Bumbo
Dark rum, water, sugar and nutmeg, stirred over ice. The pirate's drink of the 1700s — grog's sweeter, spicier cousin from the Caribbean, and the oldest rum cocktail with a name.
Built to the standard modern spec; not yet tested in our kitchen. How we test.
The recipe.
Scaling adjusts quantities only. Prepare shaken drinks in individual portions.
Let’s make a good drink.
Add the rum, syrup and water to a rocks glass.
Add a large ice cube and stir for 15 seconds.
Grate nutmeg over the top.
Add a cinnamon stick if you like.
A thoughtful finish
- A dark, funky rum — Jamaican or Demerara — is the drink; a light rum is thin here.
- Fresh-grated nutmeg; the pre-ground tin tastes of dust.
- Serve it warm with hot water in winter, as the sailors did.
Common mistakes
- Spiced rum, which doubles the spice and adds sugar.
- Too much sugar; it should be a rum drink.
- Pre-ground nutmeg.
A few good questions.
What does a Bumbo taste like?
Dark rum's molasses and funk, lightly sweetened, with a warm nutmeg finish — a rum Old Fashioned without bitters.
How is it different from grog?
Grog is rum, water and lime, the Navy's ration; bumbo is sweetened and spiced, the pirate's choice.
Did pirates really drink it?
Yes; it is documented in the early 1700s Caribbean, and in colonial Virginia elections.
Which rum?
A dark Jamaican (Appleton, Smith & Cross) or a Demerara (El Dorado).
Variations
- Old Fashioned — Whiskey, sugar and bitters.
- Rum Old Fashioned — Aged rum, sugar and bitters.
- Hot Buttered Rum — Rum, butter, sugar, spice and hot water.
- Ti' Punch — Rhum agricole, lime and cane syrup.
Where it comes from
c. 1700s · Caribbean
Bumbo — or bombo, or bumboo — was rum, water, sugar and nutmeg, and it was what West Indian sailors and pirates drank in the early eighteenth century, when the Royal Navy’s grog was rum and water with lime and the privateers preferred theirs sweet and spiced. It was also the drink of colonial American elections: George Washington’s 1758 campaign for the Virginia House of Burgesses bought the voters 28 gallons of rum, 50 of rum punch and plenty of bumbo, a practice called ‘swilling the planters with bumbo.’ It is a rum Old Fashioned in effect — spirit, sugar, water and a spice instead of bitters — and with a good dark Jamaican or Demerara rum and fresh-grated nutmeg it is a fine, simple drink.
Sources
- David Wondrich, Punch, 2010 (book)
- Wayne Curtis, And a Bottle of Rum, 2006 (book)
- Difford's Guide, Bumbo, 2010 (reference)
Strength. About 1.33 US standard drinks at an estimated 19.9% ABV, estimated from the ingredients and technique, not measured. What that means.
A little character in every sip.
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