Roho, the first Kenyan agave spirit, is now available in the UK.
From Kilifi on Kenya's coast, Roho is made from Agave sisalana, a plant cultivated in East Africa for generations for its fibre, and now for the first time being transformed into spirit.
After 12-15 years in the ground, the agave hearts are cooked in a volcanic stone-lined pit, crush them by hand using adapted Kenyan kinus, fermented naturally and distill twice in copper pot stills.
Phil Lowe, Roho co-founder, said: "The idea behind Roho started by recognising that most agave growing in East Africa were only grown for the fibre in the leaves and the sugar-containing hearts were being discarded. This transformed into a truly exciting opportunity after learning how the craft of making Mezcal could be applied to these discarded agave hearts to make something really special.
"Our mission has been to produce the best expression of what an agave spirit made from sisal can taste like, whilst representing the place it’s made in coastal Kenya. This is achieved by slow-cooking the agave in a volcanic stone-lined pit, hand-crushing our agave, and wild fermenting, which incorporates yeasts that are unique to our distillery. This manual approach also has the added benefit of providing jobs for people in rural Kenya where unemployment is high."
Roho Coastal Agave Spirit is now available to purchase online, priced at £80 for 700ml (45% ABV) at www.rohoagave.com.