A drink made from rum, water, sugar, and nutmeg, popular among sailors and in the Caribbean in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Origin uncertain; possibly from African languages (related to 'bomb' or 'bumba'), or from Dutch 'bamboe.' The drink became associated with naval culture and tropical colonies.
Bumbo was the sailor's drink of choice before the British Navy switched to grog—and historians think the name might actually come from African languages brought to the Caribbean, showing how colonial trade routes shaped even our drinking vocabulary.
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