625: Marc-Kwesi Farrell Made Ten to One The Buzziest Rum Brand

25:39Yeah, absolutely. You know, it's funny to think about sort of the journey that you go on as a teenager, as a young adult. Yeah, little Mark. Exactly, exactly. Little Mark, what would you think now, you know, all these different twists and turns. But yeah, I think that like that early foundation, something like chemical engineering gives you an appreciation for, yeah, I mean, how you're going to bring any sort of product to life, you know, in the consumer space. I always, when I'm walking people through a rum tasting, walking them through sort of the 10 to 1 story, for example, I'll talk a lot about the esters in Jamaican rums, right?

26:11The volatiles, right? That's when you're getting some of those notes that are sort of coming off the rum and into your nose and the banana peel and some of those grassier notes and all those elements. I mean, that is very much some of your chemical engineering background coming home to roost. And so, yeah, I think like an appreciation for the different distillation methods and appreciation for, you know, the esters, some of the other different volatiles and the other components that come together to create an exceptional product has been informed by those early, early, early days back at MIT. Yeah.

26:42Can we do a rum 101 for a second? Like, is rum only made from sugarcane? What is the spirit made of? And this word ester that you're talking about, like, what is that too? Yeah, for sure. So, yes, I mean, rum by its very definition is a byproduct of some form of sugar or sugarcane. So in the English and Spanish speaking Caribbean, they're typically using molasses, right? Every spirit is made from some form of complex carb, right? Whether it's like potatoes, wheat, barley, grain, agave, et cetera, right? Like in the case of rum, it's a sugarcane byproduct. So molasses in the English and Spanish-speaking Caribbean, in the French-speaking Caribbean, they use sugarcane juice.

27:21So imagine cutting a sugarcane stalk, crushing it to get the juice, and that's the thing that you use as kind of your core input, right? As in the case of any other spirit, you're going to add a yeast, right? Yeast is basically going to break down that complex sugar, right, into alcohol, right? And then when you put something in a still, still distilling it is separating sort of the alcohol from sort of the fermented mash effectively, right? If you use something like a column still, which Trinidad and Dominican Republic use, that's what you'd use in vodka as well, right? Where vodka is designed to give you sort of almost like a colorless, odorless, tasteless spirit.

27:59It's all about the efficacy of that distillation. If you use something like a pot still, pot distillation method, it doesn't separate the distillate as cleanly. And so you'll typically get these funkier notes, some of these vegetal qualities because you're bringing some of the terroir along with you as you complete that distillation process. And so if you think about sort of in that rum 101, there's many different decisions you're making along the way that get you to the final product. One being molasses versus sugarcane juice. Another being column still versus pot still. aged versus unaged, right?

28:37People often ask, why is aged rum that color? Yeah. And the answer is, well, because it's been sitting in a barrel for a number of years. All spirits are colorless when they come off the still. They typically get their color because they've been sitting in a barrel maturing for some period of time. Now, rum again gets a little bit of a bad rep because there are lots of big brands out there that have added like caramel coloring and vanilla extract to their rums, which give unaged rums the appearance of being aged but but but but for a additive free story like 10 to 1 it is the barrel that's sort of giving you that that that that color effectively and so um age and unage and then of course blend versus single estate or single origin and as i mentioned before we've gone down this path of bringing together the magic from multiple countries to create something unique and and quite expressive there um so that'd be kind of my quick um rum 101 rundown um you had asked about esters before, just think about esters as volatiles.

29:35If you have different sort of compounds that exist in any liquid, some of them are more volatile than others, right? And so those volatiles, right, if you imagine sort of smelling a liquid, are going to be the ones that sort of come off the top quicker, right? You know, you're engaging with the nose of a liquid, whether it's a rum or whiskey or what have you. Some of those esters and Jamaican rums, known for being quite funky, have more of those esters and volatiles coming off the top. That's the easiest way to think about it. Okay, I feel like I'm ready for my rum pop quiz at the end of the episode now.

30:07Yeah, exactly, exactly. You'll never lack the knowledge after this. When you do a tasting with people, are you kind of giving that context? And what else do you kind of try to use to guide people when they're tasting different expressions of rum? Yeah, 100%. You know, I think for us, you know, at a high level, first of all, let me be super clear. I'm not a classically trained psalm by any stretch of the imagination. And so we don't try to be overly precious with this. I think our view is sort of what you smell is what you smell, what you taste is what you taste, right? We'll offer some breadcrumbs, some anecdotes, and typically people respond well to those.

30:41But for me, if I'm walking you through a tasting, I try to almost kind of separate the experience of the nose from the palate, right, at a high level. So before you go in and just start drinking it, right, engage with the nose, see what notes you pick up. If we were doing a live tasting of our 10 to 1 age rum right now, I'd be sort of pointing out some of the notes of some of the banana peel, some of the baking spice, some of the cooked fruit that you might get off the top. And people tend to recognize those versus the experience in the palate, which has more of a cedar. Some of that barrel that you pick up, some of those barrel notes feels a little bit bourbon or rye whiskey reminiscent because the rum is aged in ex-bourbon barrels.

31:18I would point out something in that kind of caramel toffee space, a little bit of that drying finish, which for us is very important. We didn't want to create a very, like a super sweet, cloying, coating kind of a profile. And so, yeah, I think just kind of talking folks through that experience as they sort of start at the top with the nose and walk all the way through sort of that experience on the palate, that's usually how I'll guide you through a tasting. Yeah, I really appreciate what you say about not being overly dogmatic and kind of giving people jumping off points, but letting them have their own experience with the rum.

31:52Because certainly when I've tried 10 to 1 before on its own or in a cocktail, there is so much going on there that I feel like it's pretty easy to, I don't know, free associate, like just kind of think about like not only what is the taste, but what is the kind of emotional connection that it can have? Yeah, a thousand percent. You know, I think for me, a couple of things. One, when folks might ask for some guidance on like, what goes well with this rum, right? I'll typically tell them, you know, it's a little bit of the whole what grows together goes together sort of adage, right? And so, you know, as you pick up some of those notes, right?

32:28Like a coffee versus a chocolate, right? I think with our aged rum, having that as a dessert pairing might be amazing. With our white rum, when you pick up some of those brighter notes, like pairing with citrus might be amazing, whether it's in a cocktail or something fresh like a ceviche. And so, again, I think like it gives you room and it gives you latitude to kind of explore. You give folks some loosely held POVs, right, from having done this a few different times and then let them go on their own journey and discover and explore off the back of that. And so, yeah, not being too precious with that sort of education piece, I think is something that we found to be quite effective.

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34:29Support the show by mentioning us at checkout. Terms and conditions apply. Today's episode is brought to you by ButcherBox. As a food writer, I can be a little skeptical about subscription cooking boxes you hear about on podcasts. There's big talk about cooking simplicity, but you're usually left with disappointment after smashing that promo code. Now, Clayton, have you ever tried one of those subscription boxes? Yeah, Matt, my friend gave me a code for that one that has all the chopped vegetables in little baggies. I felt like a drug dealer trying to cook dinner. Yeah, man, I have so been there.

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35:39For nearly a decade, ButcherBox has led the industry with meat and seafood that's antibiotic-free. As an exclusive offer, our listeners can get free protein in every box for a year, plus$20 off your first box when you go to butcherbox.com slash taste. Visit butcherbox.com slash taste to get this limited time offer and free shipping always. That's butcherbox.com slash taste. Don't forget to use our link so they know we sent you. I want to talk a little more about kind of the growth of the brand and where you kind of see things going or want things to go. I think 2019 is when you launched, right?

36:18That's right. Over the past couple years, do you feel like there's been like a era of growth that you're focusing on? Or how would you kind of explain like this moment in 10 to 1's trajectory? Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, we've been fortunate over the last five, six years, you know, since we brought the brand to market to have seen, I think, some really amazing and really encouraging resonance from both the trade and consumers alike. I think actually those are two different customers, effectively, that you're always trying to serve and to win over as you go forward. I think for us, in the early days, we spent a lot of time building energy in the on-premise.

36:57So for listeners, your bars, your restaurants, your hotel hospitality groups, et cetera, where our view was Tentuan has so much to offer from a liquid perspective that really kind of building that liquid credibility, sharing it with the trade, right? I think an amazing bartender can become an incredible mouthpiece for your brand, right? They love the liquid. They know how to bring it to life in unique and interesting cocktails. If you are somebody who is curious, I think that to me is kind of the core attribute of a 10 to 1 consumer. They have a natural curiosity and sense of discovery to them.

37:31Then saddling up at that bar, talking to the bartender, seeing what they recommend, getting a little rapid fire 101 on rum and 10 to 1 is exactly what we're after. And so I think in this portion of our journey, a lot of our time and attention has been focused on cultivating that energy with the trade. And I think we've been able to build some incredible advocates off the back of that, right? By the same token, of course, like you also want to make sure you're creating that right level of energy with the consumer. And for us, that is everything from having a very solid footprint in IRL, right? So think about lots of your events.

38:07To me, liquid to lips is incredibly important. In Trinidad, we would say something like the rum can't hide, right? Like the rum doesn't hide. If I can put it in front of you, that's always going to be a win for me. I want to lead with my liquid whenever and wherever I can. And so when you think about eventing, when you think about community building, right? Like, can you find your people, right? Who are the folks with whom the 10 to 1 story really resonates, right? Who see the same sense of purpose in the brand as they see in themselves. And really trying to kind of lean in and support those communities in different ways certainly is a core anchor for us.

38:41And then, of course, all the other standard pieces you do around growth marketing and your paid and your social and your email, all of those elements being brought to life as well. Coming on podcasts, yeah. Coming on podcasts, exactly, exactly. Spreading the good word of rum however we can. Absolutely. I think the community point is so interesting. And certainly I think there are many people that resonate with 10 to 1 and like the rum. But I think especially being a black-owned rum brand, like whenever I'm at certain parties, like pop-ups with certain chefs, I always expect, not in a bad way, but in a great way that I'll see 10 to 1 on the menu because I know that it's something that's really resonated in that way.

39:13Yeah, which I appreciate. I think like, you know, in my view, this idea of community, this sense of community has always been super important to me and therefore to us as a brand. Obviously, my own moorings as somebody used proudly, you know, of the soil in the Caribbean. Obviously, as a black man, black male building a business here in the U.S. as well. I mean, those are some of the phenotypical attributes that you can attach to me and to the brand. But I think actually it's broader than that. You know, it's coming back to this idea of curiosity. I think a lot about creators, right? And actually creators of culture.

39:53If you are somebody who believes in the value of, again, kind of creating culture, you're an innovator, you're a disruptor, you're somebody who values discovery in whatever places and spaces that might be, art, music, fashion, food, I mean, business, I mean, the list goes on. I think they're going to be facets of the 10 to 1 story that really kind of speak to you. At least I hope will speak to you and that you kind of identify as sort of part of that broader tribe. You know, we've always talked about 10 to 1, this idea of building a bigger tent. And I used to use that sort of turn of phrase. Just it just kind of came to me in the early days of the brand.

40:34But the more I thought about it, the more I actually liked it because, you know, a tent doesn't have any any walls. Yeah. Right. You know, you create a structure, but folks are welcome to kind of come in. and exists under that tent. And I think Tent One as a brand very much has that energy, right? Like it's meant to be very welcoming, very much come as you are. Which by the way, is if you came to the Caribbean, you came to Trinidad, you came to Jamaica, like that's what, that's when people sort of reflect on their most memorable trips to the Caribbean, they always talk about that, right? Like they met somebody who they'd never encountered in their life before.

41:03And by the way, might never see him again. This might be that one time, that one moment where you and this person connect and you know, you end up in their backyard drinking some drinks and sharing some stories and, you know, making these moments and these bits of creative magic. Like that to me is so much like the energy and the ethos of the brand. And I think tied to the community that we aspire to build. Yeah, I think that's exactly right. And I was even at the El Dorado Ballroom concert series that Solange was doing in Houston a couple of weeks ago. And I was at the bar and 10 to 1 was like the first bottle I saw in the bar.

41:35I was like, this makes like total sense. I need to get a drink right now. And I think it really ties into this kind of like cultural innovation, like even like the music community kind of really embracing 10 to 1. And then another kind of thread I see there, obviously, is Ciara's involvement in the brand. And I was curious if you could tell me a little bit about like how that kind of connection came about and what that kind of looks like in practice these days. Yeah, for sure. So, you know, C's been a part of the brand for, I guess, coming up on four years now, three and a half years. Yeah. Come for years.

42:07Came about very serendipitously. I always said, you know, we weren't out there kind of quote unquote looking for a celebrity. Sierra, Russ, myself, we actually share a number of friends in common from my time living in Seattle when I was, you know, doing my gig over at Starbucks. And so one of those friends, a good buddy of mine, Larry Estrada, he sent Sierra a bottle as like a little gift, a little celebratory token a few years ago. She tried the rum. She loved it. She loved the story. Larry kind of made a connection between us. And then, yeah, honestly, just like really hit it off from the first second.

42:44You know, I always tell people that, again, back to what we were just discussing, 10 to 1 is not like a, it has all the moorings, all the tenets, all the DNA of like Caribbean culture. But it doesn't mean you have to be from the Caribbean to appreciate and to value those things. And so many of the things that I would kind of associate with Caribbean-ness, like that spontaneity, that joie de vivre, that love of life, that welcoming nature, that versatility and range, those things just describe Sierra, right? And so I think there's no big surprise then that like a lot of the elements of the Tento and the story resonated with her and vice versa.

43:20And yeah, we've been proud to welcome her into the brand as a as a co-owner of the brand over the last couple of years. I mean, she's been really fantastic to work with and work alongside, you know, and you ask, what does that look like in practice? It means a number of different things. I mean, anything from helping us on on sort of like the business, business development side of things with some larger partners that we're always looking to build business with, to certainly introducing the brand to her audience, both online and again, sort of IRL also, certainly pivotal from a community building perspective as well.

43:57And so, yeah, I think there are multiple different sort of ways and avenues in which kind of having Sierra involved has been fantastic. Yeah, earlier this year, we were chatting about trying to have you on the show and you were like, sorry, I'm taking Sierra to Carnival. I was very jealous. Exactly, exactly, exactly. So yeah, go scroll through the IG and go look at the press clips and yeah, you'll see that Sierra came down and had an amazing time, you know? And I think Trinidad loved her and was really glad to welcome her. You know, again, Trinidad is the kind of place where I always tell people like, we don't have like spots for tourists and spots for us.

44:31Like if you come down to Trinidad by definition, you're just doing what we do. You drink where we drink, eat where we eat, party where we party, right? And you know, again, And somebody like Sierra is great from that perspective. She's kind of happy to be in the mix and share her energy with others. And so I think that trip was a big success. So we'd have to get you down there for 2026. Yeah, I would love that. I have a friend who's trainee who's been trying to get me to come down, and I haven't. So it'll have to be a whole group adventure. Yeah, I would love that. I would love that. You mentioned your time at Starbucks a little bit earlier.

45:01I believe you were like the youngest ever vice president at Starbucks. That's what the folklore says. I don't know about youngest ever. Youngest when I was there. That's what the clips online say. Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. That's what the folklore now says. But, well, whatever it was, yeah, I was fairly young as an exec there. I think I was 32 years old when I joined the exec team. And, you know, honestly, just so proud and privileged to have had that opportunity. When you think about, on the face of it, you're like, what does, you know, Fortune 500 corporate coffee Seattle-based have to do with startup rum, Caribbean DNA, New York-based brand?

45:37Like, I don't really feel like they have that much in common. But actually, Starbucks is an incredible finishing school for me in a number of ways. I learned a different sense of brand discipline, a different sense of brand purpose. You know, Howard Schultz is an icon, nothing short of an icon and an incredible guy to learn from and to sit alongside and all of those things. And I was able to take a number of those lessons and think about how I want to apply them if and when I had a moment to go create my own thing. And so, yeah, brought quite a bit of that. Actually, even you think about sort of like the magic of creating a blend, right?

46:11And, you know, coffee has a lot of that same taxonomy as well, whether it's like single origins versus blends and how you articulate that. So, yeah, there are a few different pieces that I took from my Starbucks time as I began to think about, you know, the early, early innings of 10 to 1. Yeah, I think certainly that was my thought was these seem like very different, but also parallel, right? It's consumption, it's beverage, it's scale also. I don't know if you necessarily want 10 to 1 to be at the kind of Starbucks global level, but I would imagine that being able to just see how something is run on that scale would be really kind of influential and helpful in different ways.

46:49Yeah, for sure. You know, you just learn it's really hard to do. Yeah. It's really, really hard to do. And so I think, yeah, just like a different level of appreciation for what it takes to get anything to even one hundredth, one thousandth the scale of Starbucks is still a very, very big business. Yeah. I think also, as I mentioned before, like, you know, how do you get things like brand purpose to scale? How do you get things like culture to scale? You know, there is a parallel there in that, you know, I don't have 30 ,000, 40 ,000 nodes, 40 ,000 coffee shops like Starbucks. But if you think about every bartender that you interact and you meet, right, every one of your accounts, right, basically is like a node for your brand.

47:30And so to what extent can you get them to kind of share some of those cultural elements, some of that storytelling, some of the key talking points around the liquid, some of that folklore on the brand, right? I think actually taking up that challenge, you know, the Starbucks experience does give you some perspective on how to really go attack that. And again, to understand how difficult that is to achieve at scale. Yeah, definitely. I'm curious, talking to you at this point in your career at this point in the lifespan of 10 to 1 Rum, is there a part of the job of being a founder or running this brand that you think would have surprised yourself when you were first starting out?

48:07Yeah, it's like 100 of them. Yeah. How much time do we have? You know, I think, you know, it's all these old adages and cliches, which are true for a reason, because, you know, like if you knew all the things that you knew then, that you know now, would you have done it? Right. And the answer might be maybe not. Right. Because it's just like behind the curtain, so many other minefields that you have to navigate in order to get yourself to a successful place. I think probably one of the biggest surprises was, and you know it implicitly, but to experience it explicitly is entirely different. Just how sort of hands on and how tactile of an endeavor this is, you know, whether going from account to account in city to city, you know, press to press, a ton of different events.

49:00And I think like just understanding the degree to which this is very much a roll up your sleeves endeavor. I think we're something I had to very quickly cultivate a different level of appreciation for, you know, that you maybe wouldn't see when you're on the outside. Like I'll tell folks that something as simple as this. When you've had a really long week of work, a long day of work, you're like, man, like all I want to do is just like go to my favorite neighborhood restaurant and like sit down and just like have a 10. into one cocktail, have a glass of wine or whatever and just unwind, right?

49:33That's like your, that's your little oasis. For me, it's much harder to do that, right? Because for me, that account is an extension of my office, right? Like that's a touch point for the brand. That's an opportunity to engage with the bartenders and the teams that are there. And by the way, I love, don't get me wrong, I love doing that stuff, right? Like I'm an extrovert by nature. I love my brand. I love sharing the story. I love meeting new people. But that's not a, that's not time to decompress. that's not my switch off time. That's almost like my office time. And so I think it's like understanding how commingled sort of your life and your work would ultimately become, I think has been a little bit of a surprise versus what I would have thought going into it.

50:13Yeah, I think that's really interesting also just because of the nature of beverage and alcohol specifically is that you're right. That is a way that people typically decompress or have their kind of party time. Maybe you need to get into the like nighttime coffee shop, frozen yogurt game. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Log off instead. Uh-huh. 100%. 100%. I'm going to have to work that into the routine, into the repertoire. Yeah, that's how you're going to end up with like a coffee rum cocktail or something like that, though. Which are delicious, by the way. Yeah. I wanted to ask you about rum cocktails. I feel like you must have had so many over the years, even before starting the brand, certainly since.

50:48Are there any that you are especially into right now? Yeah, I mean, a ton of different ones. you know hard to beat a rumble fashion 10 to 1 rumble fashion with our age expression which is just like yeah so simple so delicious so elegant I'm a big white Negroni fan so I don't do the classics as much but like a white Negroni with 10 to 1 white that's probably my go-to order right now I think bartenders love and appreciate that and yeah it really does pair quite well with something like like a Suze or another Gensha and the Chutney I love you know we do a lot with the classic daiquiri a very misunderstood cocktail but actually the simplest most elegant cocktail you can create right like it's three ingredients rum lime and a little bit of simple syrup or agave right none of the other stuff doesn't have to be frozen and so you know I think that's always a great gauge if you will of sort of the quality of cocktail that you're likely to get at a spot ask for a classic daiquiri and see what they produce and that'll give you a great sense of, you know, the level of intention and care and all of those things at a program like that.

51:58So those are some of my favorites. Oh, and actually, you know, all the kids these days, espresso martinis. Yeah. We do, we call it Caribbean coffee, right? So 10 to one, you can do the white or the dark, but without age drum, I really love it. You get that pairing with the coffee and the cacao and stuff that's amazing. So those are some of my favorites. To close today, I want to play a rapid fire game with you. So I'm going to have you play some favorites. I'll ask you a question. You can just tell me the first thing that comes to mind. Try my best. Let's go. Okay. Your go-to coffee order? Nitro cold brew.

52:30Maybe caramel macchiato, but nitro cold brew. Do you do any milk in it or no? Sometimes, but at the moment, no. Okay. Your favorite rum cocktail? Rum of fashion. The first place that you go eat when you're back in Trinidad? At the crib. Got to go see my mom. Yeah. Your favorite bar in New York? Oh, that's that. I'm not going to answer that. That's like choosing favorite children. But there's so many incredible ones. I'll say that, you know, Coat was our very first account anywhere in the country. And they're still very much near and dear to our hearts. But, you know, Coat, Bar Clemente, Portrait Bar, Atta Boy.

53:07I mean, there's just so many incredible spots in New York. It's a very diplomatic answer. Try to be a diplomat. Your favorite spot for Caribbean food here in New York? I love to pull up at Miss Lily's. Yeah. Close to my house. Great vibe. Loyal 10 to 1 supporters. Love everything they're doing. They're classic, really. Yeah, 100%. Your go-to ice cream flavor? Juicy de leche. Decadent. Your favorite bodega snack? Honestly, I just probably go for like some salty, buttery popcorn, wherever I can kind of pick it up in the aisle. That's probably my go-to. Yeah. And finally, a fictional food scene, like from a book or a movie or something made up that you wish you could magically eat in real life.

53:49That's a tough one. I don't know. I probably just make up my own scene in a movie or something where, you know, people kind of land in some magical elevated sort of view of the Caribbean and all they're experiencing is like crazy 10 to 1 cocktails being poured from. So whatever I created would have to be that. You're making your own movie. I'm making my own movie. Yeah. Which, by the way, is what you do in entrepreneurship. That's literally the story, right? You're trying to, you know, write your own story, write your own script, make your own movie. So I think I'm just imagining sort of what I would love the future to look like.

54:18You know, I'll take it. I think that's the perfect answer for the end of this conversation. And thanks so much for coming in the studio. This was so fun. My pleasure. Great to see you.

54:30This is Taste is hosted and produced by Matt Rodbard and me, Eliza Abarbanel. The show is edited by lead producer Clayton Gumbert and supervised by Pat Stango, director of media production and development at Penguin Random House. Thanks to Shalia Harris and the production team at Penguin Random House. Theme music by Steve Rydell Logo and guest illustrations by Ellie Skrzat Visit Taste online at tastecooking.com And make sure to subscribe to our newsletter To keep updated on all cool things in the world of taste