Alcoholic beverages were readily available and easily accessible in the Carib-bean during the early colonial era, and in a time before temperance movements and public health campaigns, few had reservations about drinking. Rum, in particular, penetrated the social, economic, political, and medicinal world of all who lived and worked in the Caribbean region, especially enslaved peo-ples who laboured on sugar estates. Rum was distributed as part of weekly rations, it was considered a cure-all for a variety of illnesses, it was used in African-oriented spiritual practices, it helped cement social bonds and obliga-tions, it was doled out to incentivize labour, and, perhaps most importantly, it was consumed to cope with the many anxieties of life in the region. Patterns of drinking were shaped by a variety of forces, including the coercive structures of slavery and the labour regimen of sugar production. Patriarchal attitudes toward alcohol were also deeply ingrained in Caribbean drinking practices, and rum, in particular, is symbolically steeped in principals of masculinity. While alcohol and drinking are generally considered male domains, this paper will examine gendered patterns of drinking and highlight the historical role that women played in the production, distribution, and consumption of rum and other alcoholic beverages in the Caribbean, especially the British Caribbean. Historical studies of alcohol in society typically emphasize male drinking practices, but the special relationship between women and alcohol also sheds light on the broader function of drinking and the way alcohol framed patriarchy and labour in the early Caribbean.