ON THE GRAPEVINE

Five women, the Fosang sisters (pictured above), who grew up in west London with memories of sugar cane in the fields behind their parents’ home in Cameroon have drawn on their heritage to launch a spiced rum brand in a mostly-male dominated industry.

“We’re five women in careers, ranging from law, medicine, accountancy to teaching,” explains the eldest, GP Laura Czech, 40. “We decided to do something which represents us as women, a nod to our heritage and something fun.”

A golden spiced rum, ETAN (43% abv, £37 for 70cl, etanrum.co.uk)

A golden spiced rum,

ETAN means ‘five’ in the Mungaka dialect, and it’s distilled with five botanicals from West Africa, some native to Cameroon. One day, they hope to use sugar cane from the family plantation.

It’s clean and fresh, works well in cocktails or on its own and has distinctive notes of orange peel, lemongrass, vanilla and sweet cinnamon.

Awarded a Silver medal at the London Spirits Competition 2021, the sisters hope ETAN will make rum more accessible for women. But, there’s scope for wide appeal.

Here are more spiced rums to celebrate World Rum Day on Saturday...

Devil’s Bridge Spiced Rum (42% abv, £39 for 70cl, Devil’s Bridge Rum)

Devil’s Bridge scooped

Gold in both the ‘Botanical & Contemporary’ and

‘Flavoured’ category at the

World Rum Awards 2021. It blends the finest Caribbean rums with Welsh ingredients: Bara Brith (a fruit loaf), Glengettie Black Tea and Shirgar butter. The result is smooth with rich, spiced fruits giving cocktails unique character.

Cut Spiced Rum (37.5% abv, £25.65 for 70cl, Master of Malt)

Awarded Silver at The

Rum Masters 2019 (The Spirits Business), Cut is a sweeter style of Caribbean spiced rum infused with vanilla bean, cinnamon, nutmeg and creamy caramel. Full, balanced and toothsome.