Mention the word “rum” and you conjure up a world of tropical islands with evocative names like Leeward, Windward, Antilles and Keys. Of blue seas, white beaches, and warm sunny days under tropical skies. Of famous pirates like Blackbeard and Captain Morgan, who presumably liked nothing better than to drop into a beach bar for quick Daiquiri after a hard day’s cruising.
The origins of the drink and the word itself are highly disputed [1] But as early as 1651 it had a acquired a dubious reputation, as this observation upon the Island of St Nevis shows
“The chief fuddling they make in the island is Rumbullion, alias Kill-Divil, and this is made of sugar canes distilled, a hot, hellish, and terrible liquor.”
Rum soon went on to make its way into cocktail recipes the world around. A quick glance at a recipe book revealed over fifty such, including some of the most evocative: Cuba Libre, Havana Beach, Pina Colada and Blue Hawaiian. There isn’t time to make (or drink) even a fraction of them all this evening. But we would like to offer instead this link to the BBC Good Food Guide. It’s like a handy guide for the beginner, but with juicy mixes like the Zombie and the Long Island Iced Tea, which anyone can soon learn to run up to a professional standard. So for tonight, why not mix up a special? And and imagine yourself to be on a Friday night on Port of Spain in 1722, when the taverns were alive with music and laughter, the fleet was in town, and the streets were full of excitement and discharged seamen. Happy days!
We thank Gary Herbert for the inspiration for tonight’s entry to the blog
[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rum
[2]https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/best-ever-rum-cocktail-recipes
#rum #cocktails #pirates
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