Rum

Rum is produced by fermenting and distilling sugarcane molasses or juice.

Originating in the Caribbean in the 1700s, the history of rum is deeply enmeshed in the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Enslaved people working on plantations discovered they could ferment and distill molasses, the by-product of sugar production, to produce an alcoholic spirit. European colonists who owned the people and the land that built the rum trade, made their fortune shipping rum back to Europe and worldwide.

Today, there is a growing movement of Black distillers subverting the colonial narrative of rum. Last year, we had the pleasure of connecting with Danielle and Cashain David from Kromanti rum who have created some truly incredible rums infused with Caribbean spices and fruits like plantain and tamarind. Their brand name, Kromanti, links to the Kromanti people of Ghana and Kromanti Kojo, a Maroon who resisted colonial oppression and was one of Carriacou's founding ancestors. As the folk at Kromanti rum like to say: “Rum for the people dem!”