How Two Drifters Distillery Crafts Community-Rooted Spirits with Impact
Photo: Two Drifters
Meet Two Drifters Distillery... world's first carbon negative rum brand and the Seeing Green Solutionist of the Day for September 20.
Founded in Exeter, UK, by Russ and Gemma Wakeham, Two Drifters is built on both science and storytelling. Russ, a chemist with expertise in carbon capture, and Gemma, a creative brand builder, turned their shared passion into a distillery with purpose. The name Two Drifters comes from the classic song Moon River, evoking themes of travel, adventure, and partnership. What began as a small operation producing just 80 bottles of rum a week quickly scaled — today they make over 2,000 bottles weekly, each one crafted with care for both flavor and planet.
And let’s talk about those bottles. Two Drifters’ lineup includes a crisp Pure White Rum, a smooth Signature Rum, a warming Lightly Spiced Rum, and a bold Pineapple Overproof Rum. They don’t stop at taste — every bottle is packaged with sustainability in mind, using lightweight glass, compostable seals, FSC corks, and labels made from sugarcane fiber. Behind the scenes, the distillery runs on 100% renewable energy, uses electric deliveries, and partners with Climeworks and Carbfix to remove unavoidable emissions from the supply chain. Even better, they publish third-party verified Life Cycle Assessments, proving their commitment to transparency.
Two Drifters shows us that sustainability doesn’t have to be an afterthought — it can be the very spirit of a company. By blending great taste with bold climate action, they’re raising the bar (and the glass) for what spirits can be. Next time you’re looking for a rum to mix into a mojito, daiquiri, or simply sip neat, consider choosing one that helps the planet drift in the right direction.