Rum’s: Social and Historical Importance
It’s actually Rum which spins the whole world over, and not your cash or your currency. This is the very definition of this alcoholic beverage. This is a clear and simple way as to introduce this beverage, to those who haven’t freed their tongues to taste this liquid. All non-alcoholics would be able to understand this clear and distilled introduction, if they need to try their tongues on this precious liquid.
Rum is an alcoholic beverage which is made from sugarcane; it’s actually derived from a sugarcane molasses a byproduct of the agricultural produce. This sugarcane alcohol is obtained from the fermentation and the distillation of the sugarcane juice. This distillated sugarcane juice is then stored in oak barrels for some time. One could be surprised to know that over 80 per cent of the world’s rum, is produced in the Caribbean, while the rest of it is supplied by countries like Venezuela and Brazil.
Besides the conventional ones, there are many other kinds of Rum like the Light rum, Brandy, sparkling rums or the dark rum. Usually the light rum is used in cocktails, while the golden and the dark rum is used in cooking various delicacies. Another kind of rum known as the White rum is the most expensive among all. However its mostly used by the Rich American Elite.
Rum has always played a primary alcoholic serving at party’s or get-togethers or social gatherings. Moreover in countries like the United Kingdom and the West Indies, one can hardly imagine any such gathering or a party without the rum. This beverage has played such a pivotal role during the medieval era, that it had been used to promoted slavery in the African countries, as well as to instigate the natives of Australia and the Americans during their American Revolution.
However the origin of the name “Rum” still remains a mystery, while some claim that the name was derived from the meaning “tumult or else uproar”. While others claim that the word rum originates because of the word Roemer, which means a large alcohol drinking glass used by the people of Netherlands. Alternatively this beverage is also known as the Devils drink or Demon Water.
The development of fermented drinks from sugarcane juice can be traced to ancient India or China; however one example of this drink is the Brum. This drink was produced by the Malay people thousands of years ago. Even Marco Polo was offered this modern day rum which was made from sugarcane too. Its first distillation took place in the sugar plantations of Caribbean islands around the 18th century, where the West Indian slaves discovered that the molasses which was an important by-product of sugarcane could be distillated and fermented in order to produce rum.
However till the 19th century all the rums were either dark or heavy, which were considered fit to be consumed by the poor. But later the Spanish Development Board offered a huge sum of prize money, to anyone who would improve the quality of rum. Moreover Don Facundo Masso experiments with different distillation techniques like charcoal filtering, cultivation of various yeasts and improvised ageing systems helped in producing such quality of rum which were smoother and lighter.
Rums can be categorized according to different grades and variations, depending on the locations where it was produced or distilled. For e.g. light rums also known as silver or white rums which could cost your pockets a bit more are made in countries like Brazil or Latin America. While Gold Rums also known as Amber Rums are distilled and aged in the U.S.
This entry was posted on Thursday, July 10th, 2008 at 10:29 am and is filed under Rum. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.