Sugar cane, originally from Papua New Guinea, was taken to Asia where it was cultivated and then carried to Africa, India and then Spain. Fan of the Kraken? Alternatively, get a taste of island life at The Beachcomber, a tropical paradise hidden among the hustle and bustle of Bayswater’s culturally eclectic high street. When they first settled, roughly 20 years earlier, there were dreams of a mediterranean bounty coming from this new world. So, now that we have you up to speed with what rum is and its own dark n’ stormy history it’s time to dive in and get drinking!
The Captain’s favourite drink. Most rums are made from molasses, the residue remaining after sugar has been crystallized from sugarcane juice, containing as much as 5 percent sugar. Who knew a lot of this slippery slide towards revolution started with rum?! Let us know in the comments below! Do you agree that better understanding a spirit’s history and origins helps you better appreciate the drink itself? European explorers were lured to the West Indies by legends of El Dorado, a city paved with gold. History of Gin - Where Does Gin Come From? Spanish-controlled distillers in Cuba, Nicaragua and Puerto Rico typically produced smooth rums called añejo. This unique cocktail bar pays homage to the history of the merchant trade in all its glory and is best-known for a collection of rare and vintage rums. Many of these immigrants were from Ireland and Scotland. thousands of sugar works dotted the islands landscapes and nearly every plantation employed a copper pot still to make alcohol from the fermented skimmings and molasses. Enslaved people may have even developed the rum-making process: "Molasses could be sold and used as a sweetener too, but the fermented molasses was enjoyed by the slaves and by poor whites. Such rums are usually produced from molasses enriched with the skimmings, or dunder, remaining in the boilers used for sugar production. Rum was part of daily British naval life until 1970, now it is reserved for special occasions. ", "Rum was the trending spirit in the 1700s," writes Minnick. I, for one, am thrilled to see that rum is getting it’s second chance. He grounds recipes and flavor notes with research on the political, economic and social forces that have shaped the role of rum in today's world. However, it was not until 1731 that the Navy Board were persuaded to make the official daily ration, one pint of wine or half a pint of rum, to be issued neat (at 80% vol.) We’ve assembled a list of 50 of the world’s most reliable, inexpensive wines – bottles that offer amazing quality for their price year in and year out. Courtesy of Voyageur Press, an imprint of The Quarto Group, Credit: While the poor drank it straight, others began mixing it with sugar, lime and other ingredients to make early rum punches and cocktails. Courtesy of Voyageur Press, an imprint of The Quarto Group, 9 Things to Know About the Dark and Stormy History of Rum.
In 1771, the Portsmouth Molasses Party boarded the ship Resolution to save its one hundred hogsheads of smuggled molasses, an action that foreshadowed the Boston Tea Party two years later. Rum continues to be the drink of choice along the coast but the supply of molasses was pretty disrupted during the war. As New Englanders perfected their craft of rum distillation, making it some of the most affordable alcohol on the market, they began to seek more sales outlets. The production of dry, light-bodied rums began in the late 19th century. To support this demand, as well as the increasing demand for sugar in Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries, a labour force to work the sugar plantations was needed. While making alcohol out of sugar cane dates back hundreds of years, much of today’s rum production occurs in the Caribbean and Latin America. https://trulyexperiences.com/blog/author/rae/. United Kingdom, Registered No. While there’s no denying that the Caribbean is the home of rum, you’ll find plenty of tastings and tours around the capital. Many great events have proceeded from much smaller causes.”* Craft distillers across the country, particularly in New England, have taken up the cause of bringing rum back to the forefront of American spirits. The rum is distilled twice in simple pot stills, producing a distillate of clear colour that turns to a golden hue as the distillate takes up substances from the oak of the wooden puncheons used for storage during the aging period. Here are some of his dispatches, covering many eras of our global love affair with rum: "Perhaps the most notable early discovery of sugarcane comes from the expeditions of Alexander the Great, whose unprecedented military campaign took troops through Asia and Africa," but "it wasn’t really until the Persians and Arabs created and perfected the refining of sugar in the seventh century that sugarcane’s origins and benefits were studied more thoroughly. Excerpts reprinted with permission from Rum Curious: The Indispensable Tasting Guide to the World’s Spirit by Fred Minnick, $11.50 on amazon. You see, rum was much cheaper than the little bit of brandy they were importing given the shorter trade routes and cheaper ingredient base of molasses (an otherwise useless by-product of sugar making). An early drink, as described by George J. Kappeler (author of Modern American Drinks, 1895).
Firmly grounded in history with detailed backstories, honorific titled rums, and founders set on doing things the hard way, many of these distilleries are producing their spirits with New England agricultural products and returning any byproducts, like mash, back to local farmers to complete an economic and environmental cycle older than our own nation. The last Navy issue took place on 31 July 1970 known as ‘Black Tot Day’. British sailors received regular rations of rum from the 18th century until 1970. A ron añejo indicates a rum that has been aged and is often used for premium products. ", Primary sources suggest rum has been connected to the pirate stereotype since the 17th century. Marketing support, education, resources, community, & exclusive offers for craft makers. Sales of the potent liquor to the British Navy not only brought extra revenue but more importantly, it attracted a naval presence that deterred pirates lurking in the area. in two equal amounts daily. Ironically, the tall sweet grass that Columbus took to the Caribbean in 1493, and the sugar and rum made from that sugar-cane, was ultimately worth more than all the lustrous metal taken from the Caribbean basin.
The rums are usually blended and are aged from one to four years. Dedicated rum bars are becoming more popular and the real discerning customer realises that high quality premium rum sits with the very best of spirits. Both of these terms meant upheaval or violent commotion – likely for the effect that this spirit had on those who drank it.
Our 22 Best Crock Pot and Slow-Cooker Recipes, Rum Curious: The Indispensable Tasting Guide to the World’s Spirit. As part of the increased taxations upon the American colonies, many of whom were loyal British subjects, the Crown passed the Sugar Act of 1764, which forbade colonies from importing rum." Many illegal bars purchased spirits that the seller called rum, but which were actually poison liquor, likely made in somebody’s basement, bathtub, or in the woods under cover of night. Plantation slaves discovered that molasses, a byproduct of the sugar refining process, could be fermented into alcohol. ", When drinking was illegal, drinking culture continued to flourish: "password-protected speakeasies also kept rum’s taste and mixability alive, serving rum punches, flips, sours—and new cocktails, such as the El Presidente." The history of rum had the potential for being very short–it initially was not well received. The origin of the word rum is unclear.
It was actually seen as a necessary item to have on board: "In 1762, in An Essay on the Most Effectual Means of Preserving the Health of Seamen, in the Royal Navy, Dr. James Lind wrote that rum ‘proves the best and quickest restorative which a Sailor can have at Sea.’ Lind suggested sailors consume the rum in a punch His recipe included fruits or fruit juice, vinegar-based shrubs, vegetable acid, cream of tartar, a half-pint of spirits, and a half pint of water. Some distilleries in New England were even known to make higher alcohol versions of rum specifically for the slave trade.