Old Salts & Spirits

"Sailors, with their built-in sense of order, service, and discipline, should really be running the world." -- Nicholas Monsarrat

EXTRAORDINARY FEATS OF THE SAILOR

Shellback: a sailor who has joined the Order of the Shellback by crossing the equator by sea.

Shellback of the Golden Dragon: a sailor who has entered the Domain of the Golden Dragon by crossing the International Date Line by sea.

Golden Shellback: a sailor who has crossed the International Date Line and the equator at the same time.

Mossback: a sailor who has sailed around Cape Horn.

Horned Shellback: a sailor who has rounded Cape Horn and Crossed the equator on the same voyage.

Blue Nose: a sailor who has entered the Northern Domain of the Polar Bear by crossing the Arctic Circle by sea.

Frozen Stiff: a sailor who has entered the Royal Domain of the Emporor Penguin by crossing the Antarctic Circle by sea.

YO HO HO AND A BOTTLE OF RUM

There is some disagreement as to the origin of the name "rum," but the most common is that is comes from "rumbullion," which means "a great tumult or uproar." Though fermented sugar-based beverages date back millennia in the southern regions of Asia where sugarcane had its origins, rum was born in he New World. The first mention in written record of the distilled drink we now know as rum was in Barbados about 1650. Not knowing how to treat the various fevers and blights that affected Europeans in the tropics, rum became the cure-all for every problem ... from Yellow Fever to disappointment!

The British Navy began specifying a daily ration of rum by the 1730s ... a half-pint per day of 160-proof rum for each sailor. Not surprisingly, on those occasions when sailors pitched in portions of their rations to help a mate celebrate a birthday, the death of the celebrant was not uncommon. The ration was eventually diluted with an equal amount of water, which produced the drink called "grog."

Serpent's Breath (enough for the entire crew): 1 bottle dark rum, 1 bottle light rum, 1 bottle cognac, 7 cups tea, 3 cups lemon juice and 1-1/2 cups sugar. Stir the sugar and the lemon juice into the tea, then add the hard stuff. Allow ingredients to blend for two hours ... if the crew can wait that long!

Lime-Dark Grog: 2 oz. dark rum, 2 oz. water, 1 tbsp. lime juice, 1 tbsp. brown sugar and cloves and/or cinnamon stick to taste. Heat until sugar dissolves and pour into a mug.

Citrus Grog: 1 oz. light rum, 2 oz. dark rum, 1 oz. lime juice, 1 oz. grapefruit juice and 1 tsp. powdered sugar. Pour all over ice, shake and strain into tall glass.

Captain's Blood: 1-1/2 oz. dark rum, 1/2 oz. lime juice and 2 dashes Angostura bitters. Pour over cracked ice and shake, then strain into chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with lime wedge.

Hot Boatswain's Blood: 1-1/2 oz. rum, 1 tsp. sugar, 1 tsp. lime juice and 1 stick cinnamon. Mix and stir all ingredients, then add enough boiling water to fill a mug or glass. Drink hot.

Hot Buttered Rum (a New England tradition): 1-1/2 oz. dark rum, 1 dash bitters, 1 tsp. sugar, 1 tsp. butter and 2 cloves. Mix and stir all ingredients, then add enough boiling water to fill a mug or glass. Drink hot.