Barbados molasses rum
Ron de melaza de Barbados
- Date
- c. 1650 · confidence medium
- Place
- Island of Barbados, Barbados
- Credited to
- Barbados planters and distillers
- Field
- Life & health
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
In Barbados sugar mills molasses, the by-product of sugar, was distilled into a strong spirit that English sources of 1650-1651 call 'kill-devil' and 'rumbullion'. Rum became a sailors' drink, a trading currency and an Atlantic export.
Priority is disputed: cane spirits existed in Brazil (cachaça) from the 16th century and on other islands (Martinique, Cuba) almost simultaneously; Barbados is the site of the first clear documentary mention of the name 'rum'.
What it led to
- the Royal Navy rum ration (1740, from Jamaica) and grog
- the role of rum in triangular trade and the North American colonial economy
- Caribbean distilleries with historic brands (Mount Gay, from 1703)