Rum Focus: Q&A - Chester Browne
You have created your own rum punch which has become well known in Barbados. How versatile is rum as a spirit for pubs to mix?
It's called Chester's Own. The little tag on it says 'Chester's grog is mighty magnificent'. There is a standard rum punch which is made from lime and rum, and people add juice. I decided to create a rum punch to really attract people to our visitor's centre. My rum punch is made from lime, rum, nutmeg, water, angostura bitters and a touch of grenadine. I also put special herbs into it - bay leaves and lemon grass, which is my secret. I like the rum punch to sit and cure for a little bit.
Rum punch is basically a pre-mixed cocktail, so of course it is something that pubs can do. When English people come to Barbados, they go crazy for mixed drinks.
It's almost like they're getting away from the simple Martini or Cosmopolitan.
The punch bowl idea is something that pubs can easily do. It's there when the customer comes in. You can put it over fresh ice, sprinkle nutmeg on top, garnish with a cherry and send it out.
You have experience of the rum market around the world. How would you characterise the market in the UK?
I would judge the UK market from the European visitor to Barbados. Most of them ask "where can I get this back home?" There's great room for rum in the UK market, judging from the response of Europeans in Barbados.
We just need to train bartenders in the mixability of rum.
How does Mount Gay Extra Old Rum differ from Maxxium's other rums?
Our rums are blended. Eclipse, which is our flagship brand, most people would know of. Eclipse is a blend of rums between two and five years old. Extra Old is a blend of rums between eight and 12 years old.
It stays in the barrel longer and is more matured. It's an aged golden rum.
The industry has been saying for some time now that white rums and dark rums are not the forces they once were and that golden rum is the real driver. Is this trend set to continue?
People are drinking more premium products. Extra Old is definitely that. It's not just about age. You would never see the age of our rum labelled on the bottles, because they're blended. There are rums in that bottle of Extra Old that are eight years old.
However, that rum has a much greater drinking maturity than that. There are rums in there that are blended to have balance.
Premium rum is definitely the direction consumers are going. Consumers want to drink a better product and also they're looking for a better price.
What hope is there for reviving white and dark rum?
White rums and younger dark rums are used a lot for cocktails where you focus more on tasting the coconut or other ingredients, rather than the actual product. There is a place in the market for them, and we try to market our products as a range.
It's The Publican's round. What are you drinking?
Rum with lime and soda water or rum and ginger if it's afternoon. In the evenings, I get very serious with my rum. I just have it with a touch of nutmeg and a splash of soda water.
