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Columbus traveled westward, and in addition to his mission of finding gold, spices, and spreading religious beliefs, his trip to the Americas was an important achievement, finding places to grow sugar cane in the Caribbean and bringing them into the New World.
This was the first time that Europeans had the ability to mass-produce and commercialize this scarce commodity since the Crusades tasted the sweetness of cane sugar in Jerusalem, and rum came into being in the context of modern sugarcane sugar production.
The home of rum is the island of Barbados on the eastern side of the Caribbean Sea, and after the British brought sugar cane and slaves to this land, sugarcane cultivation became the mainstay of the local industry.
In the process of sugarcane sugar, a useless viscous substance is produced, molasses. The slaves stumbled upon the fermentation of molasses to produce alcohol, which was an exciting drink for them.
Merchants on the island of Barbados smelled the business opportunity and added Western distillation technology to molasses fermentation broth, and the high concentration of distilled spirits from the Caribbean was born, which is rum.
In the sea-dependent Caribbean, rum was a huge success as soon as it was introduced. In the boring life at sea, the high concentration of distilled spirits does not spoil, which is conducive to long-term storage. It can be used as a medical supplies to disinfect wounds, and it has also become a rare pastime for the crew.
Before the advent of rum, French brandy was the only choice on the ocean, but because of transportation, production and other reasons, the price of a glass of brandy was not cheap. The advent of rum has completely changed this situation, and the raw molasses of rum is convenient and inexpensive, which also makes rum synonymous with cheap wine and has become the favorite of most sailors. Among the loyal customers of rum, the British Navy and the pirates of the Caribbean are the most famous.
Pirates of the Caribbean liked to drink heavily, and soldiers of the British Empire diluted it with water in rum and mixed with sugar, orange juice or lemon juice to create a rich taste. This way of blending now results in a wide variety of cocktails that have taken the world by storm.
The tradition of rum-equipping the British navy soon spread throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, and as the British Empire expanded globally, rum spread from the Caribbean to the world.
Rum can usually be divided into three categories: white rum, golden rum and black rum depending on the body color.
The unripe rum, which is transparent in color and collectively known as white rum, retains the grass and fruity aroma unique to sugar cane, and is a base wine often used in cocktails, originating in Cuba, and mojito, which is infused with mint lemon, is one of the most famous rum mixers.
The amber color of the golden rum body is usually obtained during the maturation process, and the overall flavor is more intense, in addition to the original flavor, it will also blend spices, wood and other more complex flavors from oak barrels.
After a long period of oak barrel ripening, the black rum is deeper in color, slightly sweeter in taste, and the flavor is richer, and special aromas such as preserved fruits and toffee can even be distinguished by tasting carefully.