Bumbo

Not much else besides “swilling the planters with bumbo” could make election day more exciting. Bumbo is a rum punch that is bold and sweet with warm notes of cinnamon and spiced rum with just a hint of nutmeg.

During the American Colonial Era, electioneering was looked down upon, so they would “swill the planters with bumbo” which means rinsing yourself with rum punch and a way to treat potential voters (along with non-party members so it didn’t look like bribery) with food and drink. 

Drinking was such a part of elections that George Washington thought he lost the first election (not for president) he ran in because he didn’t serve enough alcohol. To make sure he didn’t make that mistake again, he served 391 voters 160 gallons of liquor the next time he ran.

Bumbo Ingredients 
Makes 4 servings
2 cinnamon sticks
4 c water
¼ c sugar
2 c spiced or dark rum
¼ tsp nutmeg

Bumbo Directions
Add 2 cinnamon sticks to 2 c of water to a pot. Cover it and boil the mixture for 30 minutes. Remove the cinnamon sticks. You want to have 2 c left of the cinnamon infused water. If you have less, add enough water to get to 2 c. If you have more liquid, boil the pot uncovered until you reach 2 c of liquid.

Add a ¼ c of sugar to the liquid and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Allow it to cool to room temperature. Add 2 c of spiced rum, and ¼ tsp nutmeg to the liquid. Stir. Taste. Add more sugar, water, or rum depending on taste. Pour into 4 glasses to serve.

Notes
If you google bumbo recipes, they generally have rum, cinnamon, nutmeg, water, and sugar (more modern recipes include other ingredients). The recipes generally have either a ratio of 1:1 or 2:1 ratio of water to rum. I prefer weaker drinks so went with the 2:1 ratio.

In modern times, you can serve bumbo on the rocks, but that was not common practice in Colonial America.