Gin Joint: Creative, versatile booze spices up fair

07 October 2015 - 02:03 By Staff Reporter

In the heart of Cape Town an artisanal distillery is gaining a reputation for its handcrafted spirits. Lucy Beard and Leigh Lisk, lawyers-turned-ginmakers, bring their gins, the classic London Dry and the hand-made Salt River gin, to the Homemade Contemporary Fair in Johannesburg for the first time.How did you get into gin manufacturing?We wanted a change from corporate life so we took a year off to travel southern Europe. In Spain, we realised how popular gin is and what a creative drink it can be.We chose to launch with gin not only because of its surging popularity but also because making it is like being a chef, playing with flavours.What makes your gins unusual?We make two gins and are working on a third (and a limited-release pink summer gin). We use malted barley, cooked and fermented, then triple- distilled . Then we distil a fourth time, with a range of botanicals.Our London Dry uses rosemary and lemon verbena with traditional gin botanicals (juniper, coriander, citrus and angelica root).Our Salt River gin tastes like the Western Cape in a glass: infused with organic lemon and orange peel from the Cederberg, and buchu and kapokbos - it's a floral gin.They're both blended to bottling strength with Table Mountain spring water from the Newlands spring.Our Mediterranean gin (we're still working on it) is triple-distilled from a wine base, infused with olives, basil and lemon thyme: a savoury, aromatic gin - available in November.The perfect mix?London Dry: 1 part gin to 3 parts tonic on big blocks of ice, a twist of lemon zest and a sprig of rosemary.Salt River: 1 part gin to 2 parts tonic to 1 part soda water with fresh grapefruit and a sprig of thyme.Both make the perfect martini: 60ml gin, 10ml dry vermouth, 10ml sweet vermouth, stirred over ice and served cold with a twist of lemon zest.Visit the Hope on Hopkins stand at the Handmade Contemporary Fair on the Hyde Park rooftop from Friday to Sunday, sanlamhmc.co.za, hopeonhopkins.co.za..

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