For fifty years, the rums that the British Royal Navy blended for its sailors has fascinated enthusiasts and historians. Most stories about navy rum endlessly recycle prior conjecture that’s both vague and not particularly accurate. Ponder this conventional wisdom about…
Category: Cocktail Wonk
British Navy Rum Ration Hijinks
Stories about the British Navy’s daily rum ration inevitably include imagery of sailors lined up at the grog tub, emblazoned with “God Save the Queen” – or “King”, if you go back far enough. It suggests that sailors were anxiously…
The 1969 Ministry of Defence Signal Ending the British Navy Rum Ration
July 31st, 1970 — a day that lives in infamy as Black Tot day. It was on this day that British navy sailors received their final daily rum ration, something dear since its 1731 establishment. These days, every July 31st…
Pusser’s Rum Charles Tobias On the Record: Part Two
What follows is part two of my interview with Charles Tobias, the U.S. marine aviator, technology CEO, and globe-crossing sailor who created the Pusser’s Rum brand in 1979, based on the British Royal Navy’s rum recipe. Part One of the…
British Navy Rum Before Vernon’s Grog
The narrative most rum enthusiasts know about British navy rum usually starts around 1731, when the British Navy declared that (in certain parts of the globe) a daily ration of rum was to be issued to their sailors. Alternately, they…
Pusser’s Rum Charles Tobias: On the Record (Part One)
For students of spirits history who pour over countless dry pages to glean precious tiny nuggets of information, coming face-to-face with living, breathing history that can be queried is as close to professional nirvana as one gets. Such was the…
The British Navy’s Rum Vatting System: An inside look
As the 50th anniversary of Black Tot Day approaches, interest in all things British Navy rum is rising. A topic rarely discussed is how and where the navy actually blended their rum. Britain’s navy had a series of victualling (pronounced…
British Navy Ron/Rhum/Rum?
The source of the rums in the British navy’s blend is a topic of much speculation and misunderstanding. I’ve already debunked one myth here. Historical records are clear that the navy’s rum blend changed substantially over the decades prior to…
Analog Fassionola Recipe
A quick post with my recipe for “Analog Fassionola”, an old-school tiki ingredient that’s shrouded in some mystery. Originally, I shared my take on fassionola in a series of twitter tweets, so the photography isn’t what we’d call… professional. Nonetheless,…
Splicing the Mainbrace Without Navy Rum?
As we hurtle towards the 50th Anniversary of Black Tot day, a lot of interest is focused on the British Royal Navy’s tradition of issuing a daily rum ration to its members. One of the hallowed auxiliary traditions of the…