What on Earth is Blackstrap Molasses?

I can't get much fresher than the question my fiance posed to me seconds ago, "What is blackstrap molasses?" We're currently making our shopping list for his first batch of home brew porter. The best part of the whole situation is why he asked me in the first place.  My guess is that I'm the baking savvy one in this relationship so, naturally, I should know all things molasses.

Understanding blackstrap molasses requires some background info on molasses in general. (Thanks be to Wikipedia, which will probably be the first lily pad for most of the things learned about.) Molasses is basically sugar cane liquid that is boiled and reduced until the mixture is a thick form of sugar. Molasses can also be made from sugar beets, but only the end result is called molasses. Now, there are three grades of molasses: light, or barbados, from the first boil; dark, which is commonly used for cooking things like gingersnaps, and is from a second boiling; blackstrap is molasses that has been boiled three times, is thickest and darkest, and highest in nutritive value. So, blackstrap molasses is the darkest molasses you can get, and is probably pretty tasty.

There are two bottles of what I now know is dark molasses in my spices cupboard. Once they are all used up I think I might switch to using blackstrap for baking. As I learned from an article on wiseGeek, two tablespoons of blackstrap contain 10% of the copper, iron, calcium, potassium, and manganese I need in a day. Blackstrap also has a smaller percentage of magnesium, B6, and selenium. Huzzah! A good counter argument to the naysayers of eating sweets. Everything in moderation, and if it contains at least some needed minerals and vitamins, all the better.

Brer Rabbit, ahh it recalls fond memories of holiday spiced sweets.