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WEST AFRICAYour browser does not support the element. has long been a source of booze. In Yoruba mythology Obatala, a deity sent to create humans, stumbled on palm wine and fell into a drunken slumber before completing the task. Some of the world’s first rums were made by Africans enslaved in the Caribbean, who may have brought knowledge of local tipples with them. Yet today there are few African names in the global market for high-end spirits. Some entrepreneurs are trying to change that.Amma Mensah, the British-Ghanaian owner of Reign Rums, and Lola Pedro, of Pedro’s ogogoro in Nigeria, see the business as an act of reclamation. Ms Mensah’s distillery sits on a former colonial plantation that she says was owned by white Europeans until a decade ago. Her bottles are decorated with war horns, crowns and golden stools, insignia of power among Ghana’s Ashanti kings. Ms Pedro seeks to popularise ogogoro, a smoky, spicy spirit made from fermented palm sap, partly because it was once a symbol of anti-colonial protest (in the early 20th century British colonisers banned the drink, because it was seen as a threat to pricier imports).Both women are targeting the luxury market. Unlike informally produced ogogoro, which is cheap and has not quite shed its illicit reputation, a bottle of Pedro’s costs at least £60 ($74). Ms Mensah’s rums, aged in repurposed barrels previously used to make cashew-apple brandy, retail at between £48 and £96 a bottle. She serves fancy shops and bars in Accra, Ghana’s capital, as well as in London, and has plans to expand to America. Besides Nigeria, Pedro’s is sold in Ghana and Britain, with Kenya, South Africa and France next on the list.For now, both distilleries produce only small batches, partly to emphasise that they are selling something special. Scaling up and competing with established global brands will be challenging. But if they manage, maybe one day floral rum and smoky ogogoro will be as representative of west Africa as wine is of France and tequila of Mexico.
