On the Friday before Carnival, 24-year-old Ajan-I Lansiquot, alongside his family, set up a pop-up bar at Bay Gardens Marina Haven to serve cocktails and drinks made with their own handcrafted Leonas Liqueur, and the scene was enthralling.
The family-run local brand, Leonas Liqueur, produces creamy milk-based alcohol in three distinct flavours, Dark Ambition (Coffee), Black and Ivory (Cookies and Cream), and Crimson Velvet (Strawberry and Peanut).
St. Lucia Times spent a few hours with the team behind the brand as they served Legends Carnival Band revellers picking up their costumes at a nearby mas camp, as well as hotel guests. What was meant to be a feature on how businesses were faring during the Carnival season turned out to be a first-hand look at a young entrepreneur’s tenacity in motion.
“It’s a premium liqueur brand that represents progress and greatness,” Lansiquot tells St. Lucia Times. Though the words are ambitious, they are made believable by his measured tone. “It’s like a lifestyle brand, basically, crafted for those who pursue building something bigger than themselves.”
Observing the 24-year-old in the space, his demeanour is that of a young man coming to terms with leadership and business ownership in real time. He is evidently respectful towards others, observant and intentional with each detail. As he and his team engage with customers, much like the bottles lined up on their bar’s display, branded with their chic Leonas Liqueur labelling, every interaction is laced with care.
But that kind of intentionality did not emerge out of nowhere. Embedded at the brand’s core is a desire to cement a family legacy. Leonas Liqueur is based on a recipe originally concocted by Lansiquot’s grandmother, Leona, after whom the brand is now named.
“She taught me the recipe,” Lansiquot explains. “She used to sell it on the side of the road like a normal vendor. She’d been doing that her whole life. Granny Leona.”
“How I turned it into Leonas Liqueur? Basically, I had a contract to work at a warehouse doing a role I enjoyed. It gave me the opportunity to learn a lot,” Lansiquot continues. “I always knew I eventually wanted to run my own business so I would take notes every day. The expectation was that my contract would be renewed, but when it came to that time, it wasn’t. I wasn’t going to sit around doing nothing, and I was kind of frustrated with how I was let off, so I wanted to create a business that would more or less take care of its workers. Once you work with Leonas or anything that Ajan-I Lansiquot builds in the future or now, you’re in good hands. That was the mindset behind it.”
It has been about two and a half years since the undertaking began. Lansiquot admits the journey has involved trudging through setbacks and losses to experience the victories that have brought the business to where it is today. But beyond simply building a business and a brand, his desire to become a better man in every sense is deeply woven into his story. That includes setting a good example for his 17-year-old brother, Kamari, whom he has brought on board as a co-owner and co-producer in the business.
“It [has its] ups and downs like with anything else… the only hard part is managing my time between school and the business,” Kamari shares.
For him, exposure to the business is a learning curve he is embracing head-on, knowing he has ambitions of his own.
In the midst of the journey—quite literally, as they navigate dispensers filled with their liqueur and other ingredients that make up their signature cocktails in real time—Ajan-I laughs that, in the process of growing the business, they have also developed bartending skills. The team members look like naturals as they hand off cherry- and cookie-topped cocktails to customers, many of whom signal their approval with a thumbs-up, closed eyes and expressions that say enough before they do.
But this is only the beginning. Though Carnival offers the brothers a boost in business, Lansiquot says his ambition is for the drink to become a year-round staple. As the business continues to grow, so too does its core team, bringing on brand ambassadors and other partners. Through personal orders and deliveries made to customers via the brand’s ‘Leonas Liqueur’ social media channels, catering exclusive events and establishing sustainable supply channels, Leonas Liqueur appears poised to be here for the long haul.
