The 16th of August marks our pirate’s favourite day of the year, National Rum Day! Rum is a popular drink across the world today however pirates in the 18th century used to dilute it with water making their favourite drink grog. It’s the drink of choice on the ship deck here at Pirate’s Quest and has a fascinating history. We’ve asked the pirates for their best grog knowledge…
Captain Howell Davis
“I believe it was in the 1620’s in the Caribbean when rum was first distilled. The sugarcane plantation slaves discovered a by-product of the sugarcane could be fermented into the pirates drink! Puerto Rico is now the world’s biggest producer of rum because of the high amount of sugarcane on the Caribbean island.”
Anne Bonny
“The most expensive rum in the world, which be dating back to the 1940’s, is worth $40,000! There be only 4 bottles left in the world. That’s the kind of treasure we pirates’ like!”
Mary Reid
“Although no one really knows why we pirates like our grog so much there are a couple of reasons. Its price for one, being that it was made in the Caribbean and so didn’t cost us much. We also used to use it to clean our wounds after fighting! However, many believe we used to drink it to prove our worthiness on the high seas, sailing from England to the Caribbean and back with our ‘Barbados Water’.
Captain Calico Jack
“I can tell you Captain Morgan’s rum got its name from the infamous privateer of the same name. This poor pirate died of alcohol poisoning from drinking too much grog. However, at the height of his career he commanded the whole of Port Bello, now Panama City, where they remained for a month until Morgan was given the ransom he demanded of 350,000 pesos.”
There is still more you can learn about our pirate’s favourite tipple. Visit Pirate’s Quest to find out how pirates would check their grog had just the right amounts of rum and water!