It all started with Cape Town’s love affair with Gin, but Gin-fever has since spread across the land and can be enjoyed at a host of upmarket destinations across the nation. Here are our top choices to satisfy your craving for craft gin.
The Mother City of Gin Bars
The Stack in Weltevreden Street is renowned for its uncomplicated eats, colorful décor and crafty gin cocktails. Inside or out, The Stack packs on a vibe that’s perfect any time of day, but especially between 4 pm and 6 pm when Happy Hour kicks in.
Any place that’s named after gin, has got to be serious about the stuff, and so it is with The Gin Bar on Wale Street. You’ll find this tiny speakeasy out the back of Honest Chocolate where a secret courtyard invites aficionados to get to know the city’s 52 versions of craft gin first hand.
Going for Gold in Johannesburg
From its humble origins as a small market gin-stand, Tonic has moved on to bigger and better things to set up shop in Linden, in Randburg. Snack on tapas and go botanical with a range of fragrant cocktails that smack of gin and home-brewed floral syrups.
For two pages of choices when it comes to gin cocktails, take a trip to 011 Dainfern, where you can try some of Jozi’s finest hand-crafted gin options along with traditional steakhouse eats.
Durban
Morningside’s Distillery 031 restaurant may be closed for expansion at the moment, but the tours and tastings are still going strong. Try a refreshing swig of Durban dry gin, with 10 botanicals, or opt for the D’Urban Barrel Aged Gin. You can sip on them neat or with home-made lemon and tonic cordials.
If you prefer to sip your gin amongst the trendy North Coast vibe, you can still wrap your lips around a Durban Dry gin at Fourteen on Chartwell in Umhlanga. The rest of the craft gin menu includes Inverroche, Musgrave Pink or Tanqueray 10, among others. Enjoy a huge glass of G&T or get creative with fun flavors while designing your own cocktail at this upmarket eatery.
Say Cheers in South Africa
The inventory of locally distilled gins is almost too long to list and far too many to try on one holiday, but we’ve done our tastings and here are just a few of our favorites:
- New Harbour Spekboom // iGwanitsha Gin
- Hope on Hopkins Salt River Gin
- Musgrave Pink Gin
- Inverroche Amber Gin
- Clemengold Gin
- Wilderer Fynbos Gin
- Woodstock Gin Co’s Beer Distilled Gin
- Six Dogs Blue Gin
- D’urban Dry Gin
Whether you’re heading to South Africa for the gin, the wildlife or the beaches, you’ll find plenty of places to whet your whistle when it comes to gin. Get in touch and we’ll arrange the ultimate southern African safari for you according to your interests – and beverage preferences!
