LIFE BEHIND BARS

You Only Know Half of Rum’s History

This episode of the award-winning podcast, Life Behind Bars, looks at the global roots of rum.

Noah Rothbaum

Half Full Editor

Photo Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway / The Daily Beast

The history of rum usually begins and ends with the Caribbean. It makes sense since the region is home to many famous brands and has been producing the liquor since the 1600s. But that’s really only part of the spirit’s long story.

There is strong evidence that people were making spirits from sugarcane 1,000 years earlier in India. This distilling knowledge ultimately traveled with sailors, explorers and traders, and it was brought to the Brazil and the Caribbean where it flourished.

If you love to drink rum you need to listen to Life Behind Bars co-host David Wondrich build his case for this revolutionary theory and share his deep research on the topic.

Life Behind Bars features Half Full’s editor Noah Rothbaum and its Senior Drinks Columnist David Wondrich as they discuss the greatest bartenders and greatest cocktails of all time. It just won the Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Award for the world's best drinks podcast.

Edited by Alex Skjong