Our Story

Favour The Flavour

Being friends for over a decade we share a passion for premium spirits. Our love of spirits has taken us to many places searching for new and unusual flavours, that are smooth and beautifully balanced. We will often be found at the end of the bar with friends, sampling and debating the qualities of our favourite spirits. Too often we would discuss our dream of starting a business to share our passion, for premium drinks.

Eighty Six Friends Honey Spiced Rum

Our Ethos

When the 2020 global pandemic hit and threw us in to total lockdown, with spare time on our hands, we knew it was time to turn our vision into reality and share our passion with the world. Eighty-Six Friends was born.

We agreed on a reliable ethos: keep it simple, keep it premium, keep it natural, and above all else, favour the flavour.

Branding

The naming of the brand was simple, best friends, born in the year eighty-six. Coincidentally, during Prohibition, when a raid was imminent, a cop on the take would call and warn the boss to ‘eighty-six it’: hide the booze and get the customers out.

The logo of the brand was straightforward, a cockatoo, an incredibly sociable bird, seldom seen on their own, representative of our mission to craft a drink best served with friends.

We had a keen eye on the market seeing scope for premium rums and gin, but with a flavoured twist. Sammi our cockatoo wears a monocle, as a symbol of sophistication representing our premium spirits.  Using only natural ingredients, sourced locally where possible, we had to be creative and caring to ensure our drinks met our incredibly high standards to produce the finest flavours.

Getting The Flavour Just Right

The developing of the recipes was only the first step on a journey that was hard work, but extremely rewarding. We spent the best part of the year developing different flavour profiles, sharing with friends to get their input and feedback, before deciding on the final flavours that would be the start the Eighty-Six Friends spirits’ range.

 

When we finally launched in July 2021, we concentrated on three premium spirits, each labelled with the latin name of their prominent flavour. Our friend Mel (honey), our friend Musa (Banana) and our friend Rheum (Rhubarb).

Our Friend Mel - Honey Spiced Rum

Smooth honey sweetness, supported by a hit of orange zest, gently contrasted by cinnamon and ginger to add warmth with a rounded spice. Finished with subtle vanilla and maple syrup notes.

We use locally sourced honey, where possible, to support the local producers and give our brand some flavour of our home counties; Cambridgeshire and Suffolk

Our Friend Musa - Banana Rum

In your face fresh natural banana aroma, supported by a hint of toffee and cinnamon, coupled with citrus and tropical notes on the tongue, finishing with a lingering banana aftertaste.

Pulped bananas married with a carefully considered crafting technique are used to get the beautiful base notes and a wonderfully well-rounded finish.

Next Steps

There has been many ups and downs throughout our journey, many times where we could have easily given up, but the support and feedback has been absolutely incredible and has made the whole experience worthwhile.

We hope to grow the range over the next few years, although we want to remain loyal and authentic to our ethos: Keep it simple, keep it premium, keep it natural and we will only release when the flavour is absolutely perfect; you cannot rush perfection.

We are following our dream and doing this for the love of spirits.

We look forward to sharing our journey with both new and old friends.