Blackstrap molasses (the most flavorful of the molasses) is combined with water and fermented in the tanks in the brewery adjacent to the distillery. Using the abundant supply of healthy yeast in the brewery (just as it would have happened three centuries ago) the fermentation goes flawlessly and the 'wash' is prepared for distillation. The wash is then added 105 gallons at a time to the small pot still and sent through its first distillation. Several distillates are then gathered for the second and final distillation. Unlike more neutral spirits, the second distillation is to polish the spirit while retaining flavor. Further distillation simply takes out the flavors originating from the molasses.

Once the spirit is finished it is placed in American Oak barrels and left to age. A blend of French and American Oak is used inside the barrels to complete the rum. Before packaging the rum is proofed and filtered. Finally, Thomas Tew Rum is put in the bottles, hand dipped into wax, and numbered. It is truly a hand made spirit.

Thomas Tew Rum is made from start to finish in our Rhode Island distillery. Unlike most distilled spirits made now, no outside source of aged rum, raw rum, or grain neutral spirit is used in Thomas Tew. Only rum made from the fermented molasses at our facility is used to produce our exceptional spirit. Our unique access to an abundant source of brewers yeast (from the adjacent brewery) is one of the things that makes this feasible.

Thomas Tew is a single barrel rum. Unlike many aged spirits, flavor is used to determine whether a barrel is ready rather than a calendar. Small changes in the wood and the distillate create differences in aging times. By periodically tasting each barrel Thomas Tew is bottled when IT is ready, no sooner or later.