Rum’s medical resume is surprisingly impressive (and delightfully boozy). In the 19th century, it was basically the Swiss Army knife of medicine. From antiseptic to anesthetic to malaria tonic – because nothing says “cutting-edge healthcare” like a healthy splash of sugarcane spirit.
Battlefield Booze: Shots (of Rum) Fired
Imagine you’re a soldier in the middle of a 19th-century battlefield. You’ve been shot, and the only thing standing between you and an amputation is a saw, a grim-looking surgeon, and a bottle of spirits – and for our purposes, our bottle holds rum. Before modern antiseptics, doctors would pour alcohol directly into wounds to disinfect them. It worked…ish. It definitely stung, but that just meant it was working, right?
If you were particularly lucky (or unlucky, depending on your tolerance), you also got to drink some rum before the procedure — a crude, but effective-ish anesthetic. Rum: the original painkiller, minus the prescription.
Rum & Tonic: The Original Wellness Drink
In tropical colonies where malaria ran rampant, doctors prescribed quinine to fight off the disease. The only problem? Quinine tasted like pure misery. Enter booze, which made the whole thing much more drinkable. This was the not-so-humble beginning of the Gin & Tonic in many of the British Colonies but in the tropics, rum was cheap and plentiful so Rum & Tonic it was. Today, it’s a cocktail — back then, it was your lifeline.
Rum for What Ails You (According to Very Dubious Science)
Rum wasn’t just battlefield medicine — it showed up in pharmacies mixed up in to tonics, as well. Got digestive issues? Rum. Suffering from a fever? Rum. Feeling a touch hysterical? Yep. Rum. Whether you needed a digestive tonic or a sedative, rum was the answer — making 19th-century pharmacies look suspiciously like modern-day tiki bars.
The Navy’s Daily Dose
British sailors were famously issued a daily rum ration known as the “tot” all the way until 1970. It was partly for morale, partly because they believed rum kept sailors healthy (spoiler: it was actually the lime juice that prevented scurvy). But hey — why let facts ruin a perfectly good reason to drink?
Civil War Cocktails: Rum & Opium
During the American Civil War, doctors would sometimes prescribe a mix of rum or whiskey and opium for pain relief. (10/10 do not recommend trying this at home.) But desperate times call for desperate cocktails.
The Legacy Lives On
While rum has mostly retired from the medical world, its influence lives on in drinks like Hot Buttered Rum (once recommended for colds) and the aforementioned Rum & Tonic. Sure, we have actual medicine now, but rum still deserves credit for its centuries of hard work on the front lines of healthcare.
Got a story of your own “medicinal rum” experience? (No judgment if it was self-prescribed.) Share it with us on Instagram and tag @Rumosphere — we’ll raise a glass to creative cures.
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The Rumosphere 