'Give a sailor his grog, and nothing goes wrong'

by Guy Nowell on 21 Oct 2005 We don’t know a sailor who doesn’t appreciate a tot of rum. It might be a DRC (Dark Rum and Coke) or a Rum Benedict (rum and calamansi – a Filipino lime). But one way or another, a drop of Nelson’s Blood never goes astray on board – especially after a ‘hard’ day on the racecourse.

For more than 300 years, Great Britain’s Royal Navy issued a daily tot of rum to all hands. Pusser’s Rum was the rum being issued to the RN on ‘Black Tot Day’ – 31 July 1970 – the day when the British Navy stopped the rum ration.

Pusser’s is the father of all Navy rums, and the standard by which other rums are measured. It is a blend of three centuries and six rums that is quite unsurpassed. Pusser’s is a pot-distilled rum from whence its rich flavour derives (like single malt whiskies).

And then there’s ‘grog’, a word that today means pretty much any alcoholic drink. ‘Grog’ is more properly a mix of rum and water (one part rum, three parts water), and was named for Admiral Vernon RN, Commander-in-Chief of the West Indies Station in 1740. Rum was originally issued to the men ‘neat’ – undiluted – and the ration was a ½ pint twice a day.

Many sailors were often drunk, so Vernon ordered the rum ration to be diluted. The Admiral was known as ‘Old Grog’ n account of his grogram (a type of cloth) cloak, and the diluted rum became known as ‘grog’ as well.

Day-prize winners at the China Coast Regatta will be awarded bottles of Pusser’s Rum by way of prizes (we are sure that Nelson would have approved).

Today being Trafalgar Day, when all right-thinking Englishmen give thanks for Admiral Lord Nelson’s glorious victory over the combined French and Spanish fleets at the Battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805) it was especially appropriate to see the rum ration dished out (especially as one of the recipients was French!)

For more information about Pusser’s Rum, go to www.pussers.com