Gin: SA’s trendy drink

PParticular bars worth visiting are the The Gin Bar in Wale Street, Cape Town and the Botanical Bar in Longmarket Street, Cape Town. Asara Wine Estate in Stellenbosch also boasts a broad selection of approximately 100 different gins and is well worth a visit if you are in the area. The Peninsula Hotel and 12 Apostles Hotel on the Atlantic Seaboard in Cape Town and the Royal Hotel in Riebeek Kasteel provide insightful experiences into the local gin industry with their huge selection. Their well-trained bar staff can serve up a classic martini that would impress James Bond.

In Durban, try the Gin Gallery Pop Up Bar in Florida Road Windermere, Distillery 031 and Bar in Berea, Secret Gin Bar (ever-changing pop-up venue) and Panorama Bar at Tsogo Sun’s Elangeni and Maharani.

In Joburg, head to Social on Main in Bryanston, Workshop 55 in Parktown, Tonic in Linden (small but worth a visit), 011 Dainfern in Sandton, The Countess in Melville, and the Union Bar Pop-Up.

Gin tasting is fast becoming a new urban outing, where groups of people, who would usually go wine tasting, now opt for a much closer and more involved experience. Within a few kilometres from Cape Town’s CBD are several gin distilleries that offer tasting experiences. These include Hope on Hopkins, Woodstock Gin Co, New Harbour Distillery, Pienaar and Son and Cape Town Gin and Spirits Company.

In Durban, there’s Distillery 031, and in Gauteng, try Time Anchor in Maboneng, Black Horse Distillery in the Cradle of Humankind and Silver Creek Distillery in Randfontein.

These experiences are interactive, informative and fun, and make for ideal stops for a bachelor or hens party, end-of-year office parties, birthdays or even a casual get together.

GGin, unlike many other food and drink trends before it, is a low-calorie drink that can be enjoyed by everyone at all times of the year. Given the huge selection of gins available on the market these days, there is a gin for every season and for every occasion.

So where to next for the gin industry, many may ask. It goes without saying that not all distilleries will survive the gin revival. Many of the pink, red and blue gins are trendy now, but might soon lose their appeal. However, gin is an age-old drink with the added benefit of containing medicinal properties. It has been around for many centuries and is likely to be around for many more. For all those wondering what is coming next after gin, well, it isn’t going anywhere, although its popularity may wane as the market becomes saturated and the trend following millennial generation seek out something new to whet their appetites.

One thing is certain though - the gin revival has had many positive spinoffs. It has created jobs in a sector where few jobs existed five to 10 years ago.  It has given rise to the creation of several new tonics with natural quinine, and a much lower sugar content than their predecessors, which dominated the market for more than a century. Non-alcoholic gin and tonics have entered a space in the market, which never existed, and have gained massive popularity in recent years.