Rum

Rum is a distilled beverage made from sugarcane by-products such as molasses and sugarcane juice by a process of fermentation and distillation. The distillate, a clear liquid, is then usually aged in oak and other casks. While there are rum producers in places such as Australia, India, Reunion Island, and elsewhere around the world, the majority of rum production occurs in and around the Caribbean and along the Demerara river in South America. Some major rum brands include Bacardi, Stroh, Mount Gay, Bundaberg, Myers, and Pusser's.

History

Origins of rum

The precursors to rum date back to antiquity. Development of fermented drinks produced from sugarcane juice is believed to have first occurred either in ancient India or China,{{inote|Pacult - RUM'S ANCIENT PEDIGREE}} and spread from there.

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An example of such an early drink is brum. Produced by the Malay people, brum dates back thousands of years. {{inote|Blue p. 72}}

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Marco Polo also recorded a 14th-century account of a "very good wine of sugar" that was offered to him in what is modern-day Iran.{{inote|Pacult - RUM'S ANCIENT PEDIGREE}}

Related Topics:
Marco Polo - 14th-century - Iran

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The first distillation of rum took place on the sugarcane plantations of the Caribbean in the 17th century.

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Plantation slaves first discovered that molasses, a by-product of the sugar refining process, fermented into alcohol. {{inote|Blue p. 70}}

Related Topics:
Slave - Molasses - By-product

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Later, distillation of these alcoholic by-products concentrated the alcohol and removed impurities, producing the first true rums. Tradition suggests that rum first originated on the island of Barbados.

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Regardless of its initial source, early Caribbean rums were not known for high quality.

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Related Topics:
1647 - Barbados

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A 1651 document from Barbados stated "The chief fuddling they make in the island is Rumbullion, alias Kill-Divil, and this is made of sugar canes distilled, a hot, hellish, and terrible liquor". {{inote|Blue p. 70}}

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Rum in colonial America

After rum's development in the Caribbean, the drinks popularity spread to Colonial America.

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To support the demand for the drink, the first rum distillery in the colonies was set up in 1664 on current day Staten Island. Boston had a distillery three years later.{{inote|Blue p. 74}}

Related Topics:
1664 - Staten Island - Boston

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The rum produced in New England was quite popular, and was even considered the best in the world during much of the 18th century.

Related Topics:
New England - 18th century

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Rhode Island rum even joined gold as an accepted currency in Europe for a period of time. {{inote|Blue p. 76}}

Related Topics:
Rhode Island - Gold

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Estimates of rum consumption in the American colonies before the American Revolutionary War had every man, woman, or child drinking an average of 3 Imperial gallons (13.5 liters) of rum each year. {{inote|Tannahill p. 295}}

Related Topics:
American Revolutionary War - Imperial gallon - Liter

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To support this demand for the molasses to produce rum, along with the increasing demand for sugar in Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries, a labor source to work the sugar plantations in the Caribbean was needed.

Related Topics:
Increasing demand for sugar in Europe - 17th - 18th centuries

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A triangular trade was established between Africa, the Caribbean, and the colonies to help support this need. {{inote|Tannahill p. 296}}

Related Topics:
Triangular trade - Africa

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The circular exchange of slaves, molasses, and rum was quite profitable, and the disruption to the trade caused by the Sugar Act in 1764 may have even helped cause the American Revolution. {{inote|Tannahill p. 295}}

Related Topics:
Sugar Act - 1764 - American Revolution

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The popularity of rum continued after the American Revolution with George Washington insisting on a barrel of Barbados rum at his 1789 inauguration. {{inote|Frost}}

Related Topics:
George Washington - Barbados - 1789

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Eventually the restrictions on rum from the British islands of the Caribbean combined with the development of American whiskey led to a decline in the drink's popularity.

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Related Topics:
Piracy in the Caribbean - Robert Louis Stevenson - Treasure Island

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Naval Rum

Rum's association with piracy began with English privateers trading on the valuable commodity. As some of the privateers became pirates and buccaneers, their fondness for rum remained. The association between the two only being strengthen by literary works such as Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. {{inote|Pack p. 15}}

Related Topics:
English - Privateer - Robert Louis Stevenson - Treasure Island

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The association of rum with the British Royal Navy began in 1655 when the British fleet captured the island of Jamaica. With the availability of domestically produced rum, the British changed the daily ration of liquor given to seamen from French brandy to rum. {{inote|Blue p. 77}}

Related Topics:
British Royal Navy - 1655 - Jamaica - Brandy

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While the ration was originally given neat, or mixed with lemon juice, the practice of watering down the rum began around 1740. To help minimize the effect of the alcohol on his sailors, Admiral Edward Vernon directed that the rum ration be watered down before being issued. In honor of the grogram cloak the Admiral wore in rough weather, the mixture of water and rum became known as grog. {{inote|Tannahill p. 273}}

Related Topics:
1740 - Edward Vernon - Grogram - Grog

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The Royal Navy continued to give its sailors a daily rum ration, known as a "tot", until the practice was abolished after July 31, 1970. {{inote|Pack p. 123}}

Related Topics:
July 31 - 1970

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A story involving naval rum is that following his victory at the Battle of Trafalgar, Horatio Nelson's body was preserved in a cask of rum to allow transport back to England. The tale serves as a basis for the term Nelson's Blood being used to describe rum. The details of the story are disputed, with some historians claiming the term originated instead from a toast to Admiral Nelson. {{inote|Blue p. 78}}

Related Topics:
Battle of Trafalgar - Horatio Nelson - Toast

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Rum in colonial Australia

:See Also: Rum Rebellion

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Rum became an important trade good in the early period of the colony of New South Wales. The value of rum was based upon the lack of coinage among the population of the colony, and due to the drinks ability to allow its consumer to temporarily forget about the lack of creature comforts available in the new colony. The value of rum was such that convict settlers could be induced to work the lands owned by officers of the New South Wales Corps. Due to rums popularity among the settlers, the colony gained a reputation for drunkenness even though their alcohol consumption was less than levels commonly consumed in England at the time. {{inote|Clarke p. 26}}

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When William Bligh became governor of the colony in 1806, he attempted to

Related Topics:
William Bligh - 1806

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remedy the perceived problem with drunkenness by outlawing the use of rum as a medium of exchange. In response to this action, and several others, the New South Wales Corps marched, with fixed bayonets, to Government House and placed Bligh under arrest. The mutineers continued to control the colony until the arrival of Governor Lachlan Macquarie in 1810. {{inote|Clarke p. 29}}

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Caribbean light rum

Until the second half of the 19th century all rums were heavy or dark rums that were considered appropriate for the working poor, unlike the refined double-distilled spirits of Europe. In order to expand the market for rum, the Spanish Royal Development Board offered a prize to anyone who could improve the rum making process. This resulted in many refinements in the process which greatly improved the quality of rum{{inote|Barty-King}}.

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One of the most important figures in this development process was Don Facundo Bacardi Masso, who moved from Spain to Santiago de Cuba in 1843. Don Facundo's experiments with distillation techniques, charcoal filtering, cultivating of specialized yeast strains, and aging with American oak casks helped to produce a smoother and mellower drink typical of modern light rums. It was with this new rum that Don Facundo founded Bacardi y Compañia in 1862. {{inote|Blue p. 89}}

Related Topics:
Don Facundo Bacardi Masso - Spain - Santiago de Cuba - 1843 - Bacardi y Compañia - 1862

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