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A Pirate’s Life delves into the rum drinking habits of infamous pirates and the kind of bottles they’d stash away if they were alive today. This edition focuses on the Irishman Edward England, a pirate who was considered to be one of the more humane of his kind during The Golden Age of Piracy
Read on to find out about what kind of rum England would keep in his rum cabinet.
The link between pirates and rum has been immortalised in popular culture, yet few stories tell of the connection between a pirate parrot and a bottle of grog. This is the kind of tale that’s told through Ron Piet 10-Year, an easy-sipping Panamanian rum bottled by the Knut Hansen gin distillery in Hamburg, Germany.
So, come and learn about the voyage of a brigadier’s bird and the flavours of a rum that is sure to leave its mark on your tastebuds.
Continue reading “Ron Piet 10-Year Review: Parrot Panamanian Rum Has Never Tasted So Good”
Throughout the history of piracy, there’s been a cavalcade of colourful characters roaming the high seas and etching their names into legend. One such pirate was Howell Davis, who stood out for his ability to charm his targets and be a master of disguise.
With links to fellow pirates such as Edward England and Bartholmew ‘Black Bart’ Roberts, Davis kept illustrious company and his taste in rum would’ve been no different.
Let’s take a look at the rum brands Davis would enjoy if he were alive today.
Pirates and rum go hand in hand, thanks to the efforts of authors like Robert Louis Stevenson, who popularised the idea of scallywags downing copious amounts of rum. It’s from this rich tradition that A Pirate’s Life was born. The series chronicles the drinking habits of history’s most infamous brigands.
The Haitian pirate Henri Caesar earned a reputation for himself during the Haitian Revolution, when he teamed up with Dutty Boukman and Toussaint Louverture to change the course of history. The rum in Caesar’s collection would tell the story of Haiti and his travels across the sea.
They say there’s truth in wine
I say if you really want to see the truth of who we are
Then you should try a bottle of rum
It’s human history masquerading as a spirit
Built on the foundation of slaves
Breaking their backs in sugarcane fields
A truth to be sipped, swigged and kept down
It’s the libation of pirates seeking fortune
Liquid gold to be savoured
It’s the lifeblood of the Royal Navy
Coursing through the veins of sailors
Who still remember Black Tot Day
It’s the hard work of master blenders
Putting their heart and soul into every glass
It’s the energy of innovation passed across countries
Each distillery leaving their own mark to be remembered
It’s the story of cultures crossing the world
Conversations flowing from people from all walks of life
It’s damn tasty
It’s the truth of rum
A Pirate’s Life examines the drinking habits of history’s most infamous pirates and imagines what kind of rum they’d enjoy if they were alive in the present day. Some people choose the pirate life, while others have it thrust upon them and for Mary Read it was all about necessity.
Known for her affiliation with Calico Jack Rackham and Anne Bonny, Read was press ganged into Rackham’s crew after her ship was captured. She made the most of the situation and fully embraced her new life, becoming one of the most famous pirates of all-time.
Let’s take a look at the bottles that Read would have in her collection.
The world’s first cocktail
An invention of pirates
Bumbo for breakfast
When the boy went to sea
He had no idea of the life he would lead
All he wanted was to leave the old one behind
Scrubbing decks was his bread and butter
Aboard, there was no bread and butter to eat
After the first month he stowed away on another ship
A great beast of a vessel railing against the wind
Powered by a restless need to wander and conquer
The captain found him the same day
Half-starved, more ghost than boy
Rum brought him back to life
Warmed his blood
From that day forward he wore many hats
Swabbie, powder monkey, first mate, captain
Shanties became his lullaby
Violence became his religion
Rum became his mistress
Drank in victory, burned in defeat
Years later the boy returned home
His father didn’t recognise him
He saw a man in fine clothes
It was the last thing he saw
The boy went back to the sea
Roving to the edges of the world
Until he went down with his ship
A merry life and a short one
A Pirate’s Life puts the spotlight on the rum collections of some of history’s most famous buccaneers, which includes Henry Every, Samuel Bellamy and more. Fame and fortune are common reasons for becoming a pirate, but for some it offered an escape and this was the motivation of the Scandinavian pirate Awilda.
Born in the 5thcentury to a Scandinavian king, Synardus, Awilda was arranged to be married to Alf, the prince of Denmark. Refusing to have her life be dictated for her, Awilda fled from the kingdom, eventually becoming a pirate captain.
Having sailed across the Nordic region and beyond, Awilda’s rum cabinet would feature drinks that reflected her heritage and the techniques of her homeland.
The Prince of Pirates
pays his crew in rum and gold
drink up, yo ho ho
The Rum Ration 