Discover the Spirit: Top 9 Fun Facts About Rum You Never Knew

1. Rumbullion: The Untameable Ancestor

Fasten your seat belts, for 'tis the tale of a once hot, hellish and terrible elixir born amidst the swaying sugarcane fields of Barbados, known to cause tumultuous escapades and unruly comportment: The noble "rum," as we know it today, owes its roots to the isle of Barbados during 1640-1645, where its older sibling, the "rumbullion" (meaning great tumult), was distilled from sugar-canes and sipped by English settlers, while they presumably got up to all sorts of rumbustious shenanigans!
Source => blog.oup.com

2. Grog: Pirates' Citrusy Secret Weapon

Ahoy, me hearties! Before ye sail off to chart the seas of grog-filled trivia, know this: pirates didn't just guzzle rum for kicks, they also relished a trusty concoction called grog - a zesty blend of rum, water, and lime or lemon juice. From the Caribbean islands to Jamaica, Mexico, and Barbados, our rum-loving swashbucklers roamed, plundering fancy vessels from Europe, in search of precious cargo like sugar, molasses, or even Peru's gold: a conquest that didn't just wet their beards, but also sweetened their deals and quenched the thirst of 17th-century Europe and North America.
Source => thearcadiaonline.com

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3. Black Tot Day: A Sailor's Sorrow

Ahoy mateys, at the stroke of six bells, the fleet faced a grave loss and mourned with black armbands and buried tots: On July 31, 1970, the Royal Navy bid farewell to their beloved 'Pusser's Rum' ration, marking the end of the daily issuance of rum to sailors and the somber occasion known as Black Tot Day.
Source => rmg.co.uk

4. Limeys: Scurvy-Free Sea Voyagers

Who needs a GPS when you have a lime? Pirates may have had a taste for adventure, but it was the British sailors who cruised to the rescue by warding off scurvy with their trusty citrus sidekick: To fend off scurvy, the Royal Navy mixed lime juice—a vitamin C source—into their rum and water, a combination so effective that British sailors earned the nickname "limeys."
Source => usni.org

5. Rum: The Trusty Thirst Quencher & Currency

Who needs water when you have rum? Pirates, sailors, and your great-great-great-grandparents would agree: during the 17th and 18th centuries, rum was not only deemed safer to drink than water but also served as a valuable currency and essential medicine in the American colonies.
Source => winemag.com

6. Switching Sides: Beer to Rum Rations

Ahoy, me hearties! Gather 'round as we raise our tankards to the intriguing tale of sea-dwelling tipplers, who once slurped a gallon of brew before switching teams to Captain Morgan's crew: The daily drink ration for British sailors in the 17th century was initially a gallon of beer, altered to a half pint of rum in 1655 due to storage issues, and eventually getting reduced over the years until its final dismissal in 1970 on the infamous "Black Tot Day."
Source => en.wikipedia.org

7. Ale Flip: The Revolutionary Indulgence

Before the days of pumpkin spice lattes and eggnog, there was a rebellious colonial concoction that would stuff its brawny fists in your taste buds and shake them senseless: the ale flip, a colonial-era favorite, combined beer and rum with molasses and eggs or cream to create a thick, sweet, and creamy beverage, with nary a red-hot fire poker to froth it, but rather, a rod or "loggerhead" was employed for a frothy, revolutionary indulgence.
Source => goodfoodstories.com

8. Liquid Gold: Rhode Island Rum Currency

Whoever said "money doesn't grow on trees" clearly never visited Rhode Island in the 1700s, where liquid gold flowed freely from barrels and had Europeans clamoring for a taste: Remarkably, at one point Rhode Island rum became such a valuable commodity that it was accepted as currency in Europe, and even played a significant role in igniting the American Revolution due to uproar over the Molasses Act of 1733 and its replacement, the Sugar Act in 1764.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

9. Rum: Warming Hearts Throughout History

Ahoy there, me hearties! Raise your tankards and prepare for a spirited voyage across oceans of history and barrels of laughs: Rum, one of the world's oldest distilled spirits, has been warming the cockles of sailors and pirates alike for centuries, making appearances in iconic cocktails like the Dark & Stormy and being produced everywhere from the Caribbean to Latin America, and even touching shores in the United States.
Source => fancysips.com