Rum started in the Caribbean in the early 1600’s. Rum is made from Sugarcane or Molasses. Rum was the first alcohol to be manufactured and distilled. It was also the first spirit to be drank for pleasure and not for medicinal purposes. The consumption of rum quickly spread to Colonial North America.
Rum was so valuable it was at times used as currency in the 18th century. Sailors would recieve rum as a form of payment. Navy sailors would recieve a ration of rum every day. The Royal Navy continued to give its sailors a daily ration know as a “tot”. This practice was abolished July 31, 1970.
Rum can have a lot of alcohol in it. George Washington liked to use it to make cocktails. Over the years rum has gotten many nicknames, kill-Devil, Navy Neaters, Nelsons blood, Demon Water, Barbadoes water, grog, pirates drink and rumbellion.
There is basically light rum or dark rum. Light rum is clear, it has not been aged as long as dark rum. Dark rum is dark colored, usually thicker and has been aged longer. The quality of the rum has everything to do with the water that was used in distillation and where the sugar cane was growing. Estimates of rum consumption had every man woman and child drinking an average of 3 imperial gallons per year.
In modern times we use a lot of rum to make all kinds of delicious cocktails. Pina Colada’s, Daquiri’s, it is a special alcohol that goes well with almost anything. You can even use rum to make rum cakes and other sweet treats.
Our rum is unique, we have our Son of a Sailor rum, Sassy Mermaid Rum and our Spiced rum. All three taste totally different from the others. Our son of a sailor rum is made from mostly molasses, Our gold Sassy Mermaid has a whiskey flavor to it. We age it in a new oak barrel like we do our whiskey. Our spiced rum is actually a recipe we came across that is probably 200 years old. the spices in it are very pronounced and delicious.