Our Story
We are a friends and family business with roots in the French Caribbean and Northern California. Our vision for Batiste Rhum has been to share our interest in making delicious drinks for others, and in doing so improve our connection to one another, to our planet, and most especially to you. In making Batiste Rhum, we hold onto the traditions of rhum agricole found in the French Caribbean. We then add in California influences to make a contemporary and forward-looking rum. In other words, we combine the best of the past with the best of the present, to ensure an excellent future. Our obsession is making unique and exceptional rum using fresh whole sugarcane juice, handled with care, that everyone can enjoy.
Marie Galante is famous for growing the world's best sugarcane, and experts agree that a cool climate near water is ideal for aging spirits. By distilling in Marie Galante, and aging and bottling along the shores of the San Francisco Bay, we are able to reach a higher level of rum excellence. Batiste Rhum is true cane, real and refined, yet entirely approachable for your enjoyment. We look forward to connecting over a cocktail with you!
We are a friends and family business with roots in the French Caribbean and Northern California. Our vision for Batiste Rhum has been to share our interest in making delicious drinks for others, and in doing so improve our connection to one another, to our planet, and most especially to you. In making Batiste Rhum, we hold onto the traditions of rhum agricole found in the French Caribbean. We then add in California influences to make a contemporary and forward-looking rum. In other words, we combine the best of the past with the best of the present, to ensure an excellent future. Our obsession is making unique and exceptional rum using fresh whole sugarcane juice, handled with care, that everyone can enjoy.
Marie Galante is famous for growing the world's best sugarcane, and experts agree that a cool climate near water is ideal for aging spirits. By distilling in Marie Galante, and aging and bottling along the shores of the San Francisco Bay, we are able to reach a higher level of rum excellence. Batiste Rhum is true cane, real and refined, yet entirely approachable for your enjoyment. We look forward to connecting over a cocktail with you!
Batiste Rhum began in the early 2000s with a handshake and an embrace. Hubert Damoiseau and Tristan Mermin met for lunch in Capesterre, Marie Galante and agreed that exporting the traditional rhum agricole that Hubert’s family distillery makes on Marie Galant to San Francisco to explore and create new American variations could be a great idea for the North American market.
Subsequently our focus narrowed to create only authentic, verifiably eco-positive, single origin 100% sugar cane juice rums. This direction strengthened when core members Jon Lawson and Celine Malraux joined the project. Our personal commitment to make the highest quality products using only the best ingredients and process has not changed. Today we are the first third party verified carbon negative rum product made at the only eco-positive distillery in the Caribbean.
The island of Marie Galante has the feeling and broad landscape of the Marin Coast in California. The agricultural landscapes rolling to the ocean’s edge evoke a sense of possibility and peace that in both places are unique unto themselves. Our guiding light for Batiste Rhum has been to somehow capture that feeling and share it: a fusion of two different places, joined by oceans.