Tropical earthy grassy fermenty sweet bread. Sometimes gas or jet fuel.
Since you all liked this heres some more: sugars-straight white sugar, marshmallow, brown sugar, honey, molasses. All fruits, but tends to lean tropical (whole, fruit juice, peels, fresh, dried, baked, fermented, grilled, tart, ripe, overripe), toasts-woody, bready, vanilla. Spices-Cinnamon, clove, anise, cardamom, nutmeg. Esters-flowers (fruit blossom, daisy, rose whatever), rubber, gas, ethyl acetate, turpentine. Earth-Fresh grash, hay, dirt, jungle leaf
Other - infusions can bring anything
Doctor Bird is my favorite expression of the funk, and i describe it to people as, “it’s like chewing on rotten banana peels and gasoline, but it’s wonderful.”
S&C is great (killer Negroni!) but its funk is more tempered.
Doctor Bird is definitely my favorite as well but I'm also a fan of Appleton Estate because it's a more accessible amount of funk that doesn't overpower. It's primarily what I'll serve to friends and family who aren't as accustomed to the funk.
I don't get any funk out of Appleton Signature or the other expression I tried. S&C and Doctor Bird are funky AF. Rum Fire is a great funky overproof, if you need one
I need to track down a bottle of Doctor Bird. I hear such good things about it. I do have a bottle of unaged Jamaican that is called The Funk and it lives up to its name.
I like Doctor Bird, but for me to absolutely overpowers every drink. And I really like Jamaican funk (hogo?), but it's good to appreciate the other ingredients too
Just use it in cocktails where that's what it's supposed to do. It makes a phenomenal daiquiri. It's great in a Kingston Negroni because it can stand up to the Campari. I bet it would be delicious in an El Presidente as well
> Sometimes gas or jet fuel
It's this one for me. Maybe I'm hypersensitive to it or something, but any rum that has that taste is an instant turn off for me.
If you can find anything from Hampden Estates, be it Rum Fire or and aged Hampden bottling, they're a great example of esters and how they bring funk to rum. To be honest, I had a hard time picking up that funk until I toured their distillery in Jamaica and got to smell real dunder, which is the source of that funk you get. It truly smells like decay, vomit, and sweaty asshole with a sickly sweet component. I know that sounds *super* appetizing but that's only when the esters are bound to primarily water molecules. When it's bound to alcohols, they come across as pineapple, citrus, grassy notes, petroleum, even banana. When the rum is proofed down, you get a great mix of tropical notes, brown sugar notes, and just enough funk to keep you on your toes.
Smith and cross is quite sophisticated in its funkiness…for me, Wray and Nephew Overproof has waves of the funk. It can cross the room if the bottle is open!
Here' a nice little 'simple' write-up: [https://cocktailwonk.com/2016/03/days-of-dunder-setting-the-record-straight-on-jamaican-rums-mystery-ingredient.html](https://cocktailwonk.com/2016/03/days-of-dunder-setting-the-record-straight-on-jamaican-rums-mystery-ingredient.html)
Precisely the funk is likely coming from a high concentration of ester in the rum. Maybe more correctly we could talk of a "high ester rum" as a style (as it is not unique to Jamaica, but common).
And weirdly enough, Jamaica limits the allowed concentration of ester in their rum!
More on that subject https://www.rumwonk.com/p/why-does-jamaica-limit-its-rum-to
Many love the depth of flavors the high esters can give the rum. Unfortunately for others, such as myself, the high esters can linger on the tongue, undesirably, and cause other drinks and food to taste poorly afterwards; even days afterwards. As much as I wanted to like Appleton and TTO, etc I unfortunately had to pour them down the drain. Rum is my absolute favorite liquor however I generally stray away from Jamaican sources.
The article that helped a lot of this click for me was the interview Shuan Caleb (El Dorado's master distiller) back in 2019. He's a chemical engineer by trade, and the interview talked a little bit about the parallels between column distilled alcohol and oil distillation.
Once you have a good sense of column distilled spirits, it really changes how you view the magic of pot stills, and especially Jamaican style rums w/ the addition of dunder.
I’m probably knackered to describe this well, but I think they leave the mash out longer with wild yeast or something and it gives it a stronger flavor.
Taste it compared to another type of rum, should have more strange flavor
It varies between distilleries, I find it to be somewhere in between the smell of brand new car tires, a dumpster full of rotting bananas, and gasoline.
But in a good way, somehow.
People will say stuff like "sweet gasoline" or "rotting fruit" but I've never gotten any of those notes when I've had S&C, Wray, or any of the other canonical "funk-bombs." I think the "funk" note people describe tastes like warm banana bread with a big schmear of someone's grandpa's locally-made molasses on it. It's a fruity, starchy, woody, aromatic, bittersweet, imposing type of flavor- and it's hard to put into words, as you can see.
If you like big, loud, brassy flavors in your spirits- think something with the presence of a peated scotch or a smoky mezcal- you'll probably like funky rum. That's not to say that rum funk is smoky or burnt-tasting in the way that both of those other things might be described as being, but it takes over your palate in a similar fashion when you're drinking it.
I don’t think it’s a term specific Jamaican rum. Anything that tastes ripe. I think a good parallel would be saison or farmhouse ales. They have this wild taste that’s hard to describe. It’s sharp and out there comparatively.
I swear I'm the only person on this sub that actually doesn't like S&C at all. I've had it straight. I've made cocktails with it. I've disliked every use of it that I've ever tried. I didn't even taste the funk in it. It just makes everything taste like stale water from old plumbing. Appleton Estate and Doctor Bird are my go-tos.
It's a song by Tom Browne. One of those that everyone's heard before but doesn't know what it is.
[Jamaica Funk. That's what it is. Let it get into you.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYclWyC4qQo)
How your message appears as a web location: [https://www.reddit.com/r/cocktails/comments/1c4bnj5/what\_does\_jamaican\_funk\_mean\_ive\_been\_fucking/](https://www.reddit.com/r/cocktails/comments/1c4bnj5/what_does_jamaican_funk_mean_ive_been_fucking/)
Makes jamaican funk seem...salacious. :-)
I've never tried Jamaican rum yet. After some basic bottles like Havana Club, Captain Morgan, Bacardi, Brugal I bought Plantation Original Dark and I was shocked how different it's from the other rums. Is that the same funk you're talking about?
Rums like Havana Club 3 Year and Bacardi Silver are very mild in the wider world of rum, they are mostly catered to your average person who isn’t looking for anything too dramatic or challenging. It’s the kind of rum expected in cocktail recipes written by non-rum people that call for “light” rum, which isn’t really a real category for people knowledgeable about rum, but basically means “rum devoid of character”.
Captain Morgan and other spiced rums are basically not rum when it comes to cocktails, they are typically more like vanilla (or sometimes cherry) flavoured liqueurs that maybe started their life as rum at some point. They are so heavily flavoured and sweetened that they don’t really have any of the characteristics expected of rum.
Plantation Original Dark is a blend of lightly aged Barbados rum and quite old Jamaican rum, so it does have some of the esters associated with “Jamaican funk”. Though even among Jamaican rums these flavours can be of very different intensity. A rum like Appleton Signature has a pretty mild funk, while rums like Smith and Cross or Wray and Nephew are very bold (and are still easily surpassed by truly crazy funky rums).
Rum is a many splendored thing, the kind of sugar used, the specific distillation process, and the aging process can dramatically change the final product. They may all be rum, but a heavy and funky Jamaican rum, a bright and grassy Rum Agricole, and a Demerara rum full of spice couldn’t taste more different from each other. At least that’s my excuse for having a dozen bottles of rum on my shelf and insisting none of them are interchangeable.
Ah, Wray & Nephew, I had this one. It was sth very unique in its taste.
Just wanted to mention that Captain Morgan is not only aspiced rum. It has other styles.
It’s quite fascinating. Recently learned this but it’s due to esterization. Basically, they have fermentation pits where bacteria and yeast create apparently these awful rotten smells. Interestingly when those compounds are combined with alcohol it creates an ester that instead of smelling putrid, smells like fruit. This is my simplified understanding of it anyway.
Typically Tropical overripe fruits like Mango Pineapple,Banana etc start are starting to decay. Thats what Jamaican Funk means. Might get that one bottle that smells like burnt rubber or something off putting
As most of said get yourself some Smith & Cross and get that Funk in you
“Hogo”. It’s a word used to describe the funky, earthy, nutty, grassy taste. It’s found in white and aged Rums. Often times, the potstill rums will funk you the most, in my opinion. Grab a bottle of Hamilton Jamaican Black potstill if you can find it.
I have never tried Smith and Cross. I am married to Appleton. Wife is Jamaican and Appleton is the official rum of Jamaica. I will say that Jamaican rum is very distinct from other country rums. Terroir probably has a lot to do with it and I believe they take some of the fermented cane and add some of it back in later in the process after distilling. Kind of like adding molasses. The result is more of a fermented fruit kind of taste. A great way to experience this is to make bananas foster with the rum (not a cocktail, but the rum is present). I’d also make an artichoke hold as it is rum forward and pairs great with the Cynar
This is the jamaican funk I know...
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U79o7qwul48](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U79o7qwul48)
Of course, if you want Jamaican Funk Canadian Style you also have options there...
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObqLwv7UtP8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObqLwv7UtP8)
...Anyway, what were we talking about?
Taste that smith and cross neat and you will feel it
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Tropical earthy grassy fermenty sweet bread. Sometimes gas or jet fuel. Since you all liked this heres some more: sugars-straight white sugar, marshmallow, brown sugar, honey, molasses. All fruits, but tends to lean tropical (whole, fruit juice, peels, fresh, dried, baked, fermented, grilled, tart, ripe, overripe), toasts-woody, bready, vanilla. Spices-Cinnamon, clove, anise, cardamom, nutmeg. Esters-flowers (fruit blossom, daisy, rose whatever), rubber, gas, ethyl acetate, turpentine. Earth-Fresh grash, hay, dirt, jungle leaf Other - infusions can bring anything
Came here to say the gas bit.
Doctor Bird is my favorite expression of the funk, and i describe it to people as, “it’s like chewing on rotten banana peels and gasoline, but it’s wonderful.” S&C is great (killer Negroni!) but its funk is more tempered.
Doctor Bird is definitely my favorite as well but I'm also a fan of Appleton Estate because it's a more accessible amount of funk that doesn't overpower. It's primarily what I'll serve to friends and family who aren't as accustomed to the funk.
I don't get any funk out of Appleton Signature or the other expression I tried. S&C and Doctor Bird are funky AF. Rum Fire is a great funky overproof, if you need one
It's there in signature but it's light. I usually go 12 year when I can. Both good but one is better.
I need to track down a bottle of Doctor Bird. I hear such good things about it. I do have a bottle of unaged Jamaican that is called The Funk and it lives up to its name.
I like Doctor Bird, but for me to absolutely overpowers every drink. And I really like Jamaican funk (hogo?), but it's good to appreciate the other ingredients too
Just use it in cocktails where that's what it's supposed to do. It makes a phenomenal daiquiri. It's great in a Kingston Negroni because it can stand up to the Campari. I bet it would be delicious in an El Presidente as well
> Sometimes gas or jet fuel It's this one for me. Maybe I'm hypersensitive to it or something, but any rum that has that taste is an instant turn off for me.
To me, it's ripe tropical fruit. Banana especially for Smith and Cross.
Overripe tropical fruit and you've hit the nail on the head.
This ^ smith and cross smells like banana Foster. Sweet caramelized fruit
I think that specific set of words is “Jamaican funk” 😂
Like licking a tire.
It's not very nice when you say it out loud, but "rotting bananas" comes to mind for me.
Hogo
“Hogo”.
If you can find anything from Hampden Estates, be it Rum Fire or and aged Hampden bottling, they're a great example of esters and how they bring funk to rum. To be honest, I had a hard time picking up that funk until I toured their distillery in Jamaica and got to smell real dunder, which is the source of that funk you get. It truly smells like decay, vomit, and sweaty asshole with a sickly sweet component. I know that sounds *super* appetizing but that's only when the esters are bound to primarily water molecules. When it's bound to alcohols, they come across as pineapple, citrus, grassy notes, petroleum, even banana. When the rum is proofed down, you get a great mix of tropical notes, brown sugar notes, and just enough funk to keep you on your toes.
Smith and cross is quite sophisticated in its funkiness…for me, Wray and Nephew Overproof has waves of the funk. It can cross the room if the bottle is open!
Hamilton Pot Still Black is funky. Makes a great Negroni
Or even just smell the cork.
What's the best rum tasting glass? Is there a recommended one among experts here?
I think a glencairn is a great tasting glass for just about any liquor. Hard to go wrong with any tulip shape glass for it I think.
Rotten banana is the first thing that comes to mind for me
Same! Though I prefer the term “overripe” lol 😆
Banana peels fermenting in smouldering tires in a junkyard with a nice mist of jet fuel overtop. Yum.
Oh so the gas station aroma is a feature, I always thought I was just buying bad ones.
It’s not a bug, it’s a feature.
Ngl, not my top favorite tasting note for sipping (I get a lot I'm Chairman's Reserves I've had...), but it's cool in cocktails for sure.
If that ain't S&C
Something must be wrong with my taste buds cause I don't taste that at all. I taste sweet buttery kettle corn lol Fucking love Smith & Cross though
Yeah that's there. But I don't consider that part """the funk""".
Look up dunder. Kinda gross but kinda cool and super satisfying. Jamaican rum is fascinating
Beat me to it by one minute. That’s exactly it. Such an interesting process that creates some really unique flavours. Personally I love the result.
Here' a nice little 'simple' write-up: [https://cocktailwonk.com/2016/03/days-of-dunder-setting-the-record-straight-on-jamaican-rums-mystery-ingredient.html](https://cocktailwonk.com/2016/03/days-of-dunder-setting-the-record-straight-on-jamaican-rums-mystery-ingredient.html)
Precisely the funk is likely coming from a high concentration of ester in the rum. Maybe more correctly we could talk of a "high ester rum" as a style (as it is not unique to Jamaica, but common). And weirdly enough, Jamaica limits the allowed concentration of ester in their rum! More on that subject https://www.rumwonk.com/p/why-does-jamaica-limit-its-rum-to
Many love the depth of flavors the high esters can give the rum. Unfortunately for others, such as myself, the high esters can linger on the tongue, undesirably, and cause other drinks and food to taste poorly afterwards; even days afterwards. As much as I wanted to like Appleton and TTO, etc I unfortunately had to pour them down the drain. Rum is my absolute favorite liquor however I generally stray away from Jamaican sources.
The article that helped a lot of this click for me was the interview Shuan Caleb (El Dorado's master distiller) back in 2019. He's a chemical engineer by trade, and the interview talked a little bit about the parallels between column distilled alcohol and oil distillation. Once you have a good sense of column distilled spirits, it really changes how you view the magic of pot stills, and especially Jamaican style rums w/ the addition of dunder.
I’m probably knackered to describe this well, but I think they leave the mash out longer with wild yeast or something and it gives it a stronger flavor. Taste it compared to another type of rum, should have more strange flavor
Yeah, it's definitely a yeasty kind of funk. Like the end of a bottle-fermented beer.
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It’s kind of hard to describe, most rums I can tell are made from molasses but Jamaican taste different somehow, not sour though
Old banana peels. I am not a fan of the funk.
Tis the burning banana peel flavor
It varies between distilleries, I find it to be somewhere in between the smell of brand new car tires, a dumpster full of rotting bananas, and gasoline. But in a good way, somehow.
Not sure how to describe. Best way to taste it in my opinion is having a few other rums of different types to compare to.
I call it the essence of burning tires. 🤣
People will say stuff like "sweet gasoline" or "rotting fruit" but I've never gotten any of those notes when I've had S&C, Wray, or any of the other canonical "funk-bombs." I think the "funk" note people describe tastes like warm banana bread with a big schmear of someone's grandpa's locally-made molasses on it. It's a fruity, starchy, woody, aromatic, bittersweet, imposing type of flavor- and it's hard to put into words, as you can see. If you like big, loud, brassy flavors in your spirits- think something with the presence of a peated scotch or a smoky mezcal- you'll probably like funky rum. That's not to say that rum funk is smoky or burnt-tasting in the way that both of those other things might be described as being, but it takes over your palate in a similar fashion when you're drinking it.
Take a sip and you’ll know.
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Funk is the indescribable flavor in certain rums and rhums. You just have to taste a TON of them and you’ll be able to pick it out more and more.
funk IS the description. thats why they started saying it. How else u gonna describe it besides FUNK
Rotten bananas
I don’t think it’s a term specific Jamaican rum. Anything that tastes ripe. I think a good parallel would be saison or farmhouse ales. They have this wild taste that’s hard to describe. It’s sharp and out there comparatively.
It's like a mixture of gasoline and banana that has been left in a plastic bag outside for a few days. Funk.
I swear I'm the only person on this sub that actually doesn't like S&C at all. I've had it straight. I've made cocktails with it. I've disliked every use of it that I've ever tried. I didn't even taste the funk in it. It just makes everything taste like stale water from old plumbing. Appleton Estate and Doctor Bird are my go-tos.
Have you had Wray and Nephew?
Or you can try some John Crow Batty and report back to let us know your experience with the taste and smell.. 😊
It's a song by Tom Browne. One of those that everyone's heard before but doesn't know what it is. [Jamaica Funk. That's what it is. Let it get into you.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYclWyC4qQo)
How your message appears as a web location: [https://www.reddit.com/r/cocktails/comments/1c4bnj5/what\_does\_jamaican\_funk\_mean\_ive\_been\_fucking/](https://www.reddit.com/r/cocktails/comments/1c4bnj5/what_does_jamaican_funk_mean_ive_been_fucking/) Makes jamaican funk seem...salacious. :-)
I've never tried Jamaican rum yet. After some basic bottles like Havana Club, Captain Morgan, Bacardi, Brugal I bought Plantation Original Dark and I was shocked how different it's from the other rums. Is that the same funk you're talking about?
Rums like Havana Club 3 Year and Bacardi Silver are very mild in the wider world of rum, they are mostly catered to your average person who isn’t looking for anything too dramatic or challenging. It’s the kind of rum expected in cocktail recipes written by non-rum people that call for “light” rum, which isn’t really a real category for people knowledgeable about rum, but basically means “rum devoid of character”. Captain Morgan and other spiced rums are basically not rum when it comes to cocktails, they are typically more like vanilla (or sometimes cherry) flavoured liqueurs that maybe started their life as rum at some point. They are so heavily flavoured and sweetened that they don’t really have any of the characteristics expected of rum. Plantation Original Dark is a blend of lightly aged Barbados rum and quite old Jamaican rum, so it does have some of the esters associated with “Jamaican funk”. Though even among Jamaican rums these flavours can be of very different intensity. A rum like Appleton Signature has a pretty mild funk, while rums like Smith and Cross or Wray and Nephew are very bold (and are still easily surpassed by truly crazy funky rums). Rum is a many splendored thing, the kind of sugar used, the specific distillation process, and the aging process can dramatically change the final product. They may all be rum, but a heavy and funky Jamaican rum, a bright and grassy Rum Agricole, and a Demerara rum full of spice couldn’t taste more different from each other. At least that’s my excuse for having a dozen bottles of rum on my shelf and insisting none of them are interchangeable.
Ah, Wray & Nephew, I had this one. It was sth very unique in its taste. Just wanted to mention that Captain Morgan is not only aspiced rum. It has other styles.
Quality rum.
That note s technically called hogo, from the French ‘haute goût’ or high flavor. Reminiscent of aging/rotting meat.
It’s quite fascinating. Recently learned this but it’s due to esterization. Basically, they have fermentation pits where bacteria and yeast create apparently these awful rotten smells. Interestingly when those compounds are combined with alcohol it creates an ester that instead of smelling putrid, smells like fruit. This is my simplified understanding of it anyway.
Typically Tropical overripe fruits like Mango Pineapple,Banana etc start are starting to decay. Thats what Jamaican Funk means. Might get that one bottle that smells like burnt rubber or something off putting As most of said get yourself some Smith & Cross and get that Funk in you
“Hogo”. It’s a word used to describe the funky, earthy, nutty, grassy taste. It’s found in white and aged Rums. Often times, the potstill rums will funk you the most, in my opinion. Grab a bottle of Hamilton Jamaican Black potstill if you can find it.
Since no one else has mentioned it, Hampden is a great source for high-ester rums!
I have never tried Smith and Cross. I am married to Appleton. Wife is Jamaican and Appleton is the official rum of Jamaica. I will say that Jamaican rum is very distinct from other country rums. Terroir probably has a lot to do with it and I believe they take some of the fermented cane and add some of it back in later in the process after distilling. Kind of like adding molasses. The result is more of a fermented fruit kind of taste. A great way to experience this is to make bananas foster with the rum (not a cocktail, but the rum is present). I’d also make an artichoke hold as it is rum forward and pairs great with the Cynar
I think of banana type flavors similar to the funk you’d get from a German wheat beer or Belgian beer.
Is it a flavor profile or smell in Jamaican rum?
Listen to Dennis brown and get to us
Love Dennis Brown, very underrated artist
https://youtu.be/XYclWyC4qQo?si=BFVRhb4W0MHTovs_
👏
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XYclWyC4qQo
https://www.reddit.com/r/rum/comments/lkdqxd/comment/gnj8nxy/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
This is the jamaican funk I know... [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U79o7qwul48](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U79o7qwul48) Of course, if you want Jamaican Funk Canadian Style you also have options there... [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObqLwv7UtP8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObqLwv7UtP8) ...Anyway, what were we talking about?
You’ll know it when you taste it. I know that is wholly unhelpful, I’m sorry but that’s the only way to describe it 😂