National Rum Day!

August 16 is National Rum Day! Rum was the preferred liquor of choice in colonial America and politicians running for office (including George Washington!) commonly provided it to voters. 🥃🥃🥃

In most cities, it was easier to get rum than whiskey – this changed after the Revolution as the U.S. began producing more whiskey to avoid importation costs for sugar. (Whiskey could be distilled from local ingredients.)

Did you know? Though we enjoy rum cocktails guilt-free today, in the colonial era rum was a key part of triangular trade: slaves were brought to North America to work on sugarcane plantations in the Caribbean that produced molasses. The molasses and sugarcane were then shipped to New England, where they were transformed into rum and shipped out to other parts of the world for sale.

Still Life with Bottle and Fruit, Paul Sérusier, 1909