A couple have opened their own rum distillery, becoming one of only a few places in the country where the drink is brewed from scratch.
John and Georgina Bowell have set up Goldstone Rum to create a “true British product”, selling a range of their specially flavoured premium spirit.
Now the husband-and-wife team believe that rum can become the new go-to drink of choice and are keen to become trendsetters in the drinks market.
Georgina, from Hove, said: “Rum is going to be the new gin so watch this space.
“We are making rum completely from scratch. There’s nowhere in Sussex doing this.
“Rum is a great drink and we would be doing gin a disservice so to move into something different, rum was the right choice.”
Georgina, who balances working on the rum with her job as a marketing consultant, said that Goldstone Rum had originally been just a lockdown idea but now was becoming a fully fledged business.
After coming up with the idea during the pandemic, the couple have now opened their distillery and rum-making school.
Georgina said rum is quickly becoming the nation’s drink of choice.
In 2019, the sale of gin in the UK was nearly double that of rum.
In 2022, research from The Grocer suggests that while gin is still favoured, sales are declining while sales of rum are on the rise.
Georgina and John have distilled the first batch of their rum this month with new flavours coming in the new year.
The couple are planning to offer Goldstone Rum in several flavours. As well as a twist on a classic pairing with cola flavoured rum, the brand will also offer a range of white, amber and spiced rums including a ginger and lime flavoured one.
The spirits are designed to be sipping rums, so to get the best flavours no mixers will be necessary.
Rather than importing rum from the Caribbean and redistilling it like many distillers, Georgina said theirs would be completely made in Sussex with sugar and molasses which are fermented in their distillery.
She added: “In order to make rum properly we wanted to make it from scratch and have a Sussex product that is made here.
“Everybody wants locally sourced products and consumers are really conscious about food miles. We tick all of those boxes.”
Customers will be given a short history of rum and how it is distilled in Henfield and then will be given a chance to flavour their own rum with spices and take it away later in the day.
The rum-making school is open every Friday evening.
More information can be found at www.goldstonerum.com/.
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