rare butterfly collection.  Since I took notes on what the guide was saying (surprise), here’s a brief synopsis of the tour.

The House of Angostura produces a wide variety of rum types including light, golden, and dark as well as fruity punch mixes and the ever powerful puncheon rum.  These drinks are not widely distributed outside of the country, if at all, but the most famous export from this distillery are the Angostura bitters.  The company is nearly 200 years old, with roots that go back all the way to a German Surgeon-General by the name of Dr. Siegert traipsing around the Venezuelan jungle.  By 1824, he had developed a remedy for stomach aches and other digestive issues that had been plaguing soldiers in the country.  These bitters are made from a secret concoction of herbs and spices collected from Venezuela which are shipped to England to be sorted and ground together (called marrying), then shipped back to Trinidad, percolated with alcohol to extract the flavors and chemicals, mixed with sugars and other flavors, then let sit for a period of time to concentrate.  The final product has been used as a general health tonic, an addition to the quinine-delivering tonic water, and most commonly as a mixer in cocktails.  The Angostura bitters with its iconic packaging, a small bottle with an over-sized label, is a staple of bartenders all over the world.  Check out this clip discussing the great bitter shortage of 2009.

Among the sights at the distillery is a huge museum of over 8,000 butterflies from all over the world.  This collection was  bought from its owner to be kept by Angostura for the people of Trinidad and Tobago.  A very odd, but very cool, addition to the tour.  A walk and a trolley took us through parts of the distillation process, to the receiving areas for the molasses which is shipped in by the tanker load (oh man, did that smell great), and to the Rube-Goldberg like bottling plant.

We were also reminded that Trinidad is a former British colony, as the House of Angostura holds a “royal warrant”, which is “the prestigious distinction awarded by royal grace and favour, to firms whose products are excellent and of the highest standard of quality” according to the Angostura website.  The distillery was visited by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 1985, but she did not use the special lou that was constructed just for her (the red roofed building below).

After the tour, we were given a chance to taste all the wonderful products that we learned about that day.  Needless to say, it was a good time.  The last stop was the gift store, where a large supply of potential good times was secured by the students for the rest of the trip.  Once the stragglers were coaxed out of the shop, we got some food to go, and were whisked off to our next destination, the Pointe-a-Pierre Wild Fowl Trust, more on that in my next installation.

Thanks again to the students for the pictures, I evidently was saving my snap happiness for the afternoon’s bird filled festivities.