| April 09, 2005 |
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PE lads bring rum spirit of Seychelles By Lauren Cohen A RUM distilled and produced by two former Port Elizabeth brothers has become the first privately owned product to be exported from the Seychelles. The original recipe that Takamaka Bay rum was made from was created in the 1960s by Bernard and Richard d’Offay’s grandfather, Michel. Nearly half a century later the brothers have picked up where their late grandfather left off, honed the recipe and opened a distillery which produces the exotic island’s most popular rum. In their first exporting deal, the pair are now trying to conquer the South African market with their three products, a Takamaka Bay white, dark and coconut rum. Their parents, Robert and Diana, emigrated to South Africa after Richard was born and still live in Port Elizabeth today, but the family continued to holiday in the Seychelles. The D’Offays’ descendants were one of the first six families to settle in Seychelles in the late 1700s, Richard said. “Distilling has always been in our family.” As children the brothers would watch their grandfather distil small amounts of rum to sell to friends. “I was always blown away by what you could create from nothing.” After completing school – Richard at Victoria Park and Bernard at Woodridge – Richard studied marketing and was working in London when his brother phoned him with the idea of opening a distillery in the Seychelles. “I thought: What did we know about rum? But I went to the Seychelles to investigate the possibility and started applying for licences and lobbying government ministries for support.” Much of the Seychelles economy is government-controlled and it was almost a year before everything was in place and the èdistillery could open. “In the meanwhile Bernard was working on getting the rum blend right. He is the distiller and trained in Sweden and England.” The first bottle was produced in March 2002 with the distillery a success right from the start. From distilling, bottling and labelling their products themselves, the D’Offay brothers now have an automatic bottling line and bigger stills and can produce up to 12 000 bottles a month. “Right now we are producing about 4 000 bottles a month (for the Seychelles market) but obviously with the South African market growing that will soon increase.” A beach party was held at 9 Yards nightclub in Port Elizabeth last night to launch Takamaka Bay rums but the products have been on sale in selected bottle stores since late January. “We decided to launch in Port Elizabeth first because other bigger cities usually get everything before we do. “If Port Elizabeth goes well we will launch in other cities by June or July.” The rum’s unique flavour epitomises its origin. “It reflects what the Seychelles is about. Everywhere you go there are palm trees, fruit and vanilla trees with a smell of cinnamon in the air.” To take your rum like a true Seychellois, drink it on ice with freshly squeezed lemon and sugar, said Richard. “It’s the spirit of the Seychelles.”
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