In the light of this discussion, I thought TML might like this from The Times and its Diary (i.e. slightly light hearted pieces rather than serious news) section 1.8.20:

A rum deal for sailors

The Royal navy has been sober for exactly 50 years. Since the final pouring of the daily rum ration on July 31,1970, alcohol has never passed a sailor's lips on duty. Well, hardly ever. It is surprising it lasted so long. The Admiralty's wonderfully named Grog Committee proposed banning the daily tot, equal to two doubles, way back in 1850. In a Commons debate on the abolition 120 years later, one James Wellbeloved, a Labour MP, argued that, far from impeding performance, a glass of rum helped to stabilise a sailor's stomach in stormy waters. Despite Wellbeloved offering "sippers or gulpers" to any MP who backed him, his attempt to block the ban was scuttled by the government.

OB TRAV: The PCs' ship is searched for possible contraband by an Imperial Navy ship the day after a centuries old grog ration has been abolished. The 'boys in blue' are not happy and the words 'fine toothcomb' can be heard from the officer commanding the search team. Any enterprising Captain who can drum up a rum ration in the guise of Mother's Medicinal Emolument to offer quietly to the ratings aboard will find the search of their ship goes like a breeze...

On Thu, 30 Jul 2020 at 16:57, <xxxxxx@gmail.com> wrote:

I wondered why Tom's proof was less than 2 x ABV as it would be now in US and Canada. I'd expect 54.6% ABV to be 109 Proof.

I found this historical mess to explain:

https://www.foodnetwork.com/fn-dish/news/2017/07/why-alcohol-content-is-measured-in-proof

On Thu, Jul 30, 2020, 11:44 Thomas RUX, <xxxxxx@comcast.net> wrote:

Hello Phil,

On 07/30/2020 2:04 AM Phil Pugliese - philpugliese at yahoo.com (via tml list) <xxxxxx@simplelists.com> wrote:

Anyone have any idea what the recipe for mixing 'grog' was?

How about the 'proof' rating?

The rum ration or "tot", consisted of one-eighth of an imperial pint (70ml) of rum at 95.5 proof (54.6% ABV). Senior ratings (petty officers and above) received their rum neat, whilst for junior ratings it was diluted with two parts of water to make three-eighths of an imperial pint (213 ml) of grog.

Tom Rux

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