 Rank: Newbie Groups: Registered
Joined: 5/14/2008(UTC)
Posts: 2
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"I have fallen in love with a certain island in the Pacific Ocean. I just went there for a vacation and I did not want to leave. This is a pretty off-the-beaten-path kind of place. There is some tourism. There used to be some garment factories, but most of them are now closed.
What is my big plan?
I want to make rum. I want to open a microdistillery on this Pacific island. I'd love to start by selling to the locals and tourists, but I think that a great product, correctly branded and marketed, could also be sold in some parts of Asia and in the US.
Obviously, making rum is an art. It will take some time to learn. If I want to buy a still, would the PSII High Capacity be a good choice?
My thought is that I could learn how to make rum, develop a good recipe/process, then move to the island, set up the equipment, and get to work making/selling the product. I would be happy to learn on a smaller piece of equipment, then upgrade in size. hopefully I might not have to change the recipe too much?
I don't have ANY idea what I am doing. But just looking at some prices and capacities, it looks like a 25 gallon system could easily produce 10-12 gallons per day, right? Surely, a person could get into a system like that for $10K, from what I can tell. You can get 5 750ml bottles from a gallon, so 10-12 gallons per day gets you 50-60 bottles per day. That would generate probably enough rum to sell $1250 per day worth of product...or $37K per month...or $450K per year. If supply outstrips capacity, add another identical unit, and you can sell a million bucks per year worth of rum. That is a business that would be plenty big for hanging out on a tropical island.
The other possibility would be to hire a consultant. There is really no way I could spend more than about $100K on start-up costs for this venture. but if I could hire a consultant to spec out equipment and spend some time (a week? a month?) helping refine a recipe and training me in the process, I would certainly do it.
I have good experience in marketing and sales. That is the least of my concerns. I also have experience in manufacturing and distribution management. I can hire people, manage people, and fire people. The ONLY thing I do NOT know is the part that requires me to distill the product!
Any thoughts??? I know it sounds like I might be insane, but I actually am serious and sane. If this is financially feasible, I am all over it."
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 Rank: Junior Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 3/29/2006(UTC)
Posts: 12
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I hope this works out for you, I'm sure it would be a dream come true for many of the guys here.
I'm not a big pro with mass production but I can share some insight on what I found when I tried the same thing here in California.
First and most difficult was the legal aspect. I have no clue what the island's law on the matter is, but if you can get passed the legal side of running a small scale distillery you're half way there.
Not sure if the island has its own sugar processing plant, if it does, you might want to consider a near by location. It will really help in attaining cheap bulk molasses. Without a good source of cheap molasses you'll be looking at painful costs during production.
As for the Rum making process, I'd recommend doubling up on any distillation equipment you're planning to use. Rum requites a high ratio of copper contact to come out clean and strip out the sulfate byproducts that fermenting molasses and brown sugar produce.
After 2-3 days of running you're going to need to cool down your column, clean out your copper packing and every few times let it air out as well. The difference between a dirty copper run and a clean copper run is quite substantial in flavor.
Another thing you might want to consider as overhead is how you're going to handle your aging process (if at all). Most of the more successful Rums I've made had some degree of oaking in flavoring process. It also helps break down the esters in your collected tails and assists the rum in the aging process.
Best of luck with this!
-Al
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Rank: Newbie Groups: Registered
Joined: 5/14/2008(UTC)
Posts: 2
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"Great feedback, Al. I appreciate it.
I have an attorney on island checking into the legal requirements. That step is pretty crucial!
As for the aging process and the supply issues, those are also excellent points. Thank you!!"
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Rank: Newbie Groups: Registered
Joined: 6/24/2008(UTC)
Posts: 9
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"Look into the stainless steal and copper prices,and if you can get the parts local or not. if not i would have it shipped with enough for spare parts. I would start out with (2) full size ss beer kegs or (2) ss 55 gal. drums for my boiler.
if things look like you are going to be able to make $ with your rum then i would look into other type of stills you may be able to buy. you will pay duty and shipping on everything going in. talk with a customs agent there. as far as aging i would save back 25% of everything you ran to age. keep most of your heads and tails foe a special run. i wish i could get into what you are thinking of doing.""man that sounds sweet""!"
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Rank: Newbie Groups: Registered
Joined: 7/14/2008(UTC)
Posts: 1
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"I have a friend in St. Lucia. Just about everything has to be imported if you don't want to pay through the nose. The best way is to fill a container and have it shipped. I would look into shipping the raw materials for the stills. If you declared them as stills you will be charged a lot more then of you declare them as water pipe and shet stainless steel. Bring along a tig welder and a gas welder, for the soldering, and make the stills on sight.
And just for your information bring along a lot of motorcycle tires, even good used ones.. They are a very hot trading item. Hard to get in the islands and always in need."
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