Black History Month: From the Caribbean to the Clyde
Sylvester Herman's bringing a slice of island life to Glasgow
Last updated 2nd Oct 2020
A former solider turned distiller is bringing a slice of island life to the banks of the River Clyde and has turned a secret family rum recipe into a booming business.
Sylvester Herman, who is originally from St Lucia, set up his company Island Slice Rum in Glasgow in 2015 after leaving the military and meeting his wife, who is Scottish. It is now stocked in shops and sold internationally.
Sylvester's dad was his inspiration for starting the business. He died unexpectedly and Sylvester was unable to return to the Caribbean for his funeral.
He says he's really lucky to have never encountered any set backs because of his race while setting up his business and has had a lot of help and support during the process.
He credits his positive attitude and determination to follow a different path is life for his success.
He told Clyde News: "In 2012, after I was deployed in Afghanistan, I met my wife who is Scottish. And then I was like 'Oh, it's time to make a change. Time to maybe do something different.' So I signed out of the British military. And the guys were like 'what you're going to do now' and so on and they said 'You should probably do your Rum Punch, if you make it we would buy it'. Because you know I was always making it and taking it to parties and stuff.
"I never even really thought about it. I started doing odd jobs. Then at the end of 2015, my dad passed away. And he's the original rum guy. He's the guy all this came from. He owned a rum shop in the Caribbean, so he used to have all real strong rums and he had his own distillery in the back.
"So, he passed away and I could not go to St. Lucia for some reason, I think it was financial, for the funeral or anything. It happened so fast and I went through like really a hard time. And the only thing I could think of to pay homage to him is to just do what the guys had been telling me do which is to create the Rum Punch and start my own company."
He says things could have been really different for him had it not been for his positive outlook on life.
"It feels good, because everything is built from the ground up by my hands, everything here... I'm connected to it from the sauce all the way to the bottle. So it feels really great. It's really, really great.
"When I left the military I could have done what every other, soldier of African descent, does and do the move to Birmingham or the move to London. But my philosophy on that from back then was I cannot follow the ship.
"If you follow the ship you achieve nothing because there are people out there who have made a bad name from Black men in London. They've already made us look bad. I know the struggle, whatever struggle they're going through has caused them to have that happen, but moving into the place like that, then you just be tarnished with the same brush as your brother.
"So, I moved somewhere completely different and just followed my dreams. I followed my ambitions and follow everything I need. I knew I could achieve the world. I didn't know it was gonna Rum Punch. I didn't know what it was gonna be that. But the opportunities were only there because I choose not to follow the ship. I choose to do something different. I recently decided to shake a different tree."
Sylvester is speaking to Clyde News as we celebrate Black History Month. During October we are showcasing some of the inspirational stories from the city's Black community.
This national celebration lasts for the whole month and aims to promote and celebrate Black contributions to British society, and to foster an understanding of Black history in general. Its origins go back to the 1920s.
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