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Gunpowder Rum is a term that refers to a practice of mixing black gunpowder with rum before use or consumption. This habit was most prevalent in the 18th and early 19th centuries. There were a variety of reasons for the rise of this habit, some of them practical, others the result of socio-political factors.

Naval uses

The most commonly known example of this practice is the one associated with the testing of the proof of alcohol rations (usually rum) issued to sailors in the navy. In the 18th century and until 1 January 1980, Britain defined alcohol content in terms of “proof spirit", which was defined as the most dilute spirit that would sustain combustion of gunpowder. The term originated in the 18th century, when payments to British sailors included rations of rum. To ensure that the rum had not been watered down, the test or "proof" was by dousing gunpowder in it, then testing to see if the gunpowder would ignite. If it did not burn, the rum contained too much water and was considered to be “under proof".

A proven sample of rum was defined to be 100 degrees proof; this was later found to occur at 57.15% alcohol by volume, which is very close to a 4:7 ratio of alcohol to total amount of liquid. Thus, the definition amounted to declaring that (4÷7) × 175 = 100 degrees proof spirit. The 175 is not an arbitrary figure, it is (7÷4) × 100, and is the multiplier for which the lowest concentration of alcohol is 100 when a sample just meets a standardised gunpowder test. The term "rum" from the era of sailing was a generic term for many kinds of alcoholic beverages. Anything over 100 is "overproof".

In the United Kingdom, the proof-to-ABV ratio is 7:4. In the United States, it is 2:1.

From the 1740s until 1816, Customs and Excise and London brewers and distillers used Clarke’s hydrometer to measure degrees proof. Under the Hydrometer Act of 1818, the Sikes hydrometer was used to measure proof; it remained in use until 1980. The Customs and Excise Act of 1952 defined “spirits of proof strength” (i.e., proof spirits):

This story may be true to a degree but only suggests one possible use of rum and gunpowder aboard an 18th century warship. It could be suggested that this story may not be the 'whole truth' if one considers the following:
Testing for relative proof could more easily be done with a hydrometer, which was in common use from 1740. Additionally, this piece of naval folklore supposes a certain amount of distrust between the sailors and the ration-dispensing officers aboard ship (a form of 'class war') when more often the crews formed a more cohesive whole out of necessity. Another suggestion is that complaint about the strength of one's ration was possible (the world's navies at this time were not known for their tolerance of dissent - for example the punishment meted out to the rebels of 'The Floating Republic'). Finally, the gunpowder of the period was not of a consistent quality and possessed varying burn-rates depending on the ingredients used, making this test something of a 'rule of thumb'.

What this anecdote probably reflects is certain shipboard practices wherein rum was a vital component in the running of the ship, specifically a war ship.

Consider the following:

Adding a measure of rum to a barrel of drinking water would extend its life span considerably. Adding a measure of gunpowder on top of that would also extend its shelf-life due to the sulfur component.

Meanwhile having an effective way to gauge the burn rate of the gunpowder aboard ship would be of vital importance aboard a 'ship of the line'. Put a too fast burning gunpowder into a cannon and it may explode before the ball is expelled. Having a range of alcohols aboard ship of known strengths would allow a master gunner to test which gunpowder suited which size cannon before putting it to the test in battle.

Another use of rum and gunpowder when mixed together would be to create a fuse that would resist going out during battle. Often during sea battles with exchanges of fire a lot of sea water is blown up and over the gun deck, saturating most everything. A fuse (composed either of twine or cloth) could be saturated with rum and gunpowder in a way that would make it impervious to seawater.

Another common problem aboard fighting ships could be dealt with using rum.

Combustion converts less than half the mass of black powder to gas. The rest ends up as a thick layer of soot inside the barrel. In addition to being a nuisance, the residue from burnt black powder is hygroscopic and an anhydrous caustic substance. When moisture from the air is absorbed, the potassium oxide or sodium oxide turns into hydroxide, which will corrode wrought iron or steel gun barrels. Black powder arms must be well cleaned both inside and out to remove the residue. Rum could be used to clean away this corrosive residue without making the cannon or firearm too damp to use immediately.

Gunpowder was also used for sterilizing on ships when there was no alcohol to hand.

Use and reasons

Another reason for mixing gunpowder into liquor (or vice versa) was touched on above. Sulfur is one of the three components of black gunpowder, and it, and its derivatives, are natural preservatives still in use today (for instance in wine-making, fruit preserves, and liqueur-making). Mixing a weak mixture of gunpowder, rum and water with some of a ship's supplies would make them last longer.

Another by product of mixing gunpowder into liquids is the clarifying action of the charcoal component of gunpowder. Charcoal is a natural filtering agent and will cause impurities and other particles to drop from a liquid, often improving the flavor along the way. Raw, over-proof rum, for example, could, in this manner, be made more palatable.
Another reason for the mixing of gunpowder and rum (or other beverages) may be accidental. It was common practice to reuse barrels that had previously contained another product. Gunpowder kegs (usually limited to the smaller sizes for safety reasons, such as a Firkin or ten gallon 'Tub') may often have seen second service as storage for liquor thereby giving the gunpowder flavor. A famous example of this reuse of barrels would be the story associated with the early years of bourbon manufacture. Barrels that had originally been used to store fish were charred to remove the fish taint. The whiskey that was then shipped in these barrels was found to be that much more mellow in flavor.

Other examples

In Haitian Vodou culture a pledge can be sealed by drinking a combination of rum, gunpowder, human blood, and soil from a freshly dug grave.

It is also said that in order to lift a Vodou curse (caused by a fetish or doll being pierced by needles) one should use gunpowder and rum. The doll is placed in a hole in the ground (something like a grave) and has the mixture of rum and gunpowder poured over it.

During the heyday of smuggling (from about the middle of the 18th century and into the middle of the 19th century), gunpowder and rum often traveled in the same container. Efforts to avoid excise duty being paid often involved concealing taxable goods within otherwise legitimate cargoes. For instance a barrel may have false partitions inside holding contraband so that an inspecting customs man could dip into a seemingly innocent barrel and find nothing but the stated contents, even though half the barrel contained something else.

It seems a fair supposition that for a period of time that something else was black gunpowder side by side with a cargo of rum.

During the American War of Independence it was found that the English made gunpowder had a better burn rate than the American variety and thereby become more desirable to the rebels. The English as a consequence banned its export from England to the Americas except for the use of its own troops. A healthy black market quickly developed around this product. Around the same time Britain was shipping raw sugar from its Caribbean colonies to the homeland. Here the sugar would be distilled into rum before being distributed world-wide, bringing in much needed coin to fund Britain's various wars of the time.

One can easily imagine a consignment of English rum arriving somewhere in the Americas (having cleared the English blockade) a number of 'special' barrels being distributed to agents for the rebels who would pay well to receive gunpowder that would throw projectiles harder and further than the local mix could achieve. And probably after those weeks aboard ship some of that gunpowder flavor would have infused into the rum.

Gunpowder and rum were, in previous times, used in conjunction to create tattoos.

Famous users

The most famous mythical consumers of Gunpowder Rum would have to be Blackbeard the Pirate. He is sometimes depicted with his pigtails on fire like the fuses of a gun.

Modern examples

Only one example of rum mixed with gunpowder exists today. It is produced in New Zealand under the name Smoke & Oakum's Gunpowder Rum and is modeled on traditions going back to the 18th Century.

This rum is a blend that, in addition, uses chilies, 'calumet' or 'peace-pipe tobacco' (which, in this instance, is not related to the tobacco plant (genus Nicotiana), and traditional black gunpowder. This black gunpowder is composed solely of Potassium Nitrate (E252), sulfur, and organic charcoal and should not be confused with modern 'smoke-less' gunpowder (such as is contained in fireworks or modern firearms) which is toxic and leads to health conditions if ingested.

References

1. How was whisky tested for proof strength? http://www.dcs.ed.ac.uk/home/jhb/whisky/swa/chap6.html
2. The Chemical Examination of Water, Sewage, Foods, and Other Substances. Cambridge University Press. p. 228.
3. Curtis, Wayne (2007). And a Bottle of Rum: a history of the New World in ten cocktails. New York : Three Rivers Press, . p. 57. ISBN 9780307338624.
4. "The Floating Republic" - Dobree and Manwaring (1935) ISBN 0-09-173154-2
5. Lee, Robert E. (1974), Blackbeard the Pirate (2002 ed.), North Carolina: John F. Blair, ISBN 0895870320

• Orphaned articles from April 2010
• Rums