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the wait for that first shiny still to arrive at Cape Town’s harbour. In fact, the real holdup was the licence. The wait was torturous and lasted 12 months, but it at least gave Lucy and Leigh time to swot up on their technique once the equipment was installed. “We did a range of courses in the early days and a lot of experimentation,” says Lucy. “We spent time with other distillers and read everything we could, but the trial and error aspect was how we really learned about the process.” Finally, in June 2015, Hope Distillery – sometimes known as Hope on Hopkins for the Salt River street on which it is located – poured its first legal tot. It is a day Lucy remembers vividly and one she still considers a highlight of their gin journey so far. “It was such a rollercoaster to get there,” she admits. “The long wait for the licence, getting down to the wire on cash – and just that feeling of disaster, feeling that you don’t know anything and that you’re in over your head. I remember so clearly the day we got our first bottle of gin on a shelf. It was at the Gin Bar on Wale Street in Cape Town and it was such a happy day.” PLAYING WITH FLAVOURS The distillery’s name has multiple meanings for Lucy and Leigh. “First and foremost, we just hoped like hell it would work!” says Lucy. “We gave up our jobs and plugged everything we had into it, not really knowing what we were doing, so it was very much ‘here’s hoping!’” The name was solidified both by geography – in the importance of the Cape of Good Hope – and also it gave a great marketing aspect. If there’s one thing South Africans need, it’s hope – and now you could get it, served with ice and a splash of tonic. Despite the delays, Hope was ahead of the curve when it came to South Africa’s gin boom. Their tasting room in Salt River opened a year after that first G&T was sold in the city centre and since then Lucy and Leigh have been approached countless times by people seeking a contract gin – that is, a gin produced at Hope but bottled as a different brand. Hope currently makes eight contract gins, but taking on new clients is not something they do lightly. “We have had a lot of people contact us over the years,” says Lucy. “Some have no idea what they want – they just want a gin because they can see that it’s popular. The brands we work with have a sense of what they want to achieve. They usually come with a concept and then I will develop a recipe for them.” This isLucy’s speciality–conceptualising and perfecting new flavour profiles. Hope’s flagship is a straight up London dry gin. “We wanted to start with a classic,” says Lucy. Producing a London dry is to distilling is what making a good blonde ale is to brewing. You have to be able to perfect the classics before experimenting and innovating. Over the years though, Hope has become known for some of their interesting once-off batches. Some of these experiments were not to be repeated. An early attempt at mopane worm gin “just tasted a bit earthy” and with a whole worm in each bottle, was admittedly more of a talking point than anything else. Likewise the imphepo gin remains consigned to the archives. Impepho is a plant used by traditional healers to communicate with the ancestors, but apparently it doesn’t work so well with other spirits. “It was not nice,” Lucy laughs. But some of the small batch gins have been huge hits. Among Lucy’s favourite creations are a salted cherry blossom and yuzu gin produced for the 2019 Rugby World Cup and a decadent-sounding chocolate orange Easter edition, which she has sadly never managed to recreate. PERENNIAL POPULARITY Of course, Hope has also experimented with fynbos – something which played a huge role in the popularity of South African gins. The use of our unique floral biodiversity catapulted South African gin onto the global stage a few years ago, although some micro- distilleries have dialled back on using fynbos today. “One of our gins – African Botanical – makes use of kapokbos and buchu, and some of our contract gins also use fynbos species,” says Lucy. “But it does seem that people are moving away from it. I think it became a little overdone, but it was a great way for South African gins to get noticed worldwide. Even today, it is the only thing that tourists want to taste.” The abundance of fynbos gins might have subsided somewhat, but the number of gin brands has continued to grow steadily. Lucy estimates that there are now at least 50 micro-distilleries around the country and more than 350 different brands when you include the contract gins. “The popularity doesn’t seem to be going away,” says Lucy with an air of relief. Owing to this proliferation of new brands, there have been attempts GIN O’CLOCK Hope’s sleek tasting room sits above the distillery where the stills – Mad Mary, Maude, Mildred, Mouma and Dot Thomas – sit begging to be photographed. You can work your way through a self-guided gin tasting – including seasonal specials – or opt for a cocktail at the Friday afternoon popup bar (open from 4pm), Unsalted. There’s a focus on classic cocktails but wine and beer are also available and small bites are served. There are plans to open the bar on Saturdays in the new year. And in case you were wondering, the stills are named after the important women in Leigh and Lucy’s lives – their grandmothers and Lucy’s mom. Hope's tasting room is open on Friday afternoons for classic cocktails and light bites Martini, distillery-cat-in-training Without juniper, it’s just flavoured vodka ontapmag.co.za | Summer 2020 | 37