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The Caribbean gold – the “pure rum” – was too strong to drink neat. It matured in the cellars and warehouses of the Flensburg rum producers before they diluted it with water to drinking strength.

And just as every plantation on the islands distilled its own type of rum, the rum houses in Flensburg all had their own “blend” – their own, very special recipe for the composition of their types of rum.

This gave rise to an incredible variety and excellent quality, which formed the basis for Flensburg’s reputation as a city of rum.

In the middle of the 18th century, about 200 brandy stills are said to have existed in the
cellars and backyards of the old quarter in the city. Every citizen was permitted to produce brandy from corn after the population had been supplied with sufficient bread and there was more corn than required.

This – and the high customs duties on foreign rum – led to the invention of  “Rumverschnitt”. Corn schnapps (later potato alcohol) was blended with the aromatic, high-percentage sugar cane distillate to produce a popular drink which was sold in vast quantities above all to the whalers in Norway.

At the start of the last century, there were about 30 rum and spirits producers. Wars, border shifts, technical progress and changed competition led to a reduction in the number of businesses and the big firms bought up the small ones.

In 1988, the Dethleffsen family exited the traditional spirits business. Since then, a handful of rum houses have kept the old tradition alive, including Johannsen and Braasch.