Latino Owned Rum Based Hard Seltzer Makes Waves, Now Available Throughout Miami, Florida, With DTC Shipping To Over 20 States
Casalú, a rum based hard seltzer focused on delivering a feeling of home and heritage, while inviting others to share Latino culture, is now available in select bars, restaurants, liquor and grocery stores across Miami, Florida, and ships to more than 20 states via direct-to-consumer platform on DrinkCasalu.com. Made with dark aged rum, 5.9% abv./vol, Casalú sells for $12.99 per 4-pack of 12oz cans. Crisp and balanced with the perfect amount of buzz, Casalú’s first offering, “Limón,” brings authentic Latino roots to the hard seltzer market. The name stands for the company’s ethos. Casa, a sense of home and heritage. Salú, an open door to all who want to share Latino culture.
The origin story of Casalú begins with three friends, now co-founders, Ricardo Sucre and Gabriel Gonzalez of Venezuela and Gustavo Darquea of Ecuador. The trio first met while attending North Carolina State University. It was throughout college they began to share over their drink of choice: rum. They didn’t realize it at the time, but they were on their way to bringing the first authentically Latino owned rum based hard seltzer to the market.
Fast forward a few years, and Ricardo, who was widely known amongst the friend group for his dislike of beer, became the group’s expert on hard seltzers, eventually purchasing a soda stream and experimenting at home making his own rum-based hard seltzer. The likes of which didn’t exist on the market.
While Ricardo was perfecting his rum based hard seltzer, Gabriel, who has a deep love for reggaetón, had been exploring a way to capture a feeling for when Latino culture is being communicated authentically. In 2013, a friend had asked him if he was feeling “tropical” and the concept just clicked. He created “Tropicalation” to express what for him was the best part of his culture, a feeling people share with each other as time passes by. He started a reggaetón playlist with that name to showcase that feeling in every song. It would become a pillar for Casalú.
Gustavo, regarded as the one who ‘gets stuff done’ in the crew, could see that the seed for a company was being planted. He received a call from Ricardo telling him that he was perfecting a rum based hard seltzer and wanted him involved. That same week, Gabriel also called Ricardo telling him he needed a way to bring Tropicalation to life. Gabriel had a site already up and running combining Latino culture and an early mockup of a can. The three got together and the rest is history.
Through months of hard work, kitchen research, countless taste testing, parties with friends and family and maybe a blessing from their moms, all named Maria, Casalú is now available, the concept of Tropicalation is no longer just a feeling but an actual product, to be enjoyed by all.
“Tropicalation is an idea that you can feel. You feel it when you are with your grandad playing dominoes, when you are with your friends, or when you listen to good music, and it infiltrates your body. My personal way to express Tropicalation started with a reggaetón playlist. It was my choice of songs that would make the listener feel tropical and lose themselves in a moment. That is Tropicalation, the idea that there is a feeling that can change your vibe for the better in an instant,” says co-founder Gabriel Gonzalez.
“When you look at every single category in the alcohol industry, you can find a Latino brand in all of them but one. The fastest growing category in the alcohol industry, hard seltzers, now has a brand for Latinos. Not only a brand but a product that is truly authentic to our roots, a dark aged rum seltzer that both our generation and our grandfathers can share together and be proud of being Latino. That’s why we are so proud to bring Casalú to the world,” says co-founder Ricardo Sucre.
“One of our main priorities ever since we started this journey of Casalú is making sure we’re building our team with the most talented individuals, and experts in the fields of marketing, branding and design, financial planning, and management. And of course, individuals that are passionate about our brand concept and are willing and able to take Casalú into new heights. While Miami is home base for us and the first market, we are launching the brand in on the ground, we’re also leveraging DTC (direct-to-consumer), e-commerce, strategies to ship Casalú into different markets and start to generate product and brand awareness in other places apart from Miami,” says co-founder Gustavo Darquea.
There are 60 million Latinos in the US alone. As the biggest minority in the country, they are having more impact on pop culture than ever. Casalú aims to represent the roots of these consumers and bridge the gap between them and the hard seltzer market.
However, Casalú’s is more than a hard seltzer. Casalú’s vision is to be a catalyst for Latino culture. Think the next Red Bull, but Latino.
SOURCE: Casalu via DGM-PR