| An early alcoholic drink, rum has been around | | | | interrupted because of the 1764 Sugar Act, |
| since ancient times. Nothing if not old, it | | | | another straw was thrown on the American |
| is practically forced to walk with a (sugar) | | | | Colonists back. Thus, bottles of rum can |
| cane. Though it wasn't first distilled in | | | | often be overhead bragging to bottles of wine |
| plantations until the 17th century, rum is | | | | and bottles of whiskey that they were the |
| believed to have existed thousands of years | | | | reason for the American Revolution. |
| prior in the form of brum, a drink made by | | | | |
| the Malay people. In the 14th century, Marco | | | | More than any other alcoholic drink, rum was |
| Polo (the explorer, not the swimming pool | | | | associated with pirates (yo ho ho and a |
| game) wrote about a wine made of sugar, | | | | bottle of rum, anyone?). This initially |
| giving further credence to the belief that | | | | started when English privateers began trading |
| rum was around before the 1600's. | | | | it. As some of these men eventually became |
| | | | pirates (aim high, kids), they carried with |
| When the first distillation of rum began, it | | | | them their liking of rum. Pieces of |
| began in the Caribbean when plantation slaves | | | | literature that coupled rum and piracy |
| realized the molasses, left over from sugar | | | | perpetuated this notion. |
| refinement, could be turned into alcohol. | | | | |
| This alcohol, however, was not well | | | | Rum was also associated with the British |
| received...at least not at first. Like the | | | | Royal Navy, an association that began in 1655 |
| beginning of most things, the beginning of | | | | when Jamaica was captured by British sailors. |
| rum was a little shaky and the spirit was | | | | Once ashore, rum was so available that the |
| dispirited to learn that it was initially | | | | seamen began drinking it instead of the |
| thought to be a terrible tasting liquor. | | | | brandy to which they were accustomed. |
| | | | |
| Once the Caribbean set the rum ball in | | | | The refinement of rum began in the place it |
| motion, it quickly spread to the American | | | | all started: the Caribbean. Prior to the late |
| Colonies. In 1664, the first distillery for | | | | 1800's, rums were dark and heavy. The Spanish |
| rum was set up in what is now Staten Island; | | | | Royal Development Board set out to make rum |
| a distillery in Boston quickly followed. | | | | more appealing to the general public and |
| | | | offered a reward for anyone who could improve |
| New Englanders had a special penchant for | | | | its quality. And so enter Don Facundo Bacardi |
| making rum; not only was the rum industry | | | | Masso. |
| their most profitable industry, but the rum | | | | |
| they produced was considered to be of higher | | | | After moving to Cuba from Spain in 1843, |
| quality than all others. | | | | Masso began to refine his rumming techniques. |
| | | | He improved distillation, filtering, and |
| An alcoholic drink determined to have a place | | | | aging in casks made of American oak. This all |
| in history - even the dark parts of history - | | | | worked together to produce a rum that was |
| rum was involved in the slave trade, as | | | | light and smooth, a spirit that today we have |
| slaves, molasses, and rum were part of the | | | | come to love, to drink, and one that makes |
| triangular trade. When this trade was | | | | our senses rumble. |