Origins

From nearly the beginning of time, humans have been creating alcoholic beverages. Of course, fermented sugarcane based alcohol would have been something that existed far before the distilled versions that we see today. However, it wouldn’t be in an area where you might have expected. Sugarcane doesn’t originate in the Americas, in fact, it originates from two major areas. The first being the island of New Guinea located in the South Pacific and the second being the mainland of India. There, these nations used the sugarcane as a main source of food, shelter, and the like for centuries.

It wasn’t until the Persian empire entered India that sugarcane began to be traded, exported, and moved around the world. With this expansion, the Arab nations began to distill the sugarcane with their more advanced technologies and their alembic stills. It’s important to note that those who practiced the Islamic faith abstained from drinking and thusly probably didn’t distill the sugarcane into a spirit themselves. More than likely, it was probably the Moors who expanded into areas of Italy and Spain that taught them how to distill sugarcane. Northern Europe probably wasn’t exposed to sugarcane until the time of the Crusades, but during that time, sugar was reserved for only the most wealthy and it was unlikely that it was turned into an alcoholic spirit in those early centuries.

Next in this timeline is the point in history where we get to talk about how awful colonization was and how European nations exploited native populations and became invested in slave trade. These Caribbean nations were perfect growing climates for sugarcane, and while most Europeans were looking for gold, what they found was something else - a paradise with sunny weather, crystal clear water, and fertile lands. So this is what they took instead. Europeans decimated and enslaved local populations and slaughtered them with superior weaponry. A dark stain in the course of human history. In the background of all of this, sugarcane production increased and eventually rum found its way into the world.

Rum’s birth was slow in the early days and there are many reasons for this. One of these was that there were plentiful amounts of beverages that locals were already drinking made from fermented bananas, plantains, cassava, and even potatoes. A second reason was that wine was still incredibly popular with the colonizing countries due to the fact that while they were producing sugar, it wasn’t used in distilling. In fact, Brazil was the only country producing sugarcane spirits in the form of cachaca for nearly 100 years.

It wasn’t until the mid 1600s that the Dutch saw rum as an opportunity. While other European nations were looking for conquest and gold, the Dutch were primarily looking for commercial opportunities in spices, coffee, and sugarcane. The Dutch began to move distilling equipment to islands of Barbados, Martinique, and others. However, the real growth of rum came when the British found a use for the leftover molasses that was a byproduct of creating fine sugar crystals. This early rum was called killdevil, rumbullion, rumboes, or a myriad of other terms still hotly debated among linguists and historians alike.

Like anything in the 18th century, if it was worth anything of value, someone wanted control of it - and this applies to rum, but not directly. Rum became a largely sought after commodity during the years of Triangular Trade in the Caribbean and Atlantic. Spices, rum, sugar, and other valuables sailed from the Caribbean to Europe. There they were traded for weapons, technology, and other refined items that went to Africa. In Africa this cargo was traded for slaves who were sent to the Caribbean to harvest more raw goods. It was a vicious cycle. Because of all of this trade, pirates began to evolve and hone their ways of targeting such vessels for their own benefits.

One can’t talk or even think about rum without talking about pirates. Piracy began in the 17th century around the same time that sugar plantations began producing the product. Coincidence? Definitely not. The crazy thing about pirates being connected to rum is that most of them actually didn’t drink rum! They were mostly drinking brandy, wine, and Dutch genever that they captured from ships in the Caribbean. The image that we have of pirates today is a product of hyperbole from works of fiction like Peter Pan, Pirates of the Caribbean, Black Sails, and even Treasure Island.

Along with Pirates, the other thing that one thinks about when talking about rum is tiki culture. We fully acknowledge that talking about tiki comes with stigmas attached in the form of cultural appropriation. This is something that can’t ever be ignored and it’s a real situation that needs to continually be addressed. However, that appropriation did create a forum in which rum entered pop culture and mainstream conversations and it merits being discussed.

Caribbean tourism started becoming a reality towards the end of the 18th century, but flourished throughout the years and is still a driving force to this day. Of course, some saw this as an opportunity for those unable to travel to faraway islands and brought that culture to the United States and beyond. From there, what we now know of tiki began to take shape. Island atmosphere and music, creative glassware, overproof drinks, and all of the like began to spread. Those like Donn the Beachcomber and Trader Vic created chain restaurants to cater to those seeking an exotic getaway. Books were written, stories were told and exaggerated, and of course, rum was at the front and center of this story. Today, you can still find many of these styles of bars all over the world and there are those who dedicate themselves to traveling to all of them, building exotic bars in their homes, and embracing the culture.

Outside of the cult of tiki, rum didn’t make much of a resurgence until the turn of the 21st century. Rum sales skyrocketed around the world and premium rum began to make an appearance. Many of these brands and distilleries saw the success that other spirits were having with limited and rare releases so they followed suit. Spiced and flavored rums also played a large role in increasing rums popularity around the world as well. Today, knowledge about rum is slowly being distributed to consumers and hospitality industry workers as well. Rum continues to be defined by governing bodies in certain regions and countries as well which helps in creating distinction for the spirit too.