Ahhhh, colonial times

As I have mentioned before, I am a teetotaler. So when this question about when the hot buttered rum was created came in, I had no idea. I can’t tell a rum from a scotch from a bourbon. But I am a big fan of crazy bottles, and obscure trivia, so here we are.

It turns out the hot buttered rum dates back to colonial times. You know, when medicine was smoke and mirrors and largely based on things like rum being a ‘strengthener of the body‘. Apparently the colonials also drank A LOT. That link to the Daily Gazette article has some startling quotes about just how much.

There is no eureka moment that points to the date and time the hot buttered rum was conceived, as many families had their own recipes. And, presumably everyone was too drunk to take proper notes. But most agree we are looking at some time in the mid 1600s. Thus, the hot buttered rum predates “The American Insurrection”, as Jonathan Higgins likes to call it.

Finally, full disclosure, I have no idea if this is actually a photo of rum. That is a random bottle I found in an unused desk with a brown liquid of some sort in it. Close enough!

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