the.com/molasses
the syrup so slow it became a synonym for slow, then drowned a city
means The thick, dark, sweet syrup left over when sugar cane or beet juice is boiled down and the sugar crystals are removed.
from From the Portuguese 'melaço,' meaning the same syrupy residue, which traces back to the Latin 'mel' — honey — the root that also sweetens 'mellifluous' and 'marmalade.' English picked it up in the 16th–17th centuries through the sugar trade. As for the essence's drowning: the 1919 Boston Molasses Flood was real — a giant storage tank burst and sent a wave of molasses through the streets, killing 21 people, proving the slow stuff could move terrifyingly fast.
- boston flood
- 1919 tank burst killed 21 in a 35 mph wave
- rum link
- fermented molasses fueled the colonial rum trade
- blackstrap
- the bitter dregs are richest in iron and minerals
- cold trap
- thicker when chilled, hence the lazy-day comparison
blackstrap molasses — byproduct of sugar refining used in animal feed and rum production, especially in caribbean distilleries
molasses act of 1733 — british tax on molasses imported to american colonies that sparked colonial resistance and helped lead to revolution