The History of Rum: Know Your Drink Better

The world’s oldest spirit that has inspired culture far beyond the cocktail world; Rum has always tended to flavour and rebellion. Its unsung tale began with the pirates from the seventeenth century, traveled through the American Revolution and today, Rum has dived deep into the lives of people effortlessly. Since its onset during the Caribbean times, rum has often been linked to the sea. It is a tropical spirit that conjures up sandy beaches, ocean breezes, and cocktails.

Rum is created from sugarcane, which goes through a fermentation and distillation process to produce molasses. Molasses is the juice extracted from sugarcane by cutting, crushing, or mashing. The majority of rum is made with a form of sulfured molasses derived from the sugarcane plant. It comes in a variety of flavours, including mild, dark, and blackstrap. After the molasses is made or the sugarcane juice is extracted, it is combined with water and yeast to make the base.

Long before the pirates and their sabers flung here and there, that tall ,green and tan perennial grass — sugarcane changed the world. Evidently, it’s been here for over a few thousand years; its exact discovery date has been much in dispute. It was only until the Arabs came along that refined sugar was perfected and introduced to European countries.

Sometime around the 1600s it was found that molasses could be fermented and distilled. That’s about when people in the Caribbean consumed the earliest sugarcane spirits. Rugged, unrefined, and wild; this new spirit earned its recognition for strength and the wickedness of those who drank it. Sugarcane spirits went by the name of kill devil, rumbullion and later, rum.

By the 1700s, rum was the trendiest spirit known to humankind. All over the world, it was celebrated and held its own cultural and societal significance. In fact, many political, economic, and social forces have shaped the role of rum in today’s world. It was often referred to as the pirate’s ‘favorite drink; people said it is the ‘best and quickest restorative which a sailor can have at sea’.

In India, rum has been around ever since ancient times. But in modern times, it was after the invasion of the British that the oldest distillery, Kasauli Distillery, was established in the Solan District of Himachal Pradesh. The distilleries in India are linked to the country’s sugar cane production. They have also been modified in the last few years to have a high quality standard of producing ethanol.

Today, rum is produced in reference to the old spirit. It comes with a modern take, spiced with traditional popular spices while keeping the traditional methods intact. Many local distilleries have created spectacular flavours that change and modernise the palette of the Indian audience. A rum revolution is slowly taking over India and Lemme is set to become a key player in it.