Born and bred in Notting Hill, it was almost fate when Sly Augustin became the owner of West London’s acclaimed mid-century tiki community bar, Trailer Happiness in 2012. Augustin’s lifelong love of rum peaked during a summer trip to St. Lucia aged 18 where, after trying some powerful local rum from the barrel, he discovered a local coconut rum liqueur. From there, he grew his knowledge of the spirit becoming one of London’s leading rum aficionados. After spearheading a series of events, from flying guests to St. Lucia for its annual Jazz festival to organizing experiences in venues across the capital, including Trailer Happiness, Augustin built a strong relationship with the staff and the previous owner. In 2012, having planned to relocate to New York, Augustin heard that Trailer Happiness was potentially going to close down. After speaking to close friends, he decided to buy the business with money he’d made selling properties and the rest is history.
My biggest achievement in the Rum Industry is keeping Trailer Happiness open and helping to restore its reputation as one of the world’s best bars. Trailer Happiness is both a rum and bartender embassy that allows enthusiasts to explore new rums and to meet up with other likeminded rum fans. It’s a vital piece of the rum landscape that has showcased some of the world’s finest rums and hosted some of the most talented rum producers for the last 16 years.
Growing up, rum love was just a part of being from the Caribbean. My parents are from St Lucia and Jamaica, so I grew up surrounded by good quality rum which was always on hand at various family celebrations.
For me a spirit is only as good as the people you share it with and there is no greater family in the spirits industry than the rum family. Together we are on a mission to share and educate and there is still much work to be done.
My favourite drink changes almost daily but today it’s a Banana Old fashioned:
-60ml Rum 66 Cask Strength Rum
-10ml Giffard Crème Banane -Banana Liqueur
– 5ml Simple syrup
-2 Dashes Rhum JM Cacao Bitters
The rum industry is at a very important stage in its evolution. If it continues to take the right steps it will create a valuable legacy which protects regional traditions and identities, which is crucial if rum is to have sustained success. Commercial rums continue to flourish but there is no future without respecting rum’s history, this ultimately means prioritizing quality over profit or at the very least giving a little more consideration to it. Cheap rum doesn’t have to be bad rum. In the next 5 years I can see the niche high quality rum segment growing to a point where it starts to influence the more commercial producers and this is good for the consumer.
In order to grow the Premium rum category, we need more honesty and transparency. Without consumer trust the category will continue to lose ground to well establish spirits in the premium market such as Whiskey and Bourbon.
I’ve had a lot of support from the industry over the last 7 years with too many names to mention; in particular Ian Burrell, Stuart Hudson and Shervene Shahbazkhani have been incredibly helpful. My number 1 idol right now is definitely Monica Berg!
In the next 12 months I hope to visit some Jamaican distilleries, release collaborative rum and open a new site
Be nice, drink well, spread love and remember nobody is more important than you just as you are no more important than anybody else.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/slyaugustin/?hl=es-la
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SlyAugustin
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