The Crown

The story behind our famous little crown!

First and foremost, I am a Mother. I have always loved being a Mother to my children Adisa, Diallo & Dene. To me they all wear a crown every day, in our home, I have 3 large crowns in a golden frame in the hallway to represent that.

I am fortunate in that as a family we enjoy spending time together and continue to plan holidays and family days out. One of our best family days out was in Jan 2018 we got the train from Manchester to London to visit the Boom For Real Basquiat exhibition at the Barbican Art Gallery. Jean Michel Basquiat was a self-taught artist from New York who died at just age 27 in 1988. Crowns are a significant feature in his work as they are in much of black hip hop culture.

Photo: Magnolia Pictures

We have enjoyed visiting many exhibitions and galleries,this is something we have always done as a family. However, the Boom For Real exhibition was exhilarating and humbling. We were so moved and have not seen anything before or since that will come close. The day itself was so much fun and we got back to Manchester late and played blackjack with much laughter all the way home on the train, another family tradition. So, for us when we see the Crown on our bottles it is a reminder of one of the best family days we have ever had and our love of Basquiat.

We approached several people to design a label for our bottles, but none felt right, and it’s actually hard to get a piece of ginger to look attractive on a bottle. In the end I sketched the crown myself along with the gold leaf border and I also sketched different colours as I knew from the beginning I would have more than one drink. I had a vision of different coloured crowns and the brand developed. I wanted a crooked crown at an angle as it showed humour and that we do not take ourselves too seriously. I then found a designer who just drew what I had in my head, and I admit I wasn’t very good at listening to their suggestions. Sometimes it pays not to listen as everyone loves our labels and so do I. I said from the beginning I wanted a label that I didn’t get tired of looking at….they still make me SMILE as do my amazing children!

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