Bumbo

Bumbu
Type	Cocktail
Ingredients	2 ounces rum; 1 ounce water; 2 sugar cubes; Sprinkle 1⁄4 teaspoon to taste cinnamon; Sprinkle 1⁄4 teaspoon to taste nutmeg;
Standard drinkware	Old fashioned glass
Standard garnish	Nutmeg
Served	Straight up: chilled, without ice
Preparation	Mix and garnish.

Bumbo (also known as bumbu or bumboo) is a drink typically made from rum, water, and sugar, and with nutmeg, cinnamon, or both added.¹ Modern bumbo is often made with dark rum, citrus juice, grenadine, and nutmeg.

A related drink is the Traitor, made with orange juice, rum, honey, and cactus, mixed and heated.

Bumbo was commonly used during election campaigns in colonial British America, to the extent that treating voters to gifts and other freebies during election campaigns was referred to as "swilling the planters with bumbu".² George Washington was particularly noted for using this technique; his papers state that he used 160 gallons of rum to treat 391 voters to bumbu during campaigning for the Virginia House of Burgesses in July 1758.³

References

"bumbo". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
"Swilling the Planters With Bumbu: When Booze Bought Elections", The Smithsonian
Michael Pinto-Duschinsky (2002). "Financing Politics: A Global View". Journal of Democracy 13:4: 69–86.

[1] "bumbo". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)

[2] "Swilling the Planters With Bumbu: When Booze Bought Elections", The Smithsonian

[3] Michael Pinto-Duschinsky (2002). "Financing Politics: A Global View". Journal of Democracy 13:4: 69–86.

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