Rum
Rum is a liquor made by fermenting and then distilling sugarcane molasses or sugarcane juice. The distillate, a clear liquid, is often aged in barrels of oak. While strongly associated with the Caribbean to this day due to its Barbadian origin, rum is nowadays produced in nearly every major sugar-producing region of the world, such as the Philippines, where Tanduay Distillers, the largest producer of rum worldwide, has its headquarters.
A glass of dark rum | |
| Type | Distilled beverage |
|---|---|
| Region of origin | Caribbean |
| Introduced | 17th century |
| Alcohol by volume | 40–80% |
| Proof (US) | 80–160° |
| Colour | Clear, brown, black, red or golden |
| Flavour | Sweet to dry |
| Ingredients | sugarcane molasses or sugarcane juice; yeast; water |
| Variants | rhum agricole, ron miel, tafia |
| Related products | cachaça, charanda, clairin, grogue, grog, Seco Herrerano |
Rums are produced in various grades. Light rums are commonly used in cocktails, whereas "golden" and "dark" rums were typically consumed straight or neat, iced ("on the rocks"), or used for cooking, but are now commonly consumed with mixers. Premium rums are made to be consumed either straight or iced.
Rum plays a part in the culture of most islands of the West Indies as well as the Maritime provinces and Newfoundland, in Canada. The beverage has associations with the Royal Navy (where it was mixed with water or beer to make grog) and piracy (where it was consumed as bumbo). Rum has also served as a medium of economic exchange, used to help fund enterprises such as slavery (see Triangular trade), organized crime, and military insurgencies (e.g., the American Revolution and Australia's Rum Rebellion).