About 2 hours from Joburg, on a farm along the R70 between Henneman and Riebeeckstad in the Free State, I joined the guys at Whistler Rum Distillery for their end-of-the-month jol. With a local singer strumming away, a Free State Sand Storm cocktail in hand and a big red sun setting in front of us, I took a sip and realised I didn’t know much about rum at all.

A week later I went to the Pan-African Rum Festival and tasted as many South African rums and cocktails as possible. Now I’m plotting my own cocktail mixes! But before I get ahead of myself, let’s go back to the basics of rum 101.

Poached pears sound so boring, right? In this recipe, the rum and the spices add warmth and great flavour to the light syrup, which is not overly sweet.

Rum loves citrus. From its best friend the lime, to flings with grapefruit, and the perfect marriage of mandarins.

If you’re a regular Sailor Jerry drinker, there’s a good chance you’ve been accidentally throwing out a collectible sticker every time you finish a bottle of the rum.

‘Tis the season to fill your cup with the season’s classic boozy dairy drink. It’s eggnog season, everybody.

Plenty of shows with cult followings like Game of Thrones have related tie-in products. Many fans would agree that the best of those are usually some kind of booze.

From the Quaker Oats Man to Ronald McDonald, characters used to advertise a food, drink, or restaurant are a staple of the marketing world.

Bruno Mars is a dangerous man with some money in his pocket, and he’s cashing in on rum. When the singer recently stopped at the Forum in Inglewood, Calif., to wrap his 24K Magic Tour, he offered cocktails made with the premium rum line he co-founded called SelvaRey (which aptly translates to “king of the jungle” in Spanish).

There are a number of ways to help residents of the Caribbean recover from the aftermath of multiple hurricanes, but CheapCaribbean’s newest tour is definitely the most fun.

On July 31, 1970—47 years ago come Monday—Britain’s Royal Navy issued its last daily rum ration.