For the love of gin

You might just be a brewery genius without knowing it! Thanks to Love Gin’s Homemade Gin Kit, you can now bring out your inner beverage artisan. Owner Heinrich reveals how he developed his signature contraption, and how his business has grown.

So out of all the drinks in the world, why gin?

I love gin. It is as simple as that. Ask me what  I would like to drink when I watch the sunset in the bush or when  I am sitting on a beach in Cape Town, or even at home after a long day at work and I will ask for a refreshing gin.

How did you get the idea to begin making your own gin? 

It was my love for gin that made me research how I could make my own, after attending some exciting distilling courses, I was ready for the first step, to set up my own distillery at home!

I absolutely loved every moment, from carefully positioning all my equipment on my front porch, to my distilling my first drops alcohol was super exciting. I immediately took a video of lighting the alcohol in my braai to show my friends how we will soon be ready to have the finest gin while watching our meat on the fire.

Tell us about the first Love Gin kit. 

It was my hunger to make the perfect gin that led me to building a gin kit. I wanted to make the perfect gin and by adding different flavours of botanicals and juniper.  I started experimenting at home infusing unflavoured vodka. It worked perfectly.  I realised if I could find the perfect combination of botanicals and juniper I could give friends hours of fun being gin artisans. I had to find the right balance and tried many different recipes, it was with the help of my family and countless blind tastings that I found the perfect gin recipe.

How would you say your business has flourished? 

Making between 5-10 different recipes weekly and getting the same one ranked as No 1 was exactly what I was looking for. I was on a roll, I decided to include my mom in my venture and soon we were adding more flavours and botanicals. Friends and family loved our gins!

We now have 4 different flavours, Dry gin, Lemon and Lavender, Burnt Orange and Hops. And we are loving it! I fulfilled my passion to make the perfect gin. And what is more anyone can do it.

So next time when you are looking for the perfect gift or you want to bring the artisan out in you, make sure you get your own Home made gin kit. Love gin kits can be found on-line at Love-Gin.co.za, Yuppiechef, Big Blue stores countrywide and Silver Ribbon Gifts.

For any other queries or questions please email [email protected].