WASHINGTON — Three D.C. natives recently launched their own tequila brand. The name Vascano represents the bond between its three co-founders and lifelong friends, Adanna Mbanugo, Samantha Johnson and Vernon Leftwich.
"Vascano stands for Vernon, Adanna, Samantha and 'C' is for community. Ano means four in Ebo, a dialect in South Central Africa," said Mbanugo the Content & Events Manager for Vascano Tequila.
The brand's logo is inspired by a West African adinkra symbol Akoma Ntoso, which means 'linked hearts.'
The new spirit brand is an idea the best friends dreamed up during the pandemic after they moved in together. Four years later, Vascano joins the small, but growing list of minority owned spirit brands in the U.S. They hope to bring diversity to the drinks industry, representing black, women and LGBTQ+ business owners.
Although the friends may not always agree on everything, they say tequila has always brought them together.
"Tequila is always a guaranteed yes!," said Johnson, who is the Marketing & Creative for Vascano Tequila.
The co-founders say their goal is to create community while also opening doors for other minority owned businesses. They hope being transparent about their own business journey will bring awareness to the lack of funding opportunities for people of color.
Vascano Tequila was accepted into Distill Ventures pre-accelerator program which helped them produce their first batch of inventory. Distill Ventures offers funding and mentorship to increase diverse representations in the drinks industry.
The co-founders previously ran a popular cultural bar crawl business that came to a standstill during the pandemic, but wanted to find a way to bring people together again.
"It was a really special initiative to bring people of color anyone into the community to experience small businesses, black owned businesses also street art," said Johnson.
The friends and business owners say they are intentional about every aspect of their tequila. From making sure the bottles are sustainable and made from recycled glass, to using a distillery in Mexico where the majority of staff are women.
"We just really want to get into that mode to just giving back to businesses that are a lot of times looked over in this space," said Mbanugo.
Vascano is working with a local, woman owned distributor Harbor Wines. Their tequila is currently available for purchase on their website.