Season 5: Alcohol and Friends- Rum: Rum Diggity

Oh ho, oh ho, a pirate's life for me!  Take a seat and swig a drink as we talk about the history of the sugarcane and how it pertains to the creation of Rum, one of the finest (and darkest) beverages around.

*It now occurs to me that it's supposed to be Yo Ho... Don't judge me!!*

When sugarcane turned out to produce those beautiful refined sugar crystals, who knew there could be other successful compounds on it's horizon?  Easy to reproduce, and quick to grow it changed the way we cook and eat forever.  But however much one might love sugar and rum, no one can deny it's horrific associations with slavery and colonialism.  Need for this plant, which only increase when Rum began to pick up popularity, spurred on one of our darker points of history.  So what exactly happened that made rum the talk of the town and subsequently part of a ruthless trade?  And what does it have to do with sailors?  Come listen to us talk about Rum today on PlantStories.


Music Clips by Kevin Macleod at Incompetech https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/