To understand the story of rum, you must travel back to 1860, just
before our Civil War started.
Foreign travelers were landing at islands in the Caribbean. Sugar cane
there was being turned into sugar, and the boiling process used to make
sugar produces a byproduct called molasses.
Molasses had been around a while. The decoction of sugar cane had become
a very popular alcoholic drink with many names: Kill-devil, Barbados
brandy or Barbados water.
In 1860, a Spaniard immigrated Santiago, Cuba. He settled and married
the daughter of a large sugar cane plantation owner and invented a
charcoal filtering process that softened kill-devil. No one knows
exactly when distilled molasses became known as rum, but the charcoal
invention put it on the map. That man was Don Fucundo Bacardi, and his
rum is very popular.
In 1898, President William McKinley asked the U.S. Congress for a
declaration of war on the king of Spain. He intended to make Cuba an
American protectorate, and it was until Fidel Castro came into power.
During that Spanish-American War, Theodore Roosevelt would lead the
Rough Riders to victory. During this time, the drink Cuba Libre – made
with rum, Coke and fresh lime – became popular. Today, bartenders
understand the drink call of Cuba Libre to mean a rum and cola with
double lime.
After the Spanish-American War, our Prohibition Era influenced a great
many Americans to venture past the Florida Keys to Cuba. Cuba became a
tourist haven, gambling stop and, of course, a thirsty sanctuary for
alcohol. Tropical drinks came into their golden age.
Near Santiago, Cuba, and not far from Bacardi's sugar cane plantation
were iron mines that would receive recognition, too. This cocktail was
shaken, not stirred, with some shaved ice. It would travel all over the
world known as Daiquiri Iron Mines.
With the daiquiri cocktail gaining immense popularity, Bacardi would
then take a centuries-old Cuban drink called El Draque – sugar, crushed
mint leaves, fresh lime juice and water, and later carbonated soda water
– and add his Bacardi rum. Bacardi would rename the drink mojito.
Bacardi traces the El Draque roots back to 1586. Francis Drake and his
pirates tried to sack Havana. One of Drake's associate was said to have
invented a mojito-like cocktail by adding aguardiente. It was consumed
usually for medicinal purposes. Today, the old-time mojito is a popular
rum drink call. Try adding an ounce of puréed watermelon to your next
mojito.
Because Bacardi pretty much invented the drink, I have supplied
Bacardi's original recipe for its mojito.
Bacardi's Mojito
12 mint leaves, plus more for garnish
1/2 part sugar
1/2 lime, plus lime wheels for garnish
1 part rum
3 parts club soda
12 mint leaves
Place 12 mint leaves, sugar and lime in a glass. Muddle well with a
pestle. Add rum, top off with club soda, stir well and garnish with
sprigs of mint or a lime wheel.
http://www.nwherald.com/columnists/columns/2010/07/29/r_xv4btcuqs9ahvunygx8mfq/index.xml
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