Spend more than thirty seconds with me and you will soon see that I have an irrepressible zest for life: meeting and connecting with people, traveling and seeing new places, exploring the world of food and drink, sharing good times with friend and stranger alike.
Life is a banquet, and my plate is always full! While I have many passions and interests in life—reading, art, music, and cooking among them—rum is my special “happy place.”
I discovered rum four years ago when tasked with creating a rum-focused bar for Glady’s Caribbean. Up until this point, I knew little about it outside of the Dark ’n’ Stormy and a few bottles: Bacardi, Blackwell’s, and Smith and Cross. The latter I fondly refer to as my “gateway rum.” Before that, I was a pre-Prohibition-era gin and whiskey kind of gal. As I tasted through rums to create the bar’s program (somewhere in the neighborhood of two hundred), I realized that of all the spirits categories, this one was truly special. While I still love my classic cocktails made with all the spirits, from that point forward, rum became my spirit of choice, and I don’t see that changing in the foreseeable future.
Unlike other categories, there is a rum for everybody, whether you prefer your spirits crisp, bone dry, funky, vegetal, earthy, full-bodied, spicy, elegant, quotidian, sophisticated, or ethereal.
From a cocktailing perspective, it’s a bartender’s dream, and I credit rum with helping me unlock my full potential not only as a bartender but in my career overall, leading me to where I am today. Today I have the pleasure and privilege of working as a consultant and educator in the rum industry, working on various projects inside and outside of bartending.
Now, to my delight, I am in a position to serve people on both sides, in making a positive impact in ever-expanding circles and spheres of influence. Today, I not only get to share my love of cane spirits but of hospitality in general: bringing people together to work on projects that inspire them to grow, all while raising—and enjoying—a delicious glass of rum.
