If the thought of rum conjures up images of pirates, college parties, and boozy daiquiris, you aren’t alone. But the spirit itself has a much more layered and complex past—one that you can explore at the 23rd Evening of Traditional Beverages put on by the Homewood Museum at Johns Hopkins University.

The annual event, this year held at the campus’ Mudd Hall on May 30 from 6-8 p.m., gives guests a big dose of history with a spoonful of spirits, live music, and local food all to benefit the museum and its future endeavors.

“It’s a fun way to think about history,” says Homewood Museum curator Julie Rose. “We haven’t focused on rum in over 15 years and I know it’s a big part of local lore.”

Indeed, rum was a huge imported product in 18th-century Maryland, mostly being shipped from Barbados into London Town and Gardens in Edgewater. According to historian Kyle Dalton, who will be speaking at next week’s event, the elixir was an apt symbol for cultural mores of the time.

“Maryland was a society of contradictions, as it was very communal but strictly hierarchical,” explains Dalton, coordinator of membership and development for the National Museum of Civil War Medicine in Frederick. “Rum was a luxury product, so you knew that it was a fairly refined society drinking it. But it was most commonly consumed as a rum punch with colonists drinking directly from the same bowl, so that reflects the communal society.”

Dalton notes that it’s becoming commonplace for museums to try and replicate the past, like with living history exhibits and even the duplication of alcohol products. Colonial Williamsburg has been trying its hand at replicating beer (“the Miller Lite of the 1700s,” he notes) and Mount Vernon is producing a similar whiskey to what George Washington would have imbibed.

“Young audiences really want experiences, rather than something they can take home from the gift shop,” Dalton says. “Liquor is an experience you can share with other people. It’s a small time-travel experience for your tongue.”

That transformative aspect can be seen in modern-day Maryland, thanks to many distilleries using traditional recipes and methods for producing rum. Take St. Mary’s County-based Tobacco Barn Distillery, which makes its rum from 100-percent local ingredients that is then fermented, double-distilled, and sealed in bourbon barrels aboard the U.S.S. Constellation.

“On the ship, you get a little bit of movement that causes swirl and circulation in the barrel, so that imparts a lot more flavor,” says Tobacco Bar co-founder and former Navy admiral Scott Sanders. “If you were in Maryland in the 1700s, this would be the kind of rum you’s drink.”

Besides Tobacco Barn, the rum revival is alive and well in Maryland, thanks to distilleries like Lyon in St. Michael’s, Old Line Spirits in Highlandtown, Blackwater on Kent Island, and Lost Ark in Columbia—all pouring their products at Traditional Beverages.

“Rum not only interests me from a historical perspective, but we wanted to highlight the resurgence of distilleries in Maryland,” Rose says. “People have a real interest in seeing where their food comes from in terms of protecting our planet. There was the microbrewery phenomenon that has had such a big impact on the industry and people are interested in distilleries for that same reason.”

The rain-or-shine event will also feature locally sourced bites from Woodberry Kitchen and live calypso music from percussionists Christina Manceor and Matthew Stiens.

“Right now, campus is in a transition period after graduation, so it’s a great time to celebrate,” Rose says. “This is a good excuse to put on your floral shirt, relax a bit, and learn about some history of the drink.”

Last summer, six Johns Hopkins University archaeology students were conducting preservation work around the perimeter of the university’s Homewood Museum when they unearthed an early 19th-century bottle of champagne.

A previous trenching project conducted in the 1980s, when Homewood was being restored into a museum, uncovered similar artifacts including wire cork cradles and bottlenecks dating back to the early 1800s—when Maryland’s historic Carroll family inhabited the estate.

“What we were able to do is compare what was found in 2017 to what was found in 1980s,” says Homewood’s director and curator Dr. Julie Rose. “And there was a significant amount of material that spoke to sparkling wine consumption, commerce, and service at that time.”

Suffice it to say, the Homewood team had plenty of inspiration for the theme of this year’s Evening of Traditional Beverages—an annual summer event that explores the history behind classic spirits and cocktails.

In previous years, the outdoor program has taught attendees about everything from ciders and shrub cocktails to bourbon and rye. This time around, Homewood’s 22nd annual event on Wednesday, June 13 at 6 p.m. will celebrate all things bubbly with a sampling of five sparkling wines and light bites by Woodberry Kitchen.

“It’s this opportunity for people interested in history and Maryland’s culture to be thinking about it in a different context,” Rose says. “Drinking champagne at home or at a restaurant is great, but to consume sparkling wines in this setting of the historic house really elevates the experience in terms of how we are still so tied to our past.”

Aside from the archaeological findings, Rose mentions that a survey of the wine cellar in the Homewood Museum revealed that the Carroll family had an extensive collection of French Champagne.

“It was very fashionable and relatively new for Americans at the time,” Rose says. “Both Charles Carroll of Carrollton and his son, Charles Carroll of Homewood, had their formal education in France. So they were fluent in French and had an affinity for French culture. It makes a lot of sense that Champagne would be on their dining room table.”

Some of the cellar findings will be on display for attendees at the event, which will feature remarks by Al Spoler of WYPR’s “Cellar Notes” and sparkling beverages including Dibon NV Brut Reserve Cava, Bisol Jeio Prosecco, Roederer American sparkling wine, and the Albariño Pét-Nat from our own Old Westminster Winery (OWW).

“This particular albariño really captures the essence of what we’re out to do,” says OWW co-owner Drew Baker. “We grow the grape in our home vineyard, and it offers so much interest. Unlike a cabernet or sauvignon blanc that is made with grapes grown throughout the world, it isn’t ubiquitous. Albariño is a little more niche.”

Baker describes the pét-nat as one of the most ancient styles of sparkling wine. The process, which pre-dates champagne production by several hundred years, involves bottle-conditioning the wine so that it is naturally carbonated without adding any sugar or yeast. The historical element, says Baker, couples well with the academic nature of the event.

“It’s kind of like what’s old is new again,” he says. “When consumers discover this style and understand how it’s made, they quickly fall in love with it. People want to go back to their roots.”

The annual event, located on the lush lawn outside of Homewood Museum, always adds a bit of education to after-work libation.

“We like to think of the event as sort of the unofficial kick-off to summer,” Rose says. “There’s been a clear interest to look at alcoholic beverages and all the history and culture that goes along with them.”