Where to buy Fancy Grade A Molasses

[kpoynter]

Hi all,

I’m new to the forum but wanted to ask a question for a friend who operates a new Distillery in LA

We wanted to buy Grade A/Fancy molasses in say the 270 gallon totes (in Louisiana) Currently we only have Blackstrap to make Light Rum

It seems many don’t want to mess with orders this small thus we have no supply of Fancy Grade

a distiller by me buys it in a small tanker truck (1,000 gallons at least I think)

Any have a supplier they think may sell say 1,000 gallons a year roughly but in chunks of maybe 270 gallons at a time?
 

Thanks in advance 

[Kindred Spirits]

Have you tried going directly to some of the mills down there?

I know most sugar mills have a few different options in terms of the molasses they sell. 

[kpoynter]

thanks for your reply
 

Yes, we have gone to a couple. Couple issues seem to be;

1) large Commercial clients have sort of “spoken for” the production on this grade (and it may not be that profitable for them because of the extra processing??)

2) I think there is a reality that a new customer buying say 800-1,100 gallons a year (275 gallons at a time) isn’t very “motivational”

great hard working folks…. And we can get all the Sugar and Blackstrap we want (also in 275 gallon totes) straight from the mill.

Need one to I guess “do us a favor” and sell us smaller batches bs tanker trucks full.

[Kindred Spirits]

22 minutes ago, kpoynter said:

thanks for your reply
 

Yes, we have gone to a couple. Couple issues seem to be;

1) large Commercial clients have sort of “spoken for” the production on this grade (and it may not be that profitable for them because of the extra processing??)

2) I think there is a reality that a new customer buying say 800-1,100 gallons a year (275 gallons at a time) isn’t very “motivational”

great hard working folks…. And we can get all the Sugar and Blackstrap we want (also in 275 gallon totes) straight from the mill.

Need one to I guess “do us a favor” and sell us smaller batches bs tanker trucks full.

I figured you probably had asked, sorry to hear that you are having issues with sourcing it. 
You do make a good point in that it is a bit small of an order, any other distilleries nearby you could join together with to get a bigger allotment?

[kpoynter]

4 hours ago, Kindred Spirits said:

I figured you probably had asked, sorry to hear that you are having issues with sourcing it. 
You do make a good point in that it is a bit small of an order, any other distilleries nearby you could join together with to get a bigger allotment?

The thought has occurred to me, yeah…

I sent the main guy at the Mill an email yesterday…asking for options. If not 275gallon totes (which they sell us for Blackstrap) then what maybe makes sense for him…
if I’m buying 1,100 gallons a year (that’s the plan) does that help? 
I’m guessing they maybe only have a plan to produce say 50,000 gallons (I’m totally making that number up) but they already have buyers for all of it that are established (which I think the real honest truth)

[Silk City Distillers]

Most of the fancy molasses production in the US goes to baking suppliers...  We've used totes from Golden Barrel out of PA, they have a "Supreme Baking" molasses that meets Grade A standards and makes a great rum.

I'm sure International Molasses has similar Grade A / Fancy lines beyond what they sell for rum under the Black Pearl line.  We recently used a tote or two of the Black Pearl Select - I've always liked it.  Pretty sure that's going to meet Grade A.  By the way, the bar for USDA Grade A is not very high:

https://www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/Sugarcane_Molasses_Standard[1].pdf

You can also add evaporated cane sugar to the blackstrap to essentially add back what was removed during the refining process.  If you want to stay as local as possible, this is probably the best approach to taking your molasses to where you want it to be from a specs standard.

Mixing the cane sugar up to similar brix as your molasses and blending the two in equal parts, will basically cut your sulfites, ash, etc numbers in half, which is more than enough to take blackstrap back into Grade A territory (probably exceed it).  You could also add an additional processing step to clarify your molasses (Ala Arroyo) if your goal is a lighter, cleaner rum.

[Florida Cracker]

On 9/29/2024 at 8:30 AM, Silk City Distillers said:

Most of the fancy molasses production in the US goes to baking suppliers...  We've used totes from Golden Barrel out of PA, they have a "Supreme Baking" molasses that meets Grade A standards and makes a great rum.

I'm sure International Molasses has similar Grade A / Fancy lines beyond what they sell for rum under the Black Pearl line.  We recently used a tote or two of the Black Pearl Select - I've always liked it.  Pretty sure that's going to meet Grade A.  By the way, the bar for USDA Grade A is not very high:

https://www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/Sugarcane_Molasses_Standard[1].pdf

You can also add evaporated cane sugar to the blackstrap to essentially add back what was removed during the refining process.  If you want to stay as local as possible, this is probably the best approach to taking your molasses to where you want it to be from a specs standard.

Mixing the cane sugar up to similar brix as your molasses and blending the two in equal parts, will basically cut your sulfites, ash, etc numbers in half, which is more than enough to take blackstrap back into Grade A territory (probably exceed it).  You could also add an additional processing step to clarify your molasses (Ala Arroyo) if your goal is a lighter, cleaner rum.

This is what I have been doing for a few years now. Basically using half of the blackstrap that I used to use and supplemented that with granular sugar. Got tired of beating my head against the wall trying to get "fancy" molasses. I can get as much blackstrap as I want at a plant 5 minutes down the road.