A couple of weeks ago we had a great time at Casa Bacardi and we wanted to tell you everything about it. This fun and interactive museum of the world’s famous rum is located in the charming city of Sitges just 20 minutes south of Barcelona.
Casa Bacardi was established in the historical centre of Sitges just a few steps from the beach. The “modernista” building stands out because of it’s size and the white outside terrace with Bacardi logos all over it.
Now most of you are probably asking yourself the following question: What does Bacardi have to do with Sitges? Well, it turns out this little city of the province of Barcelona was the place of birth of Facundo Bacardi i Masso – the founder of the rum distillery and brand.
Still as a teenager, Facundo decided to follow the footsteps of his older brothers and seek prosperity and wealth in the “new world”, namely Cuba. However the road to success was not easy as he struggled and led two businesses into bankruptcy prior to engaging in rum production. Bacardi’s perseverance and creativity finally paid of when in 1862 along with his partners he acquired a distillery and constituted “Bacardi, Boutellier and Company”. They started to produce a refined and tamer drink (result of quicker-fermenting cognac yeast, oak barrel ageing and charcoal filtration) that was quiet unique at the time as were Facundo’s innovative branding strategies including the iconic bat logo (symbol of prosperity, optimism and family union).
But let’s go back to the visit and tour which is very enjoyable. It consists of 3 stages; the heritage room where we learn all about the fascinating history of Bacardi, the elaboration space in which we were shown in detail all the stages of rum production (tasting included) and finally the lounge bar. At the lovely bar we were greeted by two professional bartenders that first showed us how to do cocktails like; Mojito, Cuba libre or Daiquiri and then provided us with all the necessary tools and assistance so that we can do our own chosen cocktail which we then together enjoyed.
Have you ever wondered where does the cocktail name “Cuba libre” come from? This is something we also learned during the tour and we’ll be happy to share it in our next blog!
