Rum is one of the most popular spirits in the world but did you know its history? So what is rum, It's actually a liquor that's made by fermenting and distilling sugarcane juice, sugarcane molasses or sugarcane honey. Produced all over the world it became commercially produced in the Caribbean and American countries. The origin of its name is unclear but it is believed that it's got to do with Rumbullion. Rumbullion was a beverage made by boiling sugarcane stalks.
Where does sugarcane come from—despite being known as a plant of the Caribbean it actually originated in New Guinea and its cultivation can be dated back to 6000 BC. Believe it or not the Caribbean was one of the last places where the plant spread. It made its way from New Guinea to Southeast Asia and India about 1000 BC. From India and China it made its way to the Middle East and North Africa and it was then introduced to Spain by the Moors when they conquered Spain. The sugarcane that the Moors took to Spain was from Egypt. Once southern Spain took back their lands from the Moors in the 1400s they then started taking sugarcane all around the world.This is when Christopher Columbus took it to what is now known as the Dominican Republic, from there it was also transported to neighbouring islands and the Caribbean. Sugar cane loved the tropics of the Caribbean because it grew so well there and by the 1600s sugarcane was also used to make rum.
Huge parts of the Caribbean and South America were cleared to plant sugarcane, however this needed a huge workforce to be able to cultivate the plant. With extremely hot and harsh conditions and the lack of native Indians it was hard for farmers to actually get people to work on their plantation. This is where the history got really ugly, where the dirty past of rum started. Due to the lack of workers plantation owners started using slaves. With the French and the British colonised in a lot of these areas, they started making some rules to protect their own domestic alcohol. The rules made it illegal to be able to import any alcohol or distilled spirits from any of the colonies.
Molasses which is a leftover by-product of making sugar was sent to america to be distilled into rum. These traders in New England became extremely rich in what was known as the Triangular Trade. Their ships filled with American-made rum were transported to Africa where they were then traded for slaves. The slaves were then transported to the Caribbean where they were then traded and swapped for molasses, sugar and money. Unfortunately the slaves were also made to work on the plantations. The sugar and molasses was then transported back to New England in America and therefore this triangle just continued.
During these voyages up to 30% of the slaves died in squalid conditions, it's believed over 3 million slaves were stolen during this time. At these times on the plantations rum was given to slaves to keep them subdued and to keep some of them happy. However the masters continued to drink brandies, odavis and fortified wines that were bought over from Europe.
At this time rum wasn't popular at all in England and America [England had its own little gin craze happening]. By 1775 there were grain shortages in England so they did start delivering molasses back to England and this is when the English started making their own rums. Unfortunately the slave trade continued for many many years, eventually it was removed and now rum as you know is enjoyed and drank all over the world.