Rum

Rum is a distilled beverage made from sugarcane by-products such as molasses and sugarcane juice by a process of fermentation and distillation. The distillate, a clear liquid, is then usually aged in oak and other barrels.

The majority of the world's rum production occurs in and around the Caribbean and in several Central American and South American countries, such as Guatemala, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana and Brazil. There are also rum producers in places such as Australia, Fiji, the Philippines, India, Reunion Island, Mauritius, and elsewhere around the world.

Light rums are commonly used in cocktails, whereas golden and dark rums are also appropriate for drinking straight, or for cooking. Premium rums are also available that are made to be consumed straight or with ice.

Rum plays a part in the culture of most islands of the West Indies, and has famous associations with the Royal Navy (See: Grog) and piracy (See: Bumbo). Rum has also served as a popular medium of exchange that helped to promote slavery along with providing economic instigation for Australia's Rum Rebellion and the American Revolution.

The origin of the word rum is generally unclear. Rum is a blunt, Anglo-Saxonlike name. In an 1824 essay about the word's origin, Samuel Morewood, a British etymologist, suggested that it might be from the British slang term for "the best," as in "having a rum time." He wrote that

"As spirits, extracted from molasses, could not well be ranked under the name whiskey, brandy, or arack, it would be called rum, to denote its excellence or superior quality." -Samuel Morewood

Given the harsh taste of early rum, this is unlikely. Morewood later suggested another possibility: that it was taken from the last syllable of the Latin word for sugar, saccharum, an explanation that is commonly heard today. It should be noted though, that the -um is a very common noun ending in Latin, and plenty of Latin word roots end in r, so in reality, one could apply this logic to a plethora of Latin words to draw the link.

Other etymologists have mentioned the Romani word rum, meaning "strong" or "potent." These words have been linked to the ramboozle and rumfustian, both popular British drinks in the mid-seventeenth century. However, neither was made with rum, but rather eggs, ale, wine, sugar, and various spices. The most probable origin is as a truncated version of rumbullion or rumbustion." Both words surfaced in English about the same time as rum did, and were slang terms for "tumult" or "uproar." This is a far more convincing explanation, and brings the image of fractious men fighting in entanglements at island tippling houses, which are early versions of the bar.

Another claim is that the name is from the large drinking glasses used by Dutch seamen known as rummers, from the Dutch word roemer, a drinking glass. Other options include contractions of the words saccharum, Latin for sugar, or arôme, French for aroma. Regardless of the original source, the name was already in common use by May 1657 when the General Court of Massachusetts made illegal the sale of strong liquor "whether knowne by the name of rumme, strong water, wine, brandy, etc."

In current usage, the name used for a rum is often based on the rum's place of origin. For rums from Spanish-speaking locales the word ron is used. A ron añejo indicates a rum that has been significantly aged and is often used for premium products. Rhum is the term used for rums from French-speaking locales, while rhum vieux is an aged French rum that meets several other requirements.

Some of the many other names for rum are Nelson's Blood, Kill-Devil, Demon Water, Pirate's Drink, Navy Neaters, and Barbados water. A version of rum from Newfoundland is referred to by the name Screech, while some low-grade West Indies rums are called tafia.