No other spirit can make you quite so happy in just being alive," writes Dave Broom, in the introduction to his new book, Rum. I'll second that. Rum is a much-misunderstood spirit. Actually, it's not really understood at all (and I include myself in that statement). But I love it, and I want to know more about it - which is why I read Rum. And it just happens to be one seriously hip drink: it's now the fastest-growing spirit in the drinks industry.
Broom also happens to be one of my favourite drinks writers. He imparts knowledge with a laugh-out-loud kind of entertainment. Co-author of Drink, Never Mind the Peanuts, which was the Glenfiddich Drink Book of the Year 2002, and author of numerous books on spirits and wines (whisky is his other great love), Broom transports you yet again to another world - one this time filled with pirates, smugglers and slavers, as well as artists and celebrated barmen.
He takes you on a journey around the Caribbean and into South America, and also, curiously, to Glasgow, London, Bristol and Amsterdam, to tell the tale of rum. We're not talking a guide to every distillery and every bottle of rum here, but a taste of where rum came from, where it's made, where it's going and why it tastes the way it does.
Every island has its own style, every country its own flavour and every distillery its own variation, he tells us, introducing the reader to some of its personalities - such as George Robinson, the spirit director of Guyana's Demerara Distillers. "George was a first-class cricketer, an opening bat, and you can see his playing style even now. He is patient, taking things steadily, playing himself in, steadying the younger, rasher members of the team. He's not flashy, but a man who quietly builds a mammoth innings."
At this point I must mention the photography by Jason Lowe - it's stunning, and brings Broom's poetic prose to life and makes me want to get on a plane right now.
For all you bar staff out there, Broom has included the lowdown (including UK contact details) of most key brands and many you won't have come across, with labels printed up for easy recognition.
Then there are the rum-based cocktail recipes. Instead of asking for a Mojito the next time you visit the tourist-weary Floridita in Havana, try asking for a Mary Pickford, suggests Broom - 45ml Havana Club 3 A¤os, 45ml unsweetened pineapple juice, 1 dash grenadine, 1 dash maraschino liqueur, shaken together, strained into a cocktail glass and garnished with a twist of lime.
In fact, forget the Floridita and make tracks to one of Broom's all-time favourite drinking haunts, Bar Monserrate, where you'll mix with hookers, cooks, musicians, hustlers and families: "You become intoxicated - not with the rum (though it helps), but with the sheer force of life." I'm there.
Fiona Sims, drinks editor, Caterer & Hotelkeeper
Rum
Dave Broom
Mitchell Beazley
£25
ISBN 1-84000-730-3