Rum

Jack Sparrow with an empty bottle of rum.

"Yes, the rum is gone."
"Why is the rum gone?"
"One, because it is a vile drink that turns even the most respectable men into complete scoundrels. Two, that signal is over a thousand feet high. The entire Royal Navy is out looking for me. Do you really think that there is even the slightest chance that they won't see it?"
"But why is the rum gone?"

―Elizabeth Swann and Jack Sparrow

Rum was a liquor made by fermenting and then distilling sugarcane molasses or sugarcane juice. The distillate, a clear liquid, is usually aged in oak barrels. Rum was produced in nearly every sugar-producing region of the world.

Rum played a part in the culture of most islands of the West Indies. The beverage was associated with the Royal Navy and piracy, where it was mixed with water or beer to make grog. Rum was the preferred alcoholic drink of pirates, particularly favored by Captain Jack Sparrow. Drinking was one of the most popular of pirate pleasures. Like all pirates, Jack believed that "rum gets you through times of no money better than money gets you through times of no rum."

History

Old Bill enjoys his rum.

"This rum is half gone. WHY is the rum gone? I will TELL you why the rum is gone. This half-empty cask, which as of last night was full of rum bound for England, rum entrusted to this vessel to be carried in her hold until we reach our destination, rum intended to be sold to the taverns and cellars of England, to slake English thirsts is gone because several members of this crew that stands before me, this same crew of misbegotten scurvy sea dogs, crept down into the hold and GUZZLED it!"

―Jack Sparrow to the crew of the Fair Wind

The association of rum with the British Royal Navy began in 1655 when the English fleet captured the island of Jamaica. With the availability of domestically produced rum, the British changed the daily ration of liquor given to seamen from French brandy to rum. While the ration was originally given neat, or mixed with lime juice, the practice of watering down the rum began around 1740. To help minimize the effect of the alcohol on his sailors, Admiral Edward Vernon directed that the rum ration be watered down before being issued, a mixture which became known as grog.

English privateers were known to trade rum as it was a valuable commodity, and this fondness remained with such privateers as became pirates and buccaneers. Drinking is one of the most popular of pirate pleasures, and like all pirates, Captain Jack Sparrow believed that "rum gets you through times of no money better than money gets you through times of no rum." Jack was known to be greatly fond of rum, even to a point where Sparrow's compass—which pointed to the thing its holder wanted most in the world—would indicate nearby bottles of rum during voyages.

Behind the scenes

"Rum gets you through times of no money better than money gets you through times of no rum."

―Jack Sparrow

• Rum first appears in Walt Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean. Jason Surrell's book Pirates of the Caribbean: From the Magic Kingdom to the Movies detailed the "Crew's Quarters" in Dead Man's Cove, where two dead skeletal crewmen have the time of their afterlives in the ruins of a dockside tavern filled with every whiskey, rum, and grog known to piratedom. The drink's first in-universe appearance was the 2003 video game Pirates of the Caribbean.
• In the 2006-2007 reference book Pirates of the Caribbean: The Visual Guide and The Complete Visual Guide, under a section titled "Yo Ho Ho And A Bottle of Rum" in Jack Sparrow's pages, it was written that Jack believes that "rum gets you through times of no money better than money gets you through times of no rum." The exact time or circumstance which led to him saying this is currently unknown.
• In Pirates of the Caribbean Online, there are several quests where the player has to find, steal or make numerous kinds of rum.

Appearances

• Walt Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean (First appearance)
• Pirates of the Caribbean (2003 video game)
• The Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow
• Jack Sparrow: The Age of Bronze (Mentioned only)
• Jack Sparrow: Dance of the Hours (Mentioned only)
• The Price of Freedom
• Legends of the Brethren Court: The Caribbean
• Legends of the Brethren Court: Rising in the East
• Legends of the Brethren Court: The Turning Tide
• Legends of the Brethren Court: Wild Waters
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (First appearance)
• Smoke on the Water
• Banshee's Boon (Mentioned only)
• Pirates of the Caribbean Online
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
• Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (video game)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
• The Brightest Star in the North: The Adventures of Carina Smyth
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales: Movie Graphic Novel

Sources

• Walt Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: The Sound Track of the Fabulous Adventure
• Disneyland: From the Pirates of the Caribbean to the World of Tomorrow
• Pirates of the Caribbean: From the Magic Kingdom to the Movies
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Visual Guide
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Complete Visual Guide

External links

• Rum on Wikipedia