Tortuga Rum Bar Hosts the First Edition of “Women & Rum” in Kenya

Tortuga Rum Bar Nairobi is a gathering place in Kenya where people can enjoy a pleasant atmosphere, drink a unique selection of more than 50 rums, and taste Caribbean gastronomy. Its founders, Marta Panco and Ron Naar, are educators and rum enthusiasts who look to leave a mark in the spirits industry.

During the first semester of 2022, the Bar organized different networking events, including the “Women & Rum – Rum Tasting & Cocktail Masterclass.” 

Women & Rum Club

Women & Rum is an initiative targeted at Kenyan women who can learn more about sugarcane spirits. The Club represents a space where women can feel comfortable while networking. Its first session took place on July 16 in Nairobi, where a diverse group of females participated in a rum tasting and cocktail class, among many other activities.

The Rum Lab had the opportunity to interview Marta Panco about the creation of the Club and the key aspects of the recent event.

“The whole idea of a Women & Rum club came at the beginning of the year. Being one of the owners of the only rum bar in Eastern Africa, since the opening, we took the mission to educate people about rums very seriously. For the past six months, we have conducted various tastings at not only Tortuga Rum bar but also the most known Country clubs in Kenya and other bars. During the events, I noticed that over 80% of the participants were women, so that was when I decided to start my own rum club for women.”

On this occasion, the Bar received a diverse and enthusiastic group of ladies with whom the staff interacted for many hours. In the beginning, the presenters briefly introduced the origins of rum as a spirit, its different styles, and production methods. Then, the attendees tried various rum expressions from the participant brands in three stages:

“In the first round, we tasted Havana Club 7 from Cuba as one of the most represented brands in the Caribbean. For many women, this was the first time they tried an aged version of Havana Club rums, and they were really enjoying such a style of rum. For the second part, we went with an Angostura 5 from Trinidad and Tobago, as an English-style representative for rum and greatly available for sale in Kenya. The last was a French style rum, one of the available Clement rums from Martinique.”

According to Panco, for the brands, they selected three different styles of rums to have women also understand how history left its heritage on the origin and flavors of these spirits. Once the tasting was completed, they prepared the ladies for a cocktail-making session.

As part of the “Mojito Day” (which is celebrated on July 11), they decided to prepare this classic rum cocktail to continue with the celebration. “The women enjoyed doing their own version of Mojito with passion fruit, beetroot syrup, and other flavors, as well as the process and experience.”

Regarding the distinctive components of the event, Panco emphasizes, “I think the event was definitely great and women enjoyed it. The most outstanding part was the rum tasting, as all participants had never tried to drink rum neat and understand its taste. They were nicely surprised to discover they liked it more than whiskey or could sip and enjoy it neat. But, overall, a very special moment was Samia’s participation.”

Special Guests

The award-winning Kenyan bartender, Joan Samia, was the special guest for the event. Samia has a vast knowledge of the spirits industry and advocacy management. She is well-known in the Nairobi bar industry and was Bacardi-Martini’s Portfolio Ambassador for East Africa.

As a role model and the first African female to win the World Class Bartender award in 2016, Samia shared her experience in the industry with the participants. Likewise, she explained the basics of rum production and tasting. “As an expert in her field, Samia knows exactly how to engage and be inclusive of everyone regardless of their basic knowledge of rum or spirits. Her wisdom and love for rum transported everyone to the Caribbean islands!”

Samia mainly addressed most of the topics, and Panco also engaged in the discussion to complement other facts about the rum styles and what makes it the most versatile spirit.

“As the group wasn’t too big, it was also very easy to do the tasting together, and we both split the guests, engaged with them personally throughout the tasting, got feedback, and answered every question raised. Lastly, we took them through the process of making cocktails and provided the supplies so that they could learn how to make them at home or for dear ones.”

“The event was very well received, and the future ones are expected already!”

During the event, there was such a great vibe around the rums, and women could create new friendships and stay to talk to the hosts about female empowerment until closing. “They all learned much about rums and more. They are extremely happy to have been part of this first edition. We got many questions to clarify, and much of the knowledge that was shared was greatly received.”

Furthermore, they had expected a minimum of ten women to attend the first event. Still, the number of participants exceeded, which was a significant number since they could create an intimate experience in a friendly ambiance. “I loved the dynamics and the diversity of the participants, in terms of origin, age, and professional experience. The event was great as the objectives to reach the number of participants, have the women engage and appreciate rums, and raise the interest to buy rum bottles was highly achieved.”

Next Events

Marta Panco also shared some events they are planning for September and October this year. “I would like to present topics and organize activities that are innovative, inclusive, and authentic and, of course, create more awareness about rum while enhancing women’s experiences.”

In this sense, the team aims to do a blind tasting for the second edition, and for the third one, organize a taste of rums that were created by women master blenders—and are among the best in the world—but are not widely available in Kenya.

Tortuga Rum Bar

The Bar opened in 2021 with the main purpose of educating locals about rum: which rum to drink and how to drink it, letting them know that, as with any other spirit, there are many important aspects behind it. They also host rum tastings on a daily basis, so anyone can go to the Bar and try different rum expressions.

Monthly, its founders organize events outside the bar, such as masterclasses, talk sessions, pop-ups, and blind tastings, in which rum industry experts, rum ambassadors, suppliers, influencers, and rummeliers from around the world take part. In the same way, they are promoting international rum brands to help increase local consumption.

Sustainability at the Bar

In the last few years, Kenya has emerged as a leader in the fight against plastic pollution since it has invested heavily in policies and law enforcement to win this fight. Indeed, it is one of the first countries in East Africa to limit single-use plastics and sign the Clean Seas initiative to rid waterways of such waste.

Accordingly, Tortuga Rum Bar was born as a sustainable and eco-friendly bar where they do not use any plastic, the facilities function with solar panels, and the staff encourages locals and foreigners to reduce plastic usage. 

“As an agronomist and sustainable development expert, I’m more than aware of environmental stewardship. Therefore, we always explain to our guests what sustainability means to us. We even collaborate with other partners that recycle and implement similar practices,” Marta Panco highlighted.

Since its opening, and despite some challenges, Tortuga’s team has been consistent with its educational events to integrate rum enthusiasts and the public in general into its growing rum community. The rum supply is still very limited in the country, making it difficult for them to obtain the expressions for the tasting events. However, they hope to get more suppliers, especially French Agricole rhums, as they are lacking in the region.

Currently, the founders work on expansion projects aiming at fast-growing developing countries where sugarcane is also produced. In fact, they plan to import different brands to broaden their tasting to respond to the increasing rum demand.

In addition, they are collaborating with some companies to produce and distribute what will be the first Kenyan Premium Rum, which aims to be carbon neutral. “We also want to show what we can produce in Kenya from locally grown sugarcane—including high-quality aged rums—by linking the history and production capacity of the country, so people can start learning about us.”