After yesterday’s ponderings on the inevitability of the American Revolution, I thought it might be time for
something a little lighter.
Recently, I wrote about
the similarity between a sailor’s grog and a hot toddy. After posting, I starting wondering whether a
“buttered rum” might be a drink in the same vein and have colonial roots as
well.
rum cake |
Aside: Now that I think
about it, I don’t think I’ve ever had rum outside of my mother-in-law’s rum
cake. There’s enough alcohol in that to count, but still, I think I should try
it, if only for the sake of research.
According to Wikipedia:
Hot buttered rum is a mixed
drink containing rum, butter, hot water or cider, a sweetener, and various spices (usually cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves).
If you recall, the
Dictionary.com definition of grog was a mixture of rum and water, often flavored with lemon, sugar, and spices and sometimes served
hot.
Frankly, the hot buttered
rum sounds better to me what with the cider and butter, but they clearly have
similar origins. However, while grog originated in the Royal Navy, hot buttered
rum is said to have originated in the Colonies. Although you should always be careful of
information gathered through crowdsourcing, the Wikipedia entry incudes a recipe for hot
buttered rum. If anyone is brave enough to try it, let us know how it turns
out!
I have to wonder if
Colonial women drank hot buttered rum
or similar drinks. Colonial
Williamsburg cites US Government figures that puts annual
per-capita alcohol consumption for people over fifteen at thirty-four
gallons of beer and cider, five
gallons of distilled spirits, and one
gallon of wine.
Colonial Williamsburg admits that there isn’t much written about
how much colonial women drank. Of course, there isn’t much written about them
“not drinking” either!*
MJ
* The first temperance movements that I am aware of did start in American during the Revolution, but they weren't focused on all alcohol - just hard spirits. I also don't know that women were a driving force behind the early movement the way they were in the 19th century. There's always more to learn!
* The first temperance movements that I am aware of did start in American during the Revolution, but they weren't focused on all alcohol - just hard spirits. I also don't know that women were a driving force behind the early movement the way they were in the 19th century. There's always more to learn!
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