Where Did Rum Really Come From?

Sugarcane Fields

     There is some disagreement as to the exact origin of rum, but Barbados and Brazil are some of the most repeated ones.  There is a lot of talk about early rums coming from the areas of the South Pacific as well.  Sugarcane has its origins in that area, along with a large sugar production.  Anytime that you have fermentable materials, you will generally find an alcoholic beverage made from it.

Early Sugar Processing Pots

     Plantation slaves first discovered that molasses, a by-product of the sugar refining process, fermented into alcohol. Later, distillation of these alcoholic by-products concentrated the alcohol and removed impurities, producing the first true rums. Tradition suggests that rum first originated on the island of Barbados.

     The first distillation of rum in the Caribbean took place on the sugarcane plantations there in the 17th century. Plantation slaves discovered that molasses, a byproduct of the sugar refining process, could be fermented into alcohol. ... However, in the decade of the 1620s, “rum” production was also recorded in Brazil.   Cachaca is a rum like spirit that is made in Brazil from fresh sugarcane juice, it has many of the same characteristics as rum.

     Christopher Columbus was the first to introduce sugarcane to the Caribbean in the 1400’s, but the plantation slaves of the late 1600’s finally started distilling rum.  Columbus brought the sugarcane from the East Indies that he introduced to the Caribbean.  I guess that it really doesn’t matter the exact origin of rum, but it seemed to pop up anywhere there was sugarcane.  Some places it was made from sugarcane juices and other places used the industrial waste of the sugar processors.  The bottom line is we do have it today.