John Georges is a Master Distiller at Angostura, one of many to pass through the company though they weren’t known by that title. He recently returned from a Rum Educational Tour he conducted throughout Europe with Ian Burnell, The King of Rum and UK Rum Ambassador. The tour kicked off in Scotland and then travelled to Milan, Athens, Berlin, Valencia, London and Dublin. With an increase in the global popularity of the cocktail lifestyle, the timing was perfect to introduce an event which would take mixologists through the art of cocktail mixing, the history of the cocktail and the future of the bartender cocktail profession.
“Imparting the history and details involved in the distilling process changes the way people look at our rum. It comes with a story, as does any good product. For years Angostura’s bitters has been a part of the beverage landscape and it’s only wise to place our premium on par with this great tradition of excellence,” said Georges. Becoming Master Distiller at Angostura was years in the making for Georges. He originally came into the company as a Chemical Engineer having graduated from the University of the West Indies. Over the course of his career he has worked extensively within various other departments, which have allowed him to have an inside out insight of what Angostura was, is and could be. Besides what he has learnt over the last 25 years at Angostura he considers himself fortunate to have been able to acquire knowledge from conferences and workshops in attended with other distillers within the Caribbean, South and Central America and Scotland.
This information and experience has allowed him to now play a central role in educating people about rum at home and abroad. “Besides being part of a marketing strategy, I’ve realised that people want to know about our rums as mixologists are always in search of new flavours to enhance their beverage creations. So in turn we explain how Angostura makes rum and what makes us unique,” said Georges.
At the recently completed Rum Educational Tour he explored the attributes of Angostura’s various products - looks, aroma, flavour and taste profiles. Dispensing information about a product in this fashion further bolstered the trust that mixologists and rum drinkers place on Angostura’s line.
“It is important to meet face to face with the people who are leading the cocktail industry to ensure they have an understanding of your brands. Mixologists are constantly seeking out the latest flavours to create their very own unique and inspirational cocktails. We were delighted to see such a fantastic turnout and such a thirst for knowledge amongst our guests,” said Georges. Currently, he is doing his part as Angostura moves to make their premium products more visible internationally. Bent on creating and maintaining that space for local rum he has declared ‘rum against the world’.
Georges looks towards Angostura’s Distributors Conference and Global Cocktail competition that is due to kick off February 2012. “I get to meet all our distributors and the best mixologists from every continent as they come to Trinidad and Tobago. My goal is to make rum disciples of them all,” said Georges.
