Exploring the new territory,　the birth of new agricole rum "ARCABUZ" in Tanegashima.- Part I -
From Tanegashima to World

This month we introduce "ARCABUZ", an agricole rum from Tanegashima that was just launched in July this year.Why an agricole rum in Tanegashima?We look into the background of its birth.

writer：Ryoko Kuraishi

The company's white rum, which it says, " I want people to feel the individuality of sugar cane."

ARCABUZ" will be distilled on Tanegashima Island in the spring of 2023, and will go on sale to the general public in July of this year.

ARCABUZ is produced by Daito Sugar, a 73-year-old sugar manufacturer in Kanto, Japan.

In recent years, people have been told that they should reduce their sugar intake for health reasons.

However, as a medium-scale sugar manufacturer, Daito Sugar has been proposing various ways to use sugar and food culture related to sugar in order to expand its potential.

One of the projects that came about as part of this effort was the Agricole Rum project.

"The role of a sugar refiner is to refine raw sugar (sugarcane juice that has been pressed and crystallized with some impurities removed) to make products.In other words, we do not directly handle sugarcane.

However, I think that consumers expect sugar manufacturers to be sugar professionals who are also familiar with sugarcane.

I myself thought that being involved in sugarcane cultivation and product manufacturing would lead to added value as a sugar manufacturer, so I decided to take on this challenge," says President Shigekatsu Kimura.

From sugar manufacturer to rum maker! Mr. Shigekatsu Kimura of Daito Sugar Tanegashima.

From the cane field to the bottle.

The reason why we came up with the idea of producing agricole rum, which is distilled from sugarcane juice fermented directly instead of molasses, was because we thought that agricole rum, with its aroma of sugarcane, could appeal as a plant-derived product.

With sugar consumption declining, it may help draw people's attention to sugarcane as a raw material.In addition, we foresaw the possibility of creating added value to support the sugarcane industry on Tanegashima.

When the project was launched in 2017, the company took over a 6-hectare (120,000 m2) plantation and sugar mill on Tanegashima, where sugarcane cultivation is thriving.

There are many institutional restrictions on sugarcane cultivation, but the company managed to overcome them by negotiating various agreements with local authorities.

Sugarcane for sugar production has been improved with an emphasis on yield, so the process began with the selection of a variety suitable for agricole rum with an emphasis on flavor.

After comparing the juice from dozens of sugarcane varieties, Kimura and his team found the horticultural variety "Kurokaido" to their liking.This is the main variety, to which he adds the "Norin 22" variety.

Harvested sugarcane, which is harvested between December and February, when sucrose concentration is higher.From 5 tons of sugarcane, 2.5 tons of juice can be extracted, from which 300 liters of rum can be made.In other words, 100 tons of sugar cane are needed to produce 6,000 liters of rum, which requires 2 hectares (20,000 m2) of farmland.

"Our first agricultural venture, sugarcane cultivation, was a series of challenges.

There was a year when deer ate all the sugarcane seedlings we had planted and wiped them out.

After much trial and error, we finally managed to harvest 290 tons of sugarcane."

Only enough sugarcane is harvested for processing the next day, and it is transported to the distillery adjacent to the fields and pressed within 24 hours.

The reason for processing as quickly as possible is that the concentration of sucrose in the cane decreases as time goes on.

The harvested sugarcane is sorted one by one to remove any insect bites that may cause bitterness and bitterness.

"We are particular about squeezing the best tasting sugarcane juice.

The juice from Kurokaido has a fresh taste reminiscent of melon.

Moreover, only the first pressing, which has the highest sugar content, is used to make the malt, whereas it is usually pressed three times."

The harvested sugarcane is taken to the distillery next to the farm and sorted by hand.After pressing, the bagasse is composted and spread on the farm.Sugarcane fiber (cellulose) is hard and takes a long time to return to the soil, so we are working with researchers to find ways to speed up the decomposition process.

Nothing added not even water and no blending, just the pure sugarcane.

Yeast is added to the pressed juice and fermented for about a week to make the malt, which is then distilled.

For distillation technology, we sought the cooperation of Komasa Brewery, also located in Kagoshima Prefecture.

Only the best parts of the sake in terms of both taste and aroma are used to make the product.Normally, multiple lots are blended to homogenize the flavor, but this is not done either.

"We leave things as they are, as much as possible.If we do anything unnecessary, it won't taste good anymore," says Kimura.

That is why the alcohol content of "ARCABUZ" varies from lot to lot (57-60%).ARCABUZ" was finally unveiled.

First, the company decided to compete only with white rum, which conveys the taste of sugarcane juice straight to the palate.

It's Pressed sugarcane juice. Only the first pressing is fermented to make mash.In the future, the company plans to supply molasses made from sugar production, its core business, to domestic manufacturers who want to produce rum.

ARCABUZ" was finally unveiled.First, they decided to compete only with white rum, which conveys the taste of sugarcane juice in a straightforward manner.

At the "World Rum Awards" held in May, it won the gold medal for "World's Best Agricole & Sugarcane Juice" and the top prize for "Best Bottle Design"!

The judges at the awards said, "Fresh green olives, grass, apple and kiwi.On the palate, it has a wax-like texture and moderate sweetness, and smells like crushed fresh sugar cane.What are the impressions: ......?

Continue to Part 2.