Egor Petrov, founder of Bayside Rum. Photo / Supplied
Egor Petrov, founder of Bayside Rum. Photo / Supplied
A new Kiwi rum start-up using kumara as one of its main ingredients is attracting the attention of some of the country's most exclusive bars.
Bayside Rum, started by Russian expat and bartender Egor Petrov, is distilled using kumara mash molasses and stored in wine caskets formerly housing pinot noir.
The business is off to a flying start after its launch at the end of December despite launching under New Zealand's strict Covid settings, at a time crippling trade for many businesses in the hospitality sector.
Petrov, who has been working in hospitality as a bartender for over 12 years, moved back to New Zealand from Dubai in October 2020 and has spent the past year perfecting the Kiwiana-style Jamaican spirit.
The business is currently a side project for Petrov, who works full time as the bar manager at the QT Hotel's Rooftop bar in Auckland.
"As everyone in hospitality, we always have the dream to open our own bars, at some point I realised that I didn't actually want a bar and that I'd rather have a product of my own. That idea had been brewing for a while but it was during the first lockdown in 2020 when I was still in Dubai with my family that I decided that I wanted to come home and do something interesting," Petrov told the Herald.
"I saw that the gin category in New Zealand was blowing up but by the time I got back to New Zealand it had got too saturated I felt so I set out trying to do something that reflected all the great things about the country.
"I settled on rum as it is one of my favourite spirits, is versatile and there isn't many New Zealand produced rums at the moment."
Bayside Rum was inspired by one of the oldest sugar cane spirits that exist, Batavia Arrack, from Indonesia, which uses fermenting red rice cakes with the yeast of freshly pressed sugar cane juice, which is then fermented again and distilled into a rum.
Petrov uses that process but, instead of using rice cakes, uses kumara mash to add to the yeast, in which he lets the yeast colony develop and then adds that to molasses during the fermentation process. After that, the fermented mash is double pot distilled in a very similar process to Jamaican rums.
A similar technique is used in the production of wine, whereby a bunch of grapes are ripened earlier than the rest of the harvest, pressed and yeast sits in the juice and the fermenting juice will later be added to the rest of the batch.
Once Bayside's rum is distilled it is stored for three months in local pinot noir barrels that have held the wine for 10 years, which makes the rum develop "some really unique flavours".
Petrov started his career in a small Auckland gastropub before going on to help establish some of the most successful bars in the world, including Dubai's Atmosphere, the world's tallest bar-restaurant on the 122nd floor of the Burj Khalifa. He has worked with hundreds of spirits brands making iconic cocktails.
Launching Bayside Rum amidst a global pandemic has not presented many challenges, as a first-time business owner Petrov said he had no other experience to compare it to.
Petrov and his wife Anna work on the business together and are hoping that the venture will soon become a full-time gig.
Bayside Rum uses the addition of kumara in its fermentation production process. Photo / Supplied
In July the pair will launch an equity crowdfunding raise for investment capital, offering up 30 per cent of the business' shareholding. They hope to raise $1.5 million to enable them to ramp up production and open their own distillery in order to produce 50,000 bottles of Bayside Rum annually. Petrov has long-term plans to turn the production facility into a local tourist attraction.
The flavour profiles of the rum had "excited a lot of bartenders" and the spirit was already stocked at The Rooftop at the QT, Viaduct restaurant and bar Esther, Commercial Bay's Ahi, Parasol and Swing, Caretaker and The Broken Lantern among others.
He has used his industry contacts and friends to get his product into local bars and recently signed on with premium liquor distributor Tickety Boo, which represent some of the finest brands in the country, including Four Pillars Gin and Stolichnaya Vodka.
"Trying to make my rum different, I was a little bit anxious that it might turn out too different and people would be put off by that, but so far the feedback has been amazing. One of the sales reps from Tickety Boo went to Wellington last week and said the response was incredible. Nobody knows me there so it wasn't like a favour or anything. One of the bars that absolutely loves it is the Hawthorn Lounge, which has been in Wellington for 20 years now and by far the best cocktail lounge in Wellington; it's humbling that they really like it."
