by Marlon Madden
A new avenue has been opened up for the sharing of the experience and the stories behind the world-renowned rums of Barbados.
A group of individuals – Gayle Seale, marketing executive Christian Seale, mixologist Jamaal Bowen and chef and bartender Thaddeus Sealy – have joined forces to create The Barbados Rum Experience (TBR Experience), whose main aim is to educate individuals about the Barbados rum and its history.
TBR Experiences concluded its inaugural seven-day event on Sunday, providing a number of local, regional and international rum lovers, writers, bloggers and other interested or curious individuals the opportunity to learn about the local rums, visit distilleries on the island and interact with bartenders and share in various discussions surrounding the spirit.
Christian Seale, one of the directors of TBR Experiences, told Today’s BUSINESS that while the COVID-19 pandemic limited the number of activities that could have taken place during the one-week event he was still pleased with the response.
“For our first edition I think it was better than my initial expectations, and we have a good diverse array of people with about 35 per cent being Barbadians that attended the history seminars and the rest were visitors from all over the world,” said Seale.
The event attracted about 65 people from several countries including Martinique, Germany, Canada, France, New Zealand, and the UK.
“I know it seems a little muted this year but next year it is going to be huge, it is going to be a lot of fun and it is going to be a lot of engagement with the Barbadian community,” said Seale, who indicated that the hope was for TBR Experience to become a staple on the local annual calendar of events.
“This very first Barbados rum experience is about teaching our history and getting our message out there,” he said.
Seale, who now works in Italy, told Today’s BUSINESS the idea to create the experiential learning and knowledge sharing event came about after it was realised the people being used to “teach us” about our rum, even by organisations in Barbados, were not Barbadians and they did not have all the facts.
“So we kind of created this out of a necessity to make sure that it was Barbadian voices and Caribbean voices that were educating and talking about Barbados rum,” he said.
Seale said his hope was that the Barbados rum industry becomes more sustainable, suggesting that this was likely when more Barbadians know about the history of the spirit and are able to share the story.
“That rich history you want to bring out because people are marketed to by the larger multinationals and convinced that rum is just some party drink . . . and it is so much more interesting. It is such an important part of Barbadian heritage that we need to protect,” said Seale.
“That is one of these more sustainable industries that Barbadians should be looking behind to maintain and keeping homegrown because we really need to build other industries beyond tourism.
The COVID [pandemic] has kind of shown us how weak the economy is to such massive changes in tourism and movement of people,” he said.
One of the main events of the week-long rum experience was a formal dinner hosted by Mount Gay Rum Distilleries at the Sweetfield Manor, where guests were treated to a variety of rum based cocktails as they enjoyed their meal.
The guests were serenaded by live music by 2 Mile Hill the band, featuring Keomal Nurse and Rhesa Garnes.
They also enjoyed a fashion show and witnessed a live painting by artist Shain ‘Rudy’ Clarke, which was later presented to Mount Gay Master Blender
Trudiann Branker.
marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb
