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Tuaca

On 8 Jun 2016 at 11:20am ClarifiedButler wrote:

Does anyone know the story behind why Lewes pubs sell Tuaca? I know there is a reason!

On 8 Jun 2016 at 1:08pm Kentucky Straight wrote:

Danged if I know.

On 8 Jun 2016 at 1:14pm drinking thinking wrote:

made in Brighton... maybe the UFBs introduced it to Lewes?

On 8 Jun 2016 at 1:19pm Goo Gel wrote:

Italian drink made in Kentucky sold and popularized in Brighton.

On 8 Jun 2016 at 5:27pm Lamblord wrote:

Tuaca was first imported in to the UK by Sammy and Paul who were the tenants of The Saint James Tavern in Brighton at the time. Sammy discovered Tuaca whilst skiing in Colorado and decided to import a case from Livorno, Italy to see how it would go. It became a bit of a success story (at least locally), so they imported more for distribution in Brighton/Lewes initially.
Unfortunately, Bacardi Brown Foreman had some form of ownership/distribution rights and decided to take it back into their 'stable of brands'.
I'm not sure when Mr's Tuoni and Canepa relinquished full control to BBF but the branding and recipe were changed. I'm not sure where it's now produced.
It's still quite tasty and versatile for mixed drinks but, as ever, not a patch on the original.
Hope that helps

On 8 Jun 2016 at 5:32pm Harry Monk wrote:

Banoffee pie was created in the Hungry Monk - now sold in supermarkets as American B.Pie . How does that work?

On 9 Jun 2016 at 10:00am ClarifiedButler wrote:

Thank you very much lamblord! Very informative and interesting.

On 9 Jun 2016 at 12:40pm Barcardi Geezer wrote:

The original importer's company went bust. When Tuaca started getting popular they imported a huge amount at once, not realising they had to pay the import duty on the entire consignment to get any of it out of the bonded warehouse. They had to borrow a lot of money to pay the tax to get their product into the country and the resulting interest payments eventually finished them off, despite selling buckets of the stuff. I imagine that's when Bacardi picked up the importation and distribution rights.