QandAs: Food

What is a Rum Runner?

Answer:
A Rum Runner is a mixed drink whose "official

recipe" is open for debate. According to some of the online drink information sites, some Rum Runners are made with Rum, while others (though still called by the same name) are made with some far-reaching ingredients, including gin, instead of rum.

As with most mixed drinks, the Rum Runner recipe is, of course, open to personalized modification, thus each variation (though perhaps still called by the same name) could lead to a very wide variety of recipes...all of which might be very good in their own right.

All that said, let me at least insert some generic ingredients that seem to be common to many of the documented recipes I came across in my research.

According to an entry at DrinkStreet.com, the Rum Runner is made with Rum, Banana Liqueur, Blackberry Brandy, Grenadine, and Sweet & Sour Mix.
According to some reader postings on that same site, the Rum Runner is made with Rum, Cranberry Juice, Orange Juice, Pineapple Juice.
According to DrinksMixer.com , a Rum Runner is made with Light Rum, Blackberry Brandy, Banana Liqueur, Grenadine Syrup, Orange Juice, Pineapple Juice, and Dark Rum.

So, as you can see, the recipes vary, although the common denominator(s) remain. Rum Runners certainly should include Rum! And, they should include the Banana, Blackberry and Grenadine ingredients as well. As for the juices (orange, pineapple, cranberry), I would dare say those are the things that make such recipes fun to experiment with, and the things that symbolize the free spirit of individuality we each possess.

Just as a note of interest, the term "Rum Runner" goes back to the days when alcoholic beverages were under prohibition and/or heavy taxation laws, which extends as far back as the 14th and 15th centuries. Usually the term referred to people who were willing to transport the illegal rum (and other alcohol) over water. People who transported over land areas were called bootleggers. Many pirates of the seas were thought of as "Rum Runners", as they would run the stuff to the Colonies who were otherwise taxed significantly for such things on the legitimate market. Rum Running of this type became most wide-spread after the United States enacted the 18th Amendment and the Volstead Act, which led to the beginning of Prohibition in 1920.