FOOD .

Small Bites

The Rum Diary


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Published: Sep 7, 2006

Epicures with MBAs should take note of this rum-to-riches story, wherein local boy Steve Luttmann goes to Conestoga High School, and after graduating Penn State, lands a job in marketing with the prestigious firm LVMH (Louis Vuitton, Moet Hennessy, etc.). After some successful years working for Unilever, he is sent to manage its culinary foods brand in Sao Paulo. When he returns in 2000, he speaks fluent Portuguese and has fallen in love with the country, especially Rio. There he lives and takes himself a bride, Carolina.

Next to the beaches of Ipanema, there is Leblon, where they return often. There Luttmann sits, sipping cachaça (the Brazilian answer to rum) and thinking, "This is the best cachaça I've ever tasted."

So, enterprising fellow that he is, he makes some inquiries, and finds out why this cachaça tastes so special. Turns out, most rum is distilled from molasses, but this is made from pure sugar cane — hence its fresh, floral aroma. Not only that, but it's distilled in alembics in the old style. This technique eliminates the volatile ethers that exist in raw cachaça. Then it is aged in barrels in Cognac, France, for 30 to 90 days, which accounts for its mellow flavor.

Luttmann is aware that Brazil is the "in" place to be. Tourists are flocking there, the economy is high and he sees the mojito being replaced by the caipirinha, a similarly lethal drink made from cachaça and lime juice. Given his knowledge of spirits gleaned from years at LVMH, he says, "Why not do a Brazilian cachaça, and name it after my favorite beach?"

The Luttmanns see that at the end of every day, locals gather at the beach and drink. They dance, perhaps sing a little bit, but however they approach it, night falls on a happy, carefree note. Why shouldn't it be this way everywhere? All the joy they perceive on the beach goes into the golden and crystalline packaging of Leblon, made by SaverGlas, the French firm responsible for Grey Goose's distinctive bottle.

Luttmann has found that Leblon makes a good cosmopolitan, and one bar he knows makes a "margarita samba." The New York Daily News' "Rush & Molloy" gossip column makes a mention of "Ethan Hawke and Bobby Cannavale sipping Leblon caipirinhas." In New York magazine, they give a line to the Leblon caipirinhas at 5 Ninth. And at the Bar Room at The Modern they make a drink called a mistico — Leblon with fizzy ginger beer that carries a hint of rosemary and tamarind.

If you want to taste Leblon, you can order it at Alma de Cuba, Cuba Libre, Blue Sky Café, Agave Grill, Estia, Davio's and Bistro St. Tropez, among others. Just don't expect to see Luttman hanging around the bar. He's busy bringing Leblon into the public eye, and always asking, "How can we make it better?"

For a businessman who has just turned 41, that's the only way to think.

(m_keyser@citypaper.net)