A Rough & Ready History of Gunpowder Rum

SMOKE & OAKUM’S GUNPOWDER RUM Smoke & Oakum’s Gunpowder Rum is a recreation of a style of rum that is perhaps 300-years old – a style that would have been consumed by pirates, smugglers, privateers, navy hands and practitioners of voodoo.

Before the invention of the column still rum production was an uneven affair with full-bodied and dark styles predominating. Syrupy probably, from added molasses, rough definitely. To blunt the coarse character of this ‘kill-devil’ spirit it was not an uncommon practice to augment the flavor, and not just with sweeteners. Herbs, spices, supposed aphrodisiacs, tobacco and gunpowder were all used. The heritage of spiced rums is a long one and no recent invention.

Perhaps the most mythical flavoring additive was gunpowder. Blackbeard the Pirate (Edward Teach) was said to drink rum and gunpowder before boarding the ships of his victims. While in voodoo ritual the consumption of a mixture of rum, gunpowder, soil from a freshly dug grave and human blood was/is used in ritual observances. Elsewhere, aboard ‘ships of the line’ it was also common practice for gunnery officers to taste their gunpowder to check its quality before loading bags with charge.

A mixture of gunpowder and rum was famously used to test the relative proof of the spirit dispensed to sailors in the navy. If the mixture failed to flare up it was deemed ‘under-proof’. It is supposed that this test is the origin of the concepts of ‘proof’ and ‘navy-strength’. Rum that had been ‘proved’ (i.e. would flare up when mixed with gunpowder and ignited) was deemed as being at or above ‘navy-strength’.

Over-proof is usually defined as being at or above 57% alc./vol., while the Royal Navy’s definition of ‘Navy-Strength’ is set at 54.5% alc./vol.

S.& O.’s Gunpowder Rum taps into this rich heritage.

A blend of rums is flavored with peppers, calumet ‘tobacco’ (a tobacco substitute smoked by Native Americans), and traditional black gunpowder before being hand-bottled with a final flavoring ingredient that gives the appearance of gunpowder grains lying at the bottom of the bottle. The rum is presented in a variety of bottle-shapes which references early rum-making practices of the 17th and 18th centuries when any old bottle would be used (Gosling’s Black Seal rum, for instance, reused empty champagne bottles in the early days of its production, which were then sealed with black wax – hence the name).

Underneath the outer wrapping of each bottle will be found a rum ‘pin-up’ showing a ‘comely lass’.

These pin-ups will change periodically.

Each bottle is wrapped in brown paper with the paper at the top being given a final twisted finish. The appearance is much like ancient ammunition charges, pre-measured for muzzle-loading weapons.

Finally the exterior labeling is attached complete with batch and bottle numbers.

In a further break with modern rum brands there are noticeable variations in the character of each batch of rum – this is another attempt to recapture that earlier, rougher, rum experience. It is also a nod to such innovators as Jim McEwan of Bruichladdich Whisky fame who is always pioneering new adventures in the flavors of his blends.

NOTE: the gunpowder used in S.& O.’s Gunpowder Rum is of a very specific and uncommon variety.

Modern ‘fast gunpowder’ (as found in modern weapons and fireworks) is inorganic, toxic, and should never be consumed. www.gunpowderrum.com

Introducing Gunpowder Rum Pin-Up No: 3 - Charlotte Underneath the outer wrapper of your bottle of Gunpowder Rum you will find this pirate lass, possibly inspired by the life and times of the pirate Charlotte de Berry.

Born in England in 1636 with a name that suggests aristocracy she lead a life that seems more opera scenario than real life story. With good reason.

The earliest known reference to Charlotte de Berry comes from 1836, two centuries after her birth. At this point she appears in Edward Lloyd’s History of the Pirates, a “penny dreadful” or “penny blood” - cheap stories with a fairly gory or shocking theme written to entertain the masses of 19th Century Britain. Many of the incidents included in the story have similar parallels with other events and stories floating around in the 19th Century, and it is the lack of credibility of Lloyd’s story, together with the lack of any reference prior to 1836, which leads to the conclusion that Charlotte de Berry is entirely fictional.

But what a fiction: In her mid to late teens, Charlotte de Berry fell in love with a sailor and, against her parents’ will, married him.

Disguised as a man, she followed her sailor husband on board his ship and worked alongside him. Her true identity was eventually discovered by a ship’s officer who kept this knowledge to himself, wanting de Berry ultimately for himself. The officer assigned Charlotte’s husband to the most dangerous jobs, which he survived thanks to his wife’s help. The officer finally accused Charlotte’s husband of mutiny, of which he was found guilty based on an officer’s word against that of a common sailor. He was punished by being flogged through the fleet, which, as the officer had hoped, killed him. The officer then made advances towards Charlotte, which she refused. The next time they were in port she killed the officer and snuck away, dressing again as a woman and working on the docks.

While de Berry worked on the docks, a captain of a merchant ship saw her and kidnapped her. He forced de Berry to marry him and took her away on his trip to Africa. To escape her new husband who was a rapist and tyrant, de Berry gained the respect of the crew and persuaded them to mutiny. As part of her revenge she decapitated her husband and became captain of the ship which was now given over to piracy. After years of pirating, she fell in love with a Spaniard, Armelio Gonzalez. However, they were shipwrecked. Slowly, one by one, the crew starved to death with the survivors eating the corpses, and unfortunately one of the first to die was de Berry’s latest husband. The survivors of her crew were rescued by a Dutch ship, and when that ship was attacked by pirates, Charlotte and her group bravely defended their rescuers. While the others celebrated victory, Charlotte jumped overboard in order to join her dead husband.

Serving Suggestions: Gunpowder, Blood’n’Sand 30ml Gunpowder Rum 20ml red vermouth 15ml Cherry Heering 15ml blood orange juice One wedge blood orange Shake all in an ice-filled boston shaker – fine strained into chilled martini glass. Garnish with a flamed orange zest Gunpowder Mai Tai: 30ml S & O’s Gunpowder Rum 15ml orange curaçao Dash orgeat 2 dashes angostura bitters 2 wedges lime 1 wedge orange Muddle the fruit with the orgeat in the base of a boston. Add the bitters, rum, and curaçao and shake furiously with ice until well-mixed and the ice is cracked – pour all into a rocks glass and garkish with seasonal fruit, mint and straws. Dust with nutmeg if required.

The Bay Rum Mojito: 45ml S & O’s Gunpowder Rum 30ml falernum syrup half a lime 5 fresh bay leaves 1 long sprig of fresh rosemary a handful of fresh mint 1 shake of ground cinnamon soda water In a tall glass muddle lime, falernum and some soda water. Add herb and spices and more soda water and agitate with muddling stick (don't crush the herbs too much). Add rum, crushed ice and soda. Stir briefly then present with a short sprig of rosemary as garnish, and dust with the cinnamon. www.gunpowderrum.com