GIN-tastic event coming soon

The second annual Gin Festival will take place on 24 September. This year it will be hosted by Riverstone Lodge in Muldersdrift.

In celebration of all things gin, the day will be marked by distilleries showing off their craft whiskey, rum and other liquor, and visitors will be able to taste more than 20 different offerings from deluxe distilleries around South Africa, mixed with new tonics and mixers.

The festival organiser, Melody Barber, who partnered with Ellen Oosthuizen and Riverstone Lodge, said this is the second year the festival will take place and that it is now marked as an annual event. “We chose to host the event on Heritage Day because we would like to attract visitors to the Cradle of Humankind where they can enjoy the relaxing Sunday vibe.

“Food vendors will be carefully selected to offer high quality and a variety of eats. The restaurant at Riverstone Lodge will also be operational on the day.”

More about gin:

Gin is a liquor which derives its predominant flavour mainly from juniper berries, but there are hundreds of other supplementary flavours, including local inputs of fynbos and rooibos.

Sixty per cent of gin in South Africa is made in the Western Cape. This is mainly attributable to the fact that traditional wine farmers are supplementing their income with gin, and the hipster movement there.

Time Anchor Distilleries in Maboneng was the first to start up in Johannesburg in 2015. Within four years, they are producing many types of gin for the public to choose from.

Globally, sales of gin have grown tremendously and it is predicted that this trend will continue.