Pirates have been around for hundreds of years, and their legacy is well known. You probably know that they are the bad guys who steal people’s ships, but what you might not know about them is their favorite drink—rum! To learn more about pirates and why they are so associated with rum, read on.
1. The History of Pirates and Rum
Rum has been around for hundreds of years, too. Supposedly, pirates were responsible for the taste of rum today, when they mixed it with water and lime juice in the 17th Century. This is how the concoction “Punch” was born—something that later evolved into what we drink today (although without the rum). Now, there are many brands like https://rockfallrum.com/ that produce rum. Rum comes from sugar cane, usually found in hot climates like Jamaica, Mexico, or Barbados. More specifically, rum refers to alcohol produced using the fermentation of sugar cane juice or molasses. After it’s distilled once, it can be aged for up to 6 months; but after aging, it becomes more smooth and complex!
2. What Does Sugar Cane Have To Do With Pirates?
Sugar cane isn’t just part of many drinks—pirates had a big role to play in the history of sugar cane. Agricultural production increased during the 19th century when pirates from countries like Jamaica and Barbados started raiding French, Dutch, and British boats that were carrying Peru’s gold back to Europe. These pirates would take the gold and any other cargo they could find on board their ships, then burn the rest. They kept what was left over for themselves! However, most of this treasure ended up being sugar or molasses because they couldn’t carry all of it with them at once. Sugar cane production soon became a booming business after this time due to its high demand in Europe and North America.
3. What Does It Mean To Be A Pirate?
Being a pirate isn’t really what it sounds like—there are rules they must follow, and they aren’t mean to everyone. They can be seen as heroes because of how they protected their ships against scavengers. Pirates usually lived during the golden age of piracy (1650-1720) and would attack anyone who came near them: royalty, merchants, and fishermen alike. If you tried to rob them or harm their cargo in any way, you’d most likely end up dead!
After gaining a foothold with certain key victories at sea, pirates became more successful than ever before. Some famous pirates were Blackbeard and Anne Bonny. It is estimated that over 1,000 pirate ships existed during the golden age. However, they didn’t prefer to be called pirates, instead, they preferred the term “freebooter,” which is a more honorable name.
4. Liquor From The Caribbean Islands
Rum isn’t just drunk by pirates—people living on islands like Jamaica produced molasses out of sugar cane. Sugar cane is grown, harvested, refined, and boiled to produce molasses. Molasses are then fermented with yeast to make alcohol. Once they distilled it once, it would be stored in oak barrels until the pirates wanted some of it! After getting their hands on some rum from these Caribbean islands, they started drinking more and more of it—and we do too! Today’s rum has evolved since those times, and it can be found everywhere. In the Caribbean, rum is used to make the popular “Dark and Stormy” drink, which includes ginger beer. Back in those times, pirates would trade their goods for molasses with the Caribbean islands, so they could produce more alcohol.
5. Rum’s Effect On The World
Today, there are many companies going to production facilities in the Caribbean islands to produce rum for the rest of the world. However, it wasn’t always like this—rum was only made for about 20 years after pirates found out how they could produce it themselves. Even though they stopped making it in 1741, they still have a very strong influence on modern-day drinking habits.
For example, someone who drinks alcoholic beverages is called a “rum drinker,” and someone who drinks too much alcohol can be known as a drunk or a “rum pot.” In 2017, there were over 100 million cases of rum sold around the world. Rum-making facilities have also evolved since those times—they now work with water treatment plants to ensure that their ingredients are pure before anything goes into production. Rums today aren’t just used for drinking anymore either—they can be found in different foods as well!
Rum was one of the main drinks that pirates drank during the golden age. They could use it as a form of currency or for trading with other people that they attacked. We hope that with this information you have learned more about pirates and what they drank.
