Accra, Ghana
Amma Mensah’s mother and father landed in London within the ‘60s meaning to return residence after learning to assist rebuild Ghana, post-independence. Her mother and father’ dream turned her personal actuality. In 2023, Mensah launched Reign Rum, a rum model produced, distilled, and bottled on the Reign Forest Property, roughly 2,000 acres of land owned by Mensah positioned between Ghana’s rainforest and savannah areas. Her group on the farm is one hundred pc Black and about 60 p.c ladies in a rustic that has the third-highest variety of feminine entrepreneurs on the earth.
Now bought in 160 nations, Reign Rum has three expressions that showcase Ghanaian ecology and native and traditionally traded elements: an aged rum made with fresh-pressed native sugarcane; a spiced rum flavored with calabash nutmeg and notes of blood orange; and a hibiscus and baobab infusion.
Utilizing elements reminiscent of hibiscus native to West Africa and spices that pay homage to the spice commerce (and illuminate the darkish historical past of rum for diasporic Black individuals), Mensah wished to create a model that honors her Asante heritage in its design and connects Black communities by means of shared, recognizable flavors.
For Mensah, Reign represents a proud, full-circle second within the story of rum, sugarcane, and the transatlantic commerce of African individuals. “It feels proper,” she says, “like there’s a heavy accountability on my shoulders. I remind myself that my ancestors are usually not placing the burden [on me]. As a substitute, they’re [propelling] me to realize their wildest goals and my very own.
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