Smoke & Oakum's Gunpowder Rum

27/10/2024

Money for old rope? The historical type? Here's yer chance. From the collection of a sea-loving Cornishman

A haul of 8,000 items from 150 shipwrecks is to be auctioned after the closure of a Cornish museum

25/10/2024

A past serving suggestion for the indifatigable Gunpowder Rum returns: the Jolie Rouge.

An unsubstantiated tall tale is that the origin of the name 'Jolly Roger' (given to that indispensable symbol of piracy that flutters on high) is a corruption of the French 'Jolie Rouge'. The myth goes that the red pennant, communicating 'no quarter given', picked up this ironic name meaning 'pretty red'. A name that then became mangled upon encountering the English tongue, resulting in 'Jolly Roger' [sic]. Even other languages live in peril of English piracy and rough-treatment.

Which is a fine history with no evidential corroboration - but why let that get in the way of a good story.
All that 'par-lay' makes a pirate feverish thirsty. Let's drink to the Jolie Rouger or what ever it's called:

The JOLIE ROUGE:

14/10/2024

Accessorising with your rum just became that much easier...

In the heart of Wellington’s waterfront near Whairepo Lagoon, a new business has set sail, captivating locals and visitors alike. Find out more about Shipwreck Trading.

26/07/2024

23/06/2024

More ships in bottles. Keep an eye out for Blackbeard's flagship, the 'Queen Anne's Revenge'. in the accompanying video

Jim Goodwin has been fitting ships in bottles for decades, and he walks through the patience, skills, and dedication required to take on this fascinating maritime crafting tradition.

16/06/2024

A brief insight into the early development of what would grow into the plantation system of sugar production that would expand exponentionally into the triangular trade in enslaved peoples, molasses and rum that much of early (and later) colonialism was built on.

The first archaeological dig of São Tomé and Príncipe’s largest sugar mill sheds light on the birth of plantation agriculture and slavery as a racial system

05/06/2024

How I imagine myself mixing a Rum Manhattan:

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31/05/2024

Passing through or pausing in Taupo? Maybe visit our local stockist of S&O's Gunpowder Rum (they're also the same folks behind the www.whiskyandmore.co.nz website if looking for mail-order rum).

https://www.themerchant.co.nz/

We offer great quality food and wine, at great value. Every single day ★★★★★ "Always great service and great range of products" "Jo Sauter"

31/05/2024

I feel I understand the thought process behind this: "These cherries are great, possibly even getting better with age. Too good to share perhaps...I'll just hide these here..." And the rest is history.

I would be curious to see the analysis of these bottled cherries as rum soaked cherries were a traditional treatment for colds in that era and location.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/23/george-washington-cherries-found?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR0Nqi4itThRW4lkBfzCGCdE8SaPYOyKqo6PUgZSu1F8dCtiXMwBHzkv6XA_aem_AYYqeis4hsyi67cjUD3x4NlxLyMYCU4XAb5V-OCHSRT8oPOlt3V0ud65m_ChyxFKRI3FDWN6rrORDYjmF18wgWew

Archaeologist says cherries ‘can provide us with valuable insight and perspective into 18th-century lives’

26/05/2024

As the nights close in it seems only proper to recommend a nourishing serve from the family of 'nogg'. In Blackbeard's time mixing eggs into alcohol was fairly common, but in modern times the practice only resurfaces at Christmas time or medieval festivals, where every second re-enactor will delight in telling you that 'sack' is an olde worde for 'sherry', yay verily.

The SACK NOGG

30ml S&O's Gunpowder Rum
20ml fino sherry
10ml fresh orange juice
10ml apricot brandy
10ml J. Thomas English Curaçao
1 whole egg

Shake all of the above with cube ice until well mixed and thick. Strain into a sort glass over fresh ice and dust with flamed cinnamon because you're worth it. Drink by the light of the moon, sing loud ditties, startle the neighbours. Because, why not. (And don't forget to mention that 'sack' is an olde worde for 'sherry'....)

10/05/2024

"Sire, the night is darker now, and the wind blows stronger; Fails my heart, I know not how; I can go no longer."
Good King Wenceslas (posthumous King of Bohemia) would surely, as winter drew in, not have gone wrong to give his faltering page a sup of this warming cup:

The KING WENCESLAS

Muddle three cloves with orange peel then pour over:
30ml S&O's Gunpowder Rum
20ml Ruby Port
10ml Stone's Green Ginger Wine
10ml Becherovka (a Bohemian herb liqueur)

Stir with ice till as cold as 'yonder peasant' then decant and garnish with a sprig of green pine needles.

Sip it of an autumn evening and "Thou shalt find the winter's rage Freeze thy blood less coldly."
And it tastes not half bad too.

01/04/2024

It's about time something 'fizz-tive' entered the list(s) and nothing adds sparkle to a party like some pop.
Venice is home to not only one of the grandest festivals in Europe (Il Carnivale) but also that cocktail destination, Harry's Bar where the original Bellini has been served since the summer of 1948.

Naturally we added some Gunpowder Rum because why settle with 'pop' when you can add 'bang' and lightning-like caress of the tastebuds.

[For the cocktail-geeks: sometimes a little strawberry purée or cherry juice is added to bring the right shade of pastel pink as seen in the paintings of G. Bellini. - but strictly speaking a Bellini made with strawberry purée is a 'Rossini'.]

The BLASTED BELLINI

- 30ml S&O's Cherry Gunpowder Rum
- flesh of half a fresh white peach
- 1/2 Barspoon white sugar
- Prosecco sparkling wine

Dice the peach flesh then muddle thoroughly with the sugar. Add rum and cracked ice then shake until the pulp is, well, 'pulped'. Fine strain into a short, chilled glass like they use at Harry's Bar then add the sparkling at a ratio of 1pt puree to 3pts fizz.

For extra flourish light some sparklers, put on a costume, light the fuse, seize the lightning...

01/04/2024

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/30/explorers-
A fascinating discovery documenting a possible connection between a figure from the Golden Age of Pirates, the spy networks of 17th century England and the author Daniel Defoe. This gives further backing to the idea, first put forward in 1932, that Defoe was the actual author of the famous work 'A General History of the Pyrates'. This is based on the inference that through government channels Defoe may have met Avery or at least had access to official records about him and other pirates.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/30/explorers-unlock-the-mystery-of-pirate-king-henry-avery-who-vanished-after-huge-heist-at-sea

Letter reveals disappearance of 17th century British pirate was tied to William III’s spy ring, Daniel Defoe and an archbishop

29/01/2024

Top O' The Pops of the 17th Century, including everybody's favourite - "A True Relation of the Life and Death of Sir Andrew Barton, a Pyrate and Rover on the Seas."
Then there is that classic 'The Wandering Prince of Troy' known from the mid-16th century until Blackbeard's time.

Toss a coin to your balladeer, I like the old songs best...

Pirates, kings and kidnappers feature in songs on website showcasing origins of modern music industry

06/01/2024

A nicely simplified demonstration of why the rigging on ships was composed of ropes made from wound strands rather than simply making thicker threads. It also explains why there are different levels of roughness within certain ropes depending on their function - a balance being struck between internal adhesion for strength and exterior smoothness to reduce friction.

https://www.facebook.com/BBCOne/videos/682680164061979/?mibextid=AQCFcj8imgClWYJ5

23/12/2023

Thar she blows!... Cocktail No. 18!

A white, towering shape looms, a monstrous cross between a Singapore Sling, Ramos Gin Fizz and perhaps a Pavlova. Ready the harpoon gun.

'In the Heart of the Sea' tells the true tail of a whale that sank a ship and which Herman Melville retold as Moby Dick. Whaling was a dangerous business and many's the expedition that sank with out trace save for a vanishing spume of white foam.

Based on a cocktail spawned by the imagination of Chris Hysted-Adams of Melbourne's Black Pearl bar this is a drink order to test the steel of a Bartender's throwing arm. Only one per customer.

HEART OF THE SEA:

30ml S&O's Gunpowder Rum
20ml Cherry Heering
20ml yuzu juice
20ml pineapple syrup
30ml cream
White of one egg
Pinch of sea salt

Combine in a shaker half-filled with cracked ice and shake like you've never shook before - the longer the better - sing a shanty or twelve to keep you going. Fine strain into a tall glass already charged with some soda water. Allow the foamy cap to form then lift with a touch more soda water.
Garnish with a harpooned pineapple wedge and cherry. Dust with nutmeg. Plunge a steel straw to its heart. Drink it down.