In the Central American planes of sugarcane, cocoa and sweet tamarind spice, it is no surprise that rum rules the roost of Guatemala and Belize’s sweet tooths.

Devastatingly, the rum factory wasn’t something which I discovered until the day I was leaving, when a man walking me up a volcano (I asked him to do this), told me all about it.

Ron Zacapa rum couldn’t have happened without the union of the Botran and Requejo families in the early 20th century, but it wasn’t until 1976, at the 100th anniversary of the Guatemalan town by the same name, that Zacapa was born.

The range includes the Zacapa Centenario 15, Zacapa Centenario 23, Zacapa Centenario 23 Cask Strength, Zacapa 23 Etiqueta Negra, Zacapa Centenario XO and the Zacapa Centenario 30 Aniversario.

Despite being clued up on the history, I had to wait until I reached Lanquin, in the Central Highlands of Guatemala, where I befriended a lovely local bartender who fixed me up a Ron Zacapa Centenario 23 with tamarind.

This rum is an indulgent nectar by trade, taste and texture, cloying in your throat with the slight relief of a spice. Woody hums of oak marry with vanilla, dried fruit, and quiet hints of liquorice to form a sultry syrup best sipped on a jungle riverbank. Zacapa is made from the sweetest crushed virgin sugar cane, honey, and pure mountain water collected from Quetzaltenango’s springs.

As much as many rum connoisseurs might shoot me; a great backpacker alternative is Quetzalteca Tamarinda. Coming in various flavours, this hibiscus infused local liquour is honey-sweet and cheap as chips. A viable back-up, if you’ve spent all your money on caving and Cabro.

Back to the real stuff, the sweetness of Zacapa is in part due to the Solera ageing process. The Solera system is a complex thing to get your head around, but it is essentially a set of barrels containing rum (or sherry, if you’re in Spain) of the same type but different ages. The barrels are stacked on top of each other in a pyramid formation, with the oldest liquid at the bottom and the youngest on top.

Fractional blending can then take place, where a little of the oldest rum in the bottom barrel is removed and bottled. The barrel is filled up with the next oldest rum, from the barrel above. The process continues until the barrel on top with the youngest rum needs to be filled with fresh new rum. The ‘criaderas’ are the barrels containing the younger rums, and the amount of time the rum is left to age is dependent on the desired blend. Admittedly, in the frantic and modern world, only a small part of Zacapa’s rums are aged in this way. But a rum pyramid still sounds pretty impressive.

You can read more about the specific Zacapa solera system here; http://www.refinedvices.com/ron-zacapa-part-ii-solera-system-explained

The rum fun continued as I crossed the border to Belize and ventured into Caribbean realms. Rum roots itself in the daily conversation here, often cropping up in the first few phrases you exchange with strangers. A Creole lilt says rum in such a way it’s rude to say no. As I made the wise decision of visiting the islands in hurricane season, the rainy day rum-drinking attitude was in particularly strong swing. Rum punch became brunch.

You can’t leave or enter any island without trying the classic rum punch, but boy does it pack one of those. Instead, I’d advise the coconut rum. Paired with pineapple juice, the fusion of coconut palm and molasses snapshot escapism. But locals will often mix their own rum bitters, complete with medicinal herbs and roots, whilst coconut water is a mellow alternative mixer. Travellers Liquors Ltd seems to dominate rum production in Belize, having kickstarted as a bar called ‘Travellers’ in Belize City back in the 1950s. Their pirate ship logo is strangely reassuring of their spirits’ quality.

What is perhaps most important about the rum in this part of the world however, is that it is best consumed with locals. Chink your glass with them, listen to their stories, and it might just make your next rum in London feel a little more authentic.