South African Gin Is Finally Getting Its Flowers
Thanks to its unique flowering fynbos, South African craft gin is having a moment. Get to know the botanical spirit and where to enjoy it. [...] Read More... The post South African Gin Is Finally Getting Its Flowers appeared first on Wine Enthusiast.
The air in South Africa is rich with fragrant florals, and chances are what you’re smelling is indigenous to the area. The country is home to the Cape Floristic Region, a UNESCO-protected World Heritage site and biodiversity hotspot. Of the world’s six floral kingdoms, it is the most diverse, and about 70 percent of its 9,000 plant species are endemic. It should come as little surprise, then, that South Africa boasts a booming scene for the most botanical spirit: gin.
Over the past few years, a craft gin scene has blossomed in the country, creating wholly unique spirits that burst with complex botanical profiles. Yet it remains somewhat under-the-radar internationally. With several excellent examples now available in the United States, it’s time to get to know South African gin.
The Fynbos Behind the Gin
The essence of South African gin comes from one very special ingredient: Fynbos. From the Dutch term “fjinboch,” meaning “fine bush,” fynbos refers to the thousands of plant species found throughout the country’s shrubland.
Even within the relatively small Cape floral kingdom, the varieties of fynbos—from “Mossy Bell” flowering moss and the rare purple-bloomed Kloof Amphithalea to the honeybush shrub—“differ enormously…owing to variations in soil conditions and diverse climates at different altitudes,” says Giselle Courtney, creator of South African Fynbos and the Cape Town Fynbos Experience. For example, Cape Town’s most prominent landmark, Table Mountain, has 2,200 species of flowering plant fynbos, most of which are endemic.
“Coastal fynbos tends to be saltier and wind-swept,” with wild herbs like rosemary, says Jess Henderson, cofounder of A Mari Ocean Gin. “Mountain fynbos offers more resinous and woody notes. Karoo fynbos, from the semi-desert interior of the greater Cape Floristic region, brings earthy, spicy and sometimes medicinal tones.”
Six Dogs gin is produced in that Karoo region—the Karoo Gin is like a London Dry with citrus character from farm-grown lemon buchu, while Blue Gin is more overtly floral with the fynbos rose pelargonium. Karoo’s biodiversity is what inspired brothers Charles and Glenn Bryant and their friend Luigi Marucchi to start their distillery.
“[Karoo] has 8,000 different plant species, of which 6,000 are purely native to that one little area,” says Glenn Bryant, noting that they forage as well as grow their own fynbos on their farm. “You have a whole nursery in your backyard to play with making something like gin.” Responsible distillers will grow certain species rather than picking them if they’re under threat from urbanization, says Henderson of A Mari.
Only gin’s defining botanical must be imported. Juniper doesn’t grow in South Africa, and so it is sourced internationally. Beyond that, the sky is the limit for these distillers when it comes to playing with fynbos. Rooibos, with its notes of honey, vanilla and nuttiness, may be one of the most familiar plants worldwide thanks to its tea, but there are plenty of other standout fynbos. Within South Africa, Courtney has observed herbs like rhino bush and Cape mountain sage grow in popularity as culinary ingredients. Other species are known for their spirit-friendly flavors: like minty, blackcurrant-like buchu—which also has a citrusy lemon buchu variety—and sweet, floral honeybush.
The Next Big South African Spirit
South Africa is best known for its wine, as well as its brandy. The wine industry took root in the mid-17th century after the Dutch arrived in the country. Gin, meanwhile, is relatively new in South Africa, with postcolonial English roots.
While a few large producers, like Old Buck, have made gin in the country for nearly a hundred years, the craft gin scene is novel for its driving focus on fynbos, though, kicking off around the 2010s, in part thanks to early makers like Inverroche. In 2020, gin officially surpassed vodka as the second-largest spirit category in South Africa. Craft gin has already seen its first wave of distillery closures, due to both competition from other categories as well as from within gin, but those still standing enjoy a loyal following.
Cape Fynbos Wine & Spirits is one such distiller. Like Six Dogs, the company drew inspiration from South Africa’s endemic botanicals.
After moving to the Cape region at 18, Cape Fynbos co-owner and marketing director Oliver Kirsten became infatuated with the mountains and their fynbos. “If we were to leave one out, you probably wouldn’t notice it,” he says. “But each one has a story to tell, and we want to represent the Cape floral kingdom in every bottle.”
Many of South Africa’s next-gen gin distillers are also employing innovative practices. A Mari’s Atlantic Ocean gin is distilled with water from South Africa’s coastline, offering a smoother mouthfeel. The method also helps extract the oils from the fynbos—a secret mix of coastal varieties and a special pelargonium—for more prominent flavors of florals and peppery spice.
Where and How to Enjoy South African Gin
Gin’s popularity in Cape Town reveals itself in local bar programs. At the famed Mount Nelson hotel’s Planet Bar, head mixologist Jonathan Makonga has built several cocktails around fynbos gins, highlighting them with botanicals he grows on-site in the mixologist’s garden.
When guests request classics like French 75s and gin and tonics, Makonga proposes using South African gin so they can taste the difference. Some of his favorites include Inverroche’s Amber expression, which features Table Mountain fynbos like rooibos, honeybush, Cape snow bush and wild dagga, and Cape Town Gin’s herbaceous, licorice-esque Black Rhino, made with renosterbos and buchu from the area where black rhinos once roamed—proceeds go toward wildlife preservation.
At The Gin Bar, 80 of 100 available gins are South African. Gins also feature prominently at Cause + Effect, where you can order a guided South African gin tasting. And Josh Sarembock has double the opportunity to showcase these gins: in cocktails as owner of buzzy Cape Town cocktail bar fable and through events as Cape Town partner for AJABU, a cocktail and spirit festival connecting and promoting Africa’s hospitality industry.
Local bar owners, beverage directors and bartenders see South African gin as a way to show off the region’s landscapes in a drink. While a spirit can’t quite represent terroir as fully as wine, these gins come close.
“You’re distilling the climate, soil and biodiversity of the Western Cape into every bottle,” Makonga says. “It’s a spirit that speaks of its place.”
South African Bottles Breaking Into the U.S.
To experience South African gin stateside, head to bars like Ivory Peacock or Valerie in New York City. At the latter, beverage director Marshall Minaya has just brought on Six Dogs’s Karoo Gin. He’s excited about how it stands out from the typical London Dry with its local botanicals.
“Our gin library is organized by region, and we often get questions from gin enthusiasts about the African selections we carry,” Minaya says. “I think Karoo will be a strong addition, as its botanicals tell a distinctly different story from the other African gins we showcase.”
South African gin promises a world of discovery. Order Inverroche online from United States retailers like Blackwell’s Wines & Spirits, and Six Dogs from Saratoga Wine. Find Cruxland and Musgrave, another one of Makonga’s favorites, at South African Wine USA.
More Gin Coverage:
- Gin newbie? We break down all of the spirit’s main botanicals.
- You heard it here first: Grape-based gin is having a moment.
- Level up your martini with these top-rated gins.
- These modern gimlet recipes make excellent use of gin.
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