The temperature is really high. This bread has been buttered. It’s a mug of hot rum with butter and sugar. What are you waiting for? Never fear. On January 17, celebrate National Hot Buttered Rum Day with a delicious new beverage. Rum, butter, hot water or cider, sugar, and spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves are the basis of the hot buttered rum cocktail.
Although it was used in colonial America, its origins are most likely in Europe. It is considered “comfort food in a mug” and is typically consumed during the cooler months of the year.
The annual celebration of National Hot Buttered Rum Day falls on the best day of the year. That’s because whoever came up with this holiday knew to celebrate it on the 17th of January. Due to the date’s proximity to one of the coldest days of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, hot buttered rum can be savoured at any time.
Why Is It Called National Hot Buttered Rum Day?
The drink has evolved from its colonial roots and now appears on numerous websites due to its distinct taste. Since prehistoric times, humans have enjoyed alcoholic beverages. It’s the most popular high, and it’s legal in many places throughout the world. Rumor has it that a few drinks might help ease your worries and keep the party going.
The variety-seeking nature of humans necessitated the development of multiple alcohol varieties. Not all of the alcoholic beverages they stumbled upon were by chance, but neither were they all carefully planned. The first written mentions of rum date back to ancient Sanskrit literature, making it one of the world’s oldest alcoholic drinks. made by fermenting and distilling sugarcane molasses or sugarcane juice.
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After making its way into colonial American harbours, rum quickly replaced cider and beer as the preferred alcoholic beverage of choice. Slavery and molasses served as commodities in a triangle of commerce that connected Colonial America and rum.
Slaves were traded for rum produced in New England or colonial America, and the slaves were sent to the Caribbean in exchange for molasses, the economic backbone of the region. Those who returned to New England with a cargo of molasses distilled it into rum.
Related businesses like shipbuilding, metalwork, logging, and so on greatly benefited from the colonial American distillery boom, which produced rum at breakneck speed for domestic consumption and export. Slave-produced molasses from the Caribbean was a hot commodity that helped colonial America diversify its economic base beyond farming and the export of salted fish.
The 1764 Sugar Act increased taxes on molasses, sparking protests and being called the “harbinger of the American Revolution” because of their impact on the rum trade.
Hot buttered rum was one of several concoctions that resulted from the colonists’ experimentation with mixing rum with hot liquids like toddy and eggnog. Even though mulled wine and toddy recipes are more commonly associated with Europe, hot buttered rum can be considered an American invention.
There was a widespread belief that rum provided nutritional benefits at the time; therefore, families often made and shared identical batches. Nowadays, you can find several rum recipes and brands online. This includes popular international labels like McDowell’s, Captain Morgan spiced, Tanduay, Bacardi, etc.
In his book “How to Mix Drinks: Or, The Bon-Companion,” published in 1862, bartender Jerry Thomas describes the hot spiced rum and the hot rum recipe. Ingredients for the hot spiced rum are Jamaican rum, butter, allspice, clove, and hot water. After forming a batter with these components, rum is added. Grated nutmeg is used as a garnish in place of the spices in the hot rum recipe. It’s a seasonal favorite, so it’s no surprise that this cocktail is named after the holidays.
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Sweet and buttery with just a hint of spice, hot buttered rum is the ideal drink for perking you up and satisfying your hunger. If you’re craving some warm and comforting carbs, you may use the beverage to flavour bread and cake dishes. Life is like a mug of hot buttered rum: comforting and familiar.
You could have conflicting emotions about this food because it tastes like a commodity that both boosted the economy and kept slaves in their places. Although the Hot Buttered Beverage has some gloomy rum stories, it ultimately serves as a reminder that justice will be done and a brighter day will come.
Facts About Rum
- Rum’s origins may be traced all the way back to ancient China and India, where sugarcane juice was fermented into alcoholic beverages. But these beverages were not distilled.
- In the 1620s, sugarcane from the Caribbean was used to make the first rum.
- Slaves on plantations figured out how to ferment molasses into alcohol.
- In 1664, Staten Island was home to the first legal rum distillery in the Americas.
- Barbados’ Mount Gay Rum is made by the world’s oldest rum distillery. It first welcomed customers in 1705.
- Rum is thought to have been derived from the Latin word saccharum, which means “sugar,” specifically from the word’s final syllable.
- Grog, Kill Devil, Nelson’s Blood, Navy Neaters, and Barbados Water are just a few of the many names for rum.
- George Washington enhanced eggnog with Jamaican black rum to make Mount Vernon Eggnog.
- “Rum Month” is celebrated every August.
- There is a celebration of rum every year on August 16.
