Jamaica rum

“ Sometimes the composition consists of low-priced Jamaica rums, rectified spirits of wine, and the Leeward-island rums, with the necessary acid vegetable substances, to give them false strength and pungency and the requisite flavour; and thus the purchaser is accommodated by the “caterers of comfort,” with a rum which “cannot” be adulterated, of exceedingly fine and superior flavour, remarkably cheap and for ready money only. ”

“ When you don't have any scotch in the house you'd be surprised how well rum will do—even Jamaica rum. I was on my own davenport in my own apartment and there were two shot glasses in front of me. I was taking turns on them so they wouldn't wear out. And what was keeping these glasses busy was me and a fifth of the Jamaica rum in my right hand. And that's when it all began.
Across the room a rather stout woman was needling a classic through the television screen and at the same time needing a shave rather badly. I wasn't paying any attention to her. I was thinking about the Doll. ”

“ Every person consumed spirits, which generally came to the province in the form of Jamaica rum, from the West Indies, and as this rum was supposed to be an infallible cure for nearly every ill that flesh is heir to, nothing could be done at that time without its use. ”

“ Rum is chiefly produced in the West Indies, and in North America. The specific gravity ranges from 0·874 to 0·926; alcohol, from 50 to 70 per cent.; solid residue, from 0·7 to 1·50 per cent; ash, under 0·10 per cent. [114]
[191]
The following are the results obtained by Berkhurts, from the analysis of various samples of genuine and artificial Jamaica rum: [115] —
The variations in the composition of commercial rum would seem to be so great that little information of value concerning its authenticity is to be derived from analyses of a general character. ”

“ Not much wine is made in the country; that of Mendoza has a sweet taste, like our homemade wines.
Beer is only used as a bonne bouche. Bottled beer has not that relish to me, that the London draught porter has. Brandy, gin, and rum, are abundant. The latter arrives from the Brazils, Havannah, and Isle of France. The good old Jamaica rum is a scarce commodity. Caña, a sort of white brandy, from the Havannah, Brazils, and Spain, and called Spanish brandy, is much drank, and makes capital punch. ”

“ Put in a saucepan on the hot range one pint of Jamaica rum, with twelve ounces of granulated sugar; stir continually with the spatula until reduced to half the quantity. Add the juice of three lemons, the juice of four sweet oranges, then set the pan on the corner of the stove to keep hot. Put into a tea-pot one ounce of green tea, pouring over it a pint of boiling water, and let infuse for ten minutes, then strain into the preparation; return it on the hot place, and when about boiling, skim thoroughly with a skimmer. Take it from the fire, pour it into a punch-bowl, and serve. ”

“ And then I looked over at the TV screen.
That sent a little shiver up my spine. I dropped my eyes to the glasses, filled them once more. Strong stuff, Jamaica rum. At the first the taste is medicine. A little later the taste is pleasant syrup. And a little later still the taste is delightful. But strong—the whole way strong. ”

“ But old Blore ... he came waddling back to me, drunk, as usual, on his rum and sugar.
"Welcome back, Johnnie ... come on, you and Frank, into my room ... we've got to celebrate your return."
Frank and I set down the stove we were moving, dusted our hands off, and followed.
"But I won't drink any of your rum, Ed! It's got too much of a kick."
"—nonsense ... good Jamaica rum never hurt nobody."
We drank several rounds of rum and water, with sugar. And we jocosely joined together in singing the cancer doctor's favourite hymn—"We're drifting down the stream of time, we haven't got long to stay." ”

“ They are prone to the use of spirituous liquors, and think nothing of taking a tumbler of strong Jamaica rum at a draught. The chief women are, if possible, the greatest drunkards. They distill an excellent spirit from the tee root, which grows wild about the mountains, and resembles the beet root of this country. It is, however, larger and much sweeter, of a brownish appearance, and in perfection all the year round. The natives collect a quantity of this root, and bake it well under ground ”

“ Madison was willing to discourage rum-making and rum-selling both in the interest of temperance, and proposed a tax of eight cents a gallon on molasses and fifteen cents on Jamaica rum, which called out this indignant burst from Goodhue of Massachusetts: "Molasses is a raw material, essentially requisite for the well-being of a very extensive and valuable manufacture. It ought likewise to be considered a necessary of life. ”

“ This simple method is subject to variations in manufacture, and the addition of a small quantity of Jamaica rum, in particular, is said to much improve the flavour. Dry Curaçoa contains about 39%, the sweet variety about 36% of alcohol. A lighter variety of Curaçoa, made with fine brandy, is known as “Grand Marnier.” ”

“ Now add boiling water, and stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. Squeeze and strain the juice from the lemons and add it to the mixture; stir together and taste it; add more acid or more sugar, as required, and take care not to render it too watery. "Rich of the fruit and plenty of sweetness," is the maxim. Now measure the sherbet, and to every three quarts add a pint of cognac brandy and a pint of old Jamaica rum, the spirit being well stirred as poured in. This punch may be bottled and kept in a cool cellar; it will be found to improve with age. ”

“ The exported produce of Jamaica consists chiefly of sugar and rum. The article next in importance is coffee. Then they export also logwood, arrowroot, pimento, and ginger; but not in quantities to make them of much national value. Mahogany is also cut here, and fustic. But sugar and rum are still the staples of the island. Now all the world knows that rum and sugar are made from the same plant.
And yet every one will tell you that the cane can hardly be got to thrive in Jamaica without slave labour ”

“ Take Flavor with raspberry syrup. Fill the glass with shaved ice. Shake and mix thoroughly, then ornament with pieces of orange, pineapple, and berries in season, and dash with Jamaica rum. Serve with a straw. ”

“ And if the presents are on view, dogs are of no use, nor bolts, nor bars:—he's worse than Cupid. The only protection to be found, singular as it may be thought, is in a couple of bottles of the oldest Jamaica rum in the British isles. ”

“ Deacon Fayerweather always brought to church each winter Sunday in his saddle-bags three or four bottles of home-brewed beer and a bottle of Jamaica rum, from which, with the aid of the loggerhead, he made a famous jug of flip for the minister and deacons at the nooning. ”

“ To the soldiers and sailors grog was dealt out as regularly every day as rations. Rum was the liquor more generally used, being imported from Jamaica, and infinitely purer than the rum sold to-day. It has to be recorded that at a comparatively early date, breweries and distilleries were erected, first in one township then in another, so that after a few years the native liquor was much cheaper than rum, and then followed the natural result—​namely, increasing intemperance. It is not difficult to understand that the old soldier would like his regular glass of grog. ”

“ Peel twenty-four lemons; steep the rinds for twelve hours in two quarts of Jamaica rum. Squeeze the lemons on three and a half pounds of loaf sugar; add two quarts of dark brandy and six quarts of water. Mix all together; add two quarts of boiled milk, stir until the mixture curdles, strain it through a jelly-bag until clear ”

“ The “knickerbein” recipe differs materially from this, as brandy is [Pg 240] substituted for chartreuse, and the ingredients are shaken up and strained, the white of the egg being whisked and placed atop. But, either way, you will get a good, bile-provoking mixture. In the
West Indies,
if you thirst for a rum and milk, cocoa-nut milk is the “only wear”; and a very delicious potion it is. A favourite mixture in Jamaica was the juice of a “star” apple, the juice of an orange, a wine-glassful of sherry, and a dust of nutmeg. ”

“ Jamaica will become increasingly prosperous by the intelligent development of her fruit, coffee and tobacco trades. Bananas, pine-apples, oranges, grapes, mangoes and cocoanuts, properly cultivated and exported, will help to bring the island to an extremely favourable condition.{191} The sugar trade will not be neglected now that the beet bounties have been removed, and the island’s sugar and rum exports are bound to increase by leaps and bounds. ”

“ They take no pains to keep the heat at the proper degree requisite for fermentation: every thing has the appearance of negligence, and conveys to the observer a very bad specimen of Haytian skill in the art of manufacturing sugar or of distilling spirits. They do not often make rum: I only know of one or two plantations on which rum is distilled, and these are conducted by Englishmen; one in particular at Aux Cayes, a Mr. Towning, who has an extensive distillery. He produces rum, which, in point of flavour, strength, and every other quality, I do not think inferior to that of Jamaica. ”

“ The rum was a dangerous thing in the store, for the Indians will kill a man for a glass of rum; and there were only five Europeans at the Cape. I had a demijohn of brandy for the Indian king, but he was gone up the river. He and his brother were taken from the Mosquito shore when young, and carried to the island of Jamaica, where they were taught to read and write the English language. After staying there a number of years, they were brought back to the shore. ”

“ Rum is a spirituous liquor distilled from molasses, scummings of the hot cane juice from the boiling house, or raw cane liquor from canes expressed for that purpose, lees (or, as it is called in Jamaica, dunder) , and water. The dunder answers the purpose of yeast for the fermentation.
Sugar-canes, as large and juicy as those of the West Indies, are cultivated in several parts of Spain, but particularly in the country betwixt Malaga and Gibraltar. They were originally introduced, by the Moors, several centuries ago; and the sugar made from them is of excellent quality. ”

“ Rum is made and sold by the govt. The miller's art is in its infancy. Lévy, Nic., 486-91; Squier's Cent. Am., 373; Rocha, Cód. Nic., i. 188-90; Nic., Reg. Ofic., 328-9; Sandoval, Rev. Polít., 58.
[XXXII-55] Aside from some furniture, arms, etc., their hammocks, nets, cotton goods, and pottery, are all made in a very primitive manner. There is no skill whatever. Fernandez, Col. Doc., iii. 366-8; Costa R., Censo, 1864, p. xxv. Beer and rum are also made, the latter said to be a good imitation of Jamaica; distilling rum is a govt monopoly. Laferrière, De Paris à Guatém., 53 ”

“ The foreign countries best represented are our next door neighbors. Here is Jamaica, true to its past and present, with an exhibition of all sorts of rum, from thirty years old and less, in bottles and barrels of all shapes. It is put up with a nicety and even elegance which would be worthy of something better. Then she sends sugar and molasses, dye woods, coffee, cocoa, and skins dressed and undressed, with samples of varied workmanship in several departments. Mexico sends the military band of the Eighth Regiment of cavalry, more than fifty pieces, and it does credit to that Republic. ”

“ After this slight refection, like the rest of the gemmen who36 live by their means, they wiped their chins with their napkins—the cuffs of their coats—arose, and went out to that sink of ruin, the gin shop, to rinse their teeth with a little rum, that being the favourite stimulus of the begging tribe. The twopenny dram of pure Jamaica is preferred by them, and particularly those who live in the country, to any other kind of malt, or spirituous liqueurs. ”

“ Of the many ways through which a sure revenue might flow into the treasury none seemed as desirable as an impost. Of molasses, two millions of gallons came into the country each year. A few hundreds of thousands of these were consumed as food. The remainder were hurried to the Massachusetts distilleries and there made into the far-famed New England rum, which by the fishermen at the Grand Banks was thought much finer than32 the best that came from Jamaica. All other goods brought into any port in the country were to be taxed at five per cent of their value. ”

“ That in different countries different manners obtain, I am well aware; but in respect to the West Indies some reserve should certainly take place. The sudden transition of drink from beer to rum has been fatal, and will always be so, if not used with the greatest moderation, to an European. ”

“ Really Jamaica has a beautiful climate, but they did not understand in those days the danger of the mosquito, and they thought the night air was deadly. All classes drank, the masters “Madera” and rum, and the servants rum that was doubtless not of the best. It is easy to sneer, but human nature needs some relaxation, and living on beef that was like brine, sleeping all night in a room from which the night air was carefully excluded, the gorgeous divine night of Jamaica, and overworked in the burning sun, we can hardly blame these bondsmen for drinking. ”

“ Substitute—The Mexican spice called Pimienta de Tabasco (Piment Tabago Guibourt) is somewhat larger and less aromatic than Jamaica allspice. Analogous products are afforded by Pimenta acris Wight [1108] (Myrcia acris DC, Amomis acris Berg) , the Bay-berry tree, and P. Pimento Griseb. The oil of bay-berry consists of eugenol and a hydrocarbon, possibly identical with the “light oil of cloves” (p. 284) , but present in a larger amount. Bay rum, much used in the United States by the perfumers, is an alcoholic tincture flavoured with oil of bay-berry. ”