/ Of Interest
Gins & things
South Africa has never been a big gin-drinking nation. As an industry, gin is still very much in its infancy, but that is slowly changing, thanks partly to one woman and her determination to put South African gins on the map.
Meet Jacqueline Grobler, a 40-something-year-old mother of two based in Linbro Park, Frankenwald, in Johannesburg. With a background in fine jewellery design, Jacqueline has always had an eye for the unusual and always operates outside of the norm – not believing in anything average. Raised in Centurion, Jacqueline says her dad, who was an engineer and inventor, and her mother, who has always been in the corporate world, both influenced her career in significant but separate ways.
At the end of 2015, she began experimenting with unique infusions in glass jars in the family kitchen. She would add alcohol to these infusions and then manufacture them in a kettle made from an old copper geyser. The process quickly evolved and before long she began making a unique liqueur, which she named Angel Heart.
Not content to stop there, Grobler started experimenting with gin and vodka and even dabbled in whisky. Making gin was a natural flow from liqueur and satisfied her need to really understand distilling as an art.
“ Gin is also like making perfume and, for me, it is pure alchemical magic,” she says.“ The complexity of working with a live botanical and manipulating the oils to create a specific flavour is quite a heady experience and incredibly rewarding. Gin is such an easy alcohol to drink. You simply add tonic and a slice of citrus and you have a fantastically refreshing cocktail,” she explains.
Gin is also like making perfume and, for me, it is pure alchemical magic
She established Angel Heart Beverages in 2016, and has been selling her gins, which retail for between R 360 and R 400 per bottle, nationwide.
“ We are not interested in selling booze but rather in selling the experience,” she says. She goes on to explain how she pours her energy into each formulation and never follows a recipe nor a predetermined formula or process. Instead, Grobler composes her gins very much like a symphony, adding notes that come together to create something unique and quite magical – a matchless taste sensation.
“ We want people to feel something when they drink our products,” says Grobler.“ There’ s nothing more gratifying than
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