> Molasses is traditionally used to make which type of liquor?And the answer: rum.Photo courtesy: public domain.Through a fermentation and distilling process, thethick dark syrup known as molasses can be turned into rum. Originating in theWest Indies in the 1600s, today rum is primarily made in Jamaica, Barbados, andthe South American country of Guyana.Rum has a rich history in drinking culture throughout the world. The cultivationof sugarcane dates back thousands of years, all the way back to expeditions ofAlexander the Great. While his military campaign made the crop known, it wasn'tuntil specialized cultivation by Persian and Arab farmers in the seventh centurythat sugarcane was taken seriously for its health and cuisine benefits. Though sugarcane remained native to Arab territories, Portuguese exploration ofthe coast of Africa (specifically the Madeira Islands, Cape Verde, and theCanary Islands) offered a new venue for European control of this valuable crop.Soon after, the Portuguese embarked on a colonial history dependent uponenslaved labor. Establishing some 200 plantations in the Madeira Islands, thesugarcane industry became one deeply entrenched in the horrors of slavery. Eventually, someone realized that distilling the molasses from the sugarcaneplant would reduce the product into a tasty alcohol. This discovery was highlyinfluential in early American drinking culture – rum was one of the mostwell-loved alcohols of the early 1700s and well into the century. Around 1765,Americans distilled some 4.8 million gallons of rum along the East Coast, makingit more available than whiskey in major cities such as Boston.While whiskey soon after became the classic American alcohol, rum remains awell-loved staple of any American bar today. Learn more about the history ofrum's parent syrup and the implications of the sugarcane trade here[https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Molasses-Bittersweet-History-3014292.phpf].