I reckon it's a combo of a few things. Mostly for this one, it had both the business and consumer sides of the equation kind of line up at the same time.

On the business side, one of the biggest factors was we'd just come out the other side of a recession. This meant interest rates were low and there were a load of people looking for new jobs/businesses and there were a lot of cheap places to set up that business. This naturally meant there were all sorts of new businesses being created around that time.

One such boom was small batch alcohol, because ultimately if you're good at it, you stand to turn relatively cheap ingredients into quite a bit of money. You'll probably notice modern craft beer really kicked up a gear around the same time.

Interestingly for this one, a lot of the early craft gin places didn't really set out to be gin-makers, they want(ed) to make whisky. The problem with whisky is you can't even call it whisky unless it's at least 3(?) years old, and it's not really going to be any good unless it's at least 2-3x that. So what do these distilleries do whilst they're waiting for their whisky to age and hoping they don't go bust? They make quicker to produce spirits such as gin!

Now, small batch is more expensive to make than the industrialised big brands, but gin has the benefit that there's a lot more freedom for the maker to mess around with the flavour. This allowed gin-makers to make their gins stand out against the competition and the sector was born.

There were also a few law changes around the world in a few places that made this kind of business a bit easier to set up.

Now on the consumer side there was this big resurgence in cocktail culture going on. So you've got all these interesting new flavours coming out of these small batch distilleries, what are bartenders who want to twist an old recipe into something new going to go for? It's going to be these cool new gins. Less cutting edge bars want to seem like the cutting edge ones so they start stocking the same spirits. As you'd imagine this creates a feedback loop that means the gins become successful and you see them behind more bars and on more shelves. After a while it's just kinda everywhere

All that, plus gin drinks just make some tasty cocktails and easy mixed drinks

(Sorry that was longer than I expected when I started)

They also drink it (or something similar) in 1984 as a standard ration

Basically any recipe with brown sugar gets elevated by adding rum. I sent these to Kraken and they replied by sending me a set of plates and a Kraken snuggie. LOL.

Kraken Spiked Banana Bread

3 ripe bananas
60g melted butter (1/4 cup or 1/2 a stick)
150g sugar (2/3 cup)
200g unbleached flour (1 1/4 cups)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup Kraken Black Rum
150g of fresh or frozen blackcurrants (without defreezing before use) (1 1/2 cups)

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C)
Mash the bananas in a bowl
Add the egg, butter, and Kraken Rum
Put all the dry ingredients together into a fine mesh sieve or sifter and sift into the bowl
Mix well with a wooden spoon

Bake in a buttered loaf pan until a toothpick stuck into the bread comes out clean, 55 to 60 minutes.

Slice and serve.

Kraken Sweet Potatoes

For a more intense molasses flavor, use dark brown sugar in place of light brown sugar.

Serves 10 to 12

Sweet Potatoes

• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch chunks
• 5 pounds sweet potatoes (about 8 medium), peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup water

• Jordan's note - 2 tablespoons vanilla paste.
• Jordan's note - 1/4 cup Kraken Black Rum

Pecan Topping
• 2 cups pecan halves
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 egg white, lightly beaten
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• Pinch cayenne pepper
• Pinch ground cumin

• Jordan's note - 1/2 teaspoon ground vanilla.

Directions

1. FOR THE SWEET POTATOES: Melt the butter in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the sweet potatoes, brown sugar, salt, pepper, and water; bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and cook, storing often, until the sweet potatoes are tender (a paring knife can be slipped into and out of the center of the potatoes with very little resistance), 45 to 60 minutes.

2. When the sweet potatoes are tender, remove the lid and bring the sauce to a rapid simmer over medium-high heat. Continue to simmer until the sauce has reduced to a glaze, 7 to 10 minutes.

3. FOR THE TOPPING: Meanwhile, mix all the ingredients for the topping together in a medium bowl; set aside.

Jordan's note: For whipped rum vanilla sweet potatoes:

Take a stick blender and blend the potatoes in the cookpot until they reach the desired texture. Mix in two tablespoons of vanilla bean paste and 1/4 cup Kraken Black Rum.

Also add 1/2 teaspoon of ground vanilla to the pecan topping.

4. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 450 degrees. Pour the potato mixture into a 13 by 9-inch baking dish (or a shallow casserole dish of similar size). Spread the topping over the potatoes. Bake until the pecans are toasted and crisp, 10 to 15 minutes. Serve immediately.

Variation

CANDIED SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE WITH TOASTED MARSHMALLOW TOPPING

Follow the recipe for Candied Sweet Potato Casserole, substituting 4 cups mini marshmallows for the pecan topping. Bake until the marshmallows are crisp and golden, about 5 minutes.

Kraken Cowboy Cookies

1.25 cups (6.25 ounces) all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon table salt

Whisk all that together in a bowl.

In a SECOND bowl:

1.5 cups (10.5 ounces) packed light brown sugar
12 tablespoons (1.5 sticks) melted and cooled unsalted butter
1 large egg + 1 large yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup Kraken Black Rum

Whisk all that together until evenly combined, then stir in the flour mixture and whisk until all the dry flour streaks are gone.

1.25 cups (3.75 ounces) old fashioned rolled oats  

Stir to combine  

1 cup chopped toasted pecans  

Stir to combine  

1 cup (3 ounces) sweetened shredded coconut  

Stir to combine  

2/3 cup (4 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate chips  

Stir to combine  

Spray a 1/4 cup measure with cooking spray and use that to scoop up the dough.  

Place 8 cookies 2 inches apart on an unrimmed cookie sheet lined with parchment paper (I used a Good Cook AirPerfect sheet which doesn't require parchment or Silpat or anything!)

Bake at 350° for 8 minutes, rotate the sheet and bake another 8 minutes.

Remove from oven and let sit on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes to finish cooking.

Place cookies on a wire rack to finish cooling and bake the other 1/2 of the cookies, makes 15 to 16 cookies total.