Tafia is a kind of cheap rum

Rum

Rum is a distilled alcoholic beverage made from sugarcane by-products such as molasses, or directly from sugarcane juice, by a process of fermentation and distillation. The distillate, a clear liquid, is then usually aged in oak barrels...

 made from sugarcane

Sugarcane

Sugarcane refers to any of six to 37 species of tall perennial grasses of the genus Saccharum . Native to the warm temperate to tropical regions of South Asia, they have stout, jointed, fibrous stalks that are rich in sugar, and measure two to six metres tall...

 juice. It is typically unaged whereas rum is typically aged in wooden barrels to reduce the level of fusel

Fusel alcohol

Fusel alcohols, also sometimes called fusel oils, or potato oil in Europe, are higher-order alcohols formed by fermentation and present in cider, mead, beer, wine, and spirits to varying degrees....

. Most of the fusel is absorbed in the first two years. Premium rums were aged for a longer period of time incidentally subjecting it increasing ethanol evaporation.

Rum

The history of rum dates back to the 17th century on vast sugarcane plantation

Plantation

A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...

s established in the West Indies. In the colonial era, rum trade became very lucrative along the existing trade routes and rum production also became a component of slavery

Slavery

Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...

.

In the making of rum, the juice from sugarcane is boiled down to syrup

Syrup

In cooking, a syrup is a thick, viscous liquid consisting primarily of a solution of sugar in water, containing a large amount of dissolved sugars but showing little tendency to deposit crystals...

. This syrup is briskly stirred until crystals form. When the crystal layer is removed, the remainder - molasses

Molasses

Molasses is a viscous by-product of the processing of sugar cane, grapes or sugar beets into sugar. The word molasses comes from the Portuguese word melaço, which ultimately comes from mel, the Latin word for "honey". The quality of molasses depends on the maturity of the sugar cane or sugar beet,...

 - is boiled again and water and yeast are added to the molasses and water mixture and allowed to ferment

Fermentation (food)

Fermentation in food processing typically is the conversion of carbohydrates to alcohols and carbon dioxide or organic acids using yeasts, bacteria, or a combination thereof, under anaerobic conditions. Fermentation in simple terms is the chemical conversion of sugars into ethanol...

. The fermented mixture is then distilled

Distillation

Distillation is a method of separating mixtures based on differences in volatilities of components in a boiling liquid mixture. Distillation is a unit operation, or a physical separation process, and not a chemical reaction....

. The distilled product is colorless until it is aged in wooden barrels and other natural ingredients like caramel

Caramel

Caramel is a beige to dark-brown confection made by heating any of a variety of sugars. It is used as a flavoring in puddings and desserts, as a filling in bonbons, and as a topping for ice cream, custard and coffee....

are added.

Boiling tafia was used in the slave trade to heat branding irons for the stamping or branding of African captives sold into slavery.