Forget Crypto, Rum Seltzer Is The New Talk Of The Town In Miami

Ricardo Sucre isn’t a fan of beer. He’s a cocktail man—and extra particularly a rum cocktail form of man. In the course of the lockdown intervals of the pandemic, like many people, he started turning to the ready-to-drink format to supply escape whereas a lot of his favourite native bars in Miami remained closed. The one downside was that almost all of those RTDs had been made with vodka, tequila and even flavored malts. He couldn’t appear to search out his most popular spirit of alternative and so he determined to take issues into his personal palms.

Partnering together with his buddies Gustavo Darquea and Gabriel Gonzalez the trio launched Casalú, a canned rum seltzer with a distinctively South American vibe—reflective of Sucre’s Venezuelan heritage. The drink debuted in Miami this April with a flagship providing combining darkish rum with soda water and lemon juice. Cans of the 5.9% ABV liquid are already ubiquitous of their dwelling market and so they’re shortly discovering followers amongst a nationwide viewers as they roll out throughout the US.

To get a greater style of rum seltzer and why the broader RTD craze continues to soar, I sat down with the founders of Casalú. Learn their perception within the interview beneath.

What makes Casalú completely different from different RTDs?

Gustavo Darquea: RTD is a broad class however we wish to concentrate on the exhausting seltzer world. We consider {that a} mixture of parts are completely different. Casalú is made like a drink we’d make ourselves at dwelling. We do not see it as a craft cocktail in a can. On the contrary, it is the simplicity of Casalú that makes it so approachable. Our rum is definitely a 2 12 months outdated darkish aged rum, reminding us of the nice rums we’ve again dwelling. Though our drink is one thing new, it appears like one thing we’ve had without end. That feeling cannot be replicated, our drink is simply genuine and it would not function a substitute to the craft cocktail you’ll wish to get on the bar. Which many RTDs intention to be.

Why launch in Miami first?

Ricardo Sucre: Culturally, the Latino capital of the world. If Florida had been to be a rustic, it could be the sixth highest client of rum on this planet. The simplest method to clarify it’s the following: I stroll into any retailer and speak to the particular person answerable for a brand new product, and inform him that I’m making a seltzer for the Latino client. In Miami they must pay attention. In NYC, or LA, they will afford to say ‘so what?’ So there’s a bit much less clarification to be made in our first market.

Why rum?

RS: It appears odd from the skin in, particularly within the exhausting seltzer house that there are just about no darkish liquor-based manufacturers. For us it was the obvious possibility. There are a number of sorts of rum, however for us, ron añejo is just what we drink. The backstory is that every one of us went to NC State for college, all of us grew up in other places of Latin America however ended up in Raleigh for school. Our crew from NC State was a bunch of Latinos from all over the place—Peru, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Venezuela, and many others. And despite the fact that all of us had completely different traditions all of us bonded over our means of sharing and the drink of alternative: Rum. The drink concept behind Casalú was born in the course of the summer time of 2020. But the pillar of our model began brewing a very long time in the past, after we had been all in faculty sharing our tradition and realized this drink occurred to be a shared trait for all.

What was the method like in creating the liquid, model idea? Any enjoyable tales you’ll be able to share?

GD: The liquid began after Ricardo determined to make his personal seltzer and acquired a sodastream at Goal and watched some Youtube movies on seltzer making. As a result of the liquid was so easy and solely required 4 components, the method was extra about balancing the flavors as a chef would, than making an attempt something loopy. Over time buddies’ suggestions perfected that stability. It had an artwork and science part to it. Because it was made by Ricardo, in his kitchen, we knew precisely what we wished. Nonetheless, we would have liked an industrial formulation that will standardize Casalú’s taste profiles when getting into giant scale manufacturing. This added some complexity to our technique of beverage creation.

The place do you see this going over the subsequent 5-10 years?

RS: We consider Latino Tradition is the subsequent massive driver of Pop Tradition within the US and the World. Our imaginative and prescient is to be catalyst of Latino tradition on this planet. We are saying that Casalú is greater than a drink, and we imply it. We’ll make investments closely within the Latino inventive neighborhood to create moments, content material, experiences that elevate Latino Tradition. We’re utilizing Casalú as the right conduit to assist all of the issues we love and that we take into account pillars of tradition creation: Music, meals, sports activities, style, and artwork.

GD: When was the final time you adopted an alcohol model on social media? The reality is that there are some wonderful manufacturers on the market however they focus solely on their product. Inside a 12 months we wish to push these boundaries. We wish to create worth for our viewers by sharing the values and tales of Latino tradition by means of our kick *ss rum seltzer. We intention to be in two new markets subsequent 12 months. In three years, be the brand new child on the block making a major cultural impression within the US and Latin America. Ten years? Effectively we should always have Casalú FC, Casalú Data and possibly even Casalú Method One staff. It is all in regards to the tradition!