Cuba | Ian Lendler | Teddy Roosevelt | Caribbean

Ian Lendler’s Alcoholica Esoterica (Penguin, $14) is brimming over with info on all things alcohol. We found the following rum facts fascinating. — J.S.

›› Before it was called rum, from rumbullion, a British slang term for ‘an uproar, a great tumult,’ the liquor was known as Kill-Devil.

›› Two popular rum concoctions were created by Americans who went to Cuba in 1898 with Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders: the daiquiri and the Cuba Libre (also known as a rum-and-Coke).

›› In the Caribbean, rum is sprinkled on a newborn baby’s forehead for luck.