Tastes Like Money

An extraordinary tale that starts with a home kitchen recipe and ends with the multi-million-dollar sale of a world-famous liquor company – and everything in between In Tastes Like Money, veteran liquor industry leader and founder of RumChata – the clever kitchen experiment that became a global phenomena – Tom Maas, delivers a first-hand story that exposes the behind-the-scenes battles, trademark wars, crises, and triumphs that built a world-famous product. The book begins with the day Maas was unceremoniously and unexpectedly dismissed from his role as Vice President of Marketing and Sales at Jim Beam at age 49. From there, the author details the ups and downs of what would turn out to be his true calling: the creation of a drink called RumChata. Tastes Like Money draws generalizable lessons from Maas’ wild ride: about passionate selling, brand protection, and the critical importance of never compromising on quality or cutting corners just to make a quick buck. In the book, you’ll also find: Specific strategies for building distributor relationships without the benefit of a huge corporate war chest How to compete against industry titans when you’ve got a target on your back A detailed, unvarnished memoir of from-scratch ingenuity from an entrepreneur who pulled out all the stops in the pursuit of his dream Perfect for aspiring entrepreneurs seeking inspiration and guidance as they navigate their own business journeys, Tastes Like Money is a gripping and instructive story about ambition, resilience – and a little bit of luck. It’s a must-read for everyone interested in how a global brand got built from scratch and what it took to make it happen.

Chapter 1 Sometimes Shit Just Happens 1 Chapter 2 Growing Up 5 Chapter 3 Learning the Business 13 Chapter 4 The Beam Years 39 Chapter 5 Transition 61 Chapter 6 We’re Going to Do This Ourselves 69 Chapter 7 Putting It All Together 77 Chapter 8 This Actually Might Work Out 83 Chapter 9 Economic Reality 89 Chapter 10 Show Me the Money 93 Chapter 11 Creating the Base of a Brand 97 Chapter 12 Let’s Add Fuel to the Fire 103 Chapter 13 Things Keep Happening 113 Chapter 14 Protecting Our Turf 117 Chapter 15 An Astounding Number 123 Chapter 16 Explosion 127 Chapter 17 Building the Illusion 145 Chapter 18 Success Draws Lots of Attention 153 Chapter 19 Protecting Our Future 157 Chapter 20 Greater Illusions 163 Chapter 21 Keeping the Business Growing 171 Chapter 22 Managing for Growth 179 Chapter 23 The Battle Continues 187 Chapter 24 Wind at Our Backs 193 Chapter 25 COVID Explosion 197 Chapter 26 The Sale 205 Chapter 27 What’s Next 209 Epilogue 213 Acknowledgments 217 About the Author 219 Index 221