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Today we arrived in Mossel Bay around 10 am. We had to tender into shore and were very lucky the seas were calm enough. For s change of pace from wine tasting, if not a change of theme, we took a masterclass in gin making! It was both a chance to make our own gin and a chance to taste the artisanal gin made right here.
So much fun - We were greeted with a gin and tonic and then we each sat at our own station which included our own still. We were presented with three base options, citrus, floral and herbal, and a selection of flavourings to add. Adrian and I chose the herbal base - unique to this distillery and everyone chose 4 flavourings to add from about 18 different options. The choices in flavourings included vanilla, orange, chocolate etc as well as a number of local options, honeybush, boschu, rooibos and more.
Once we chose our base and added our flavourings we added a pouch of spices and of course juniper berries to our still! While our concoctions were getting heated we had a gin tasting. This distillery makes a classic, floral and what they call an oceanic gin. All delicious. They also make their own ceramic gin bottles which are lovely.
Once our gin started to distill, we were instructed to throw away the first 10 ml of the alcohol which is undrinkable and then carry on until our batch was complete. Our completed batch was measured for alcohol content and then diluted with water to reduce it to the maximum allowed which is 43%. Each of us received a bottle and a label of our own too! We got to name our gin - Adrian chose In"gin"eous for his name and I chose Wanderlust.
After our class we had a spectacular lunch in the Cafe Gannet which is part of the distillery which also includes a hotel. The distillery and masterclass were added during Covid as a job creation project and now employs 13 people.
After lunch we returned to ship and our friends Mary and Steve introduced us to another new drink - this one nonalcoholic, thank goodness! Steve taught eh barista onboard how to make an espresso tonic - tall glass filled with ice and tonic water with a shot of espresso poured slowly into it. Always tonic first or it will bubble up and overflow. Lovely and refreshing, a bit bitter from both the espresso and the tonic but with just a touch of sweet from the tonic coming through! A great ending to a wonderful day in Mossel Bay...
So much fun - We were greeted with a gin and tonic and then we each sat at our own station which included our own still. We were presented with three base options, citrus, floral and herbal, and a selection of flavourings to add. Adrian and I chose the herbal base - unique to this distillery and everyone chose 4 flavourings to add from about 18 different options. The choices in flavourings included vanilla, orange, chocolate etc as well as a number of local options, honeybush, boschu, rooibos and more.
Once we chose our base and added our flavourings we added a pouch of spices and of course juniper berries to our still! While our concoctions were getting heated we had a gin tasting. This distillery makes a classic, floral and what they call an oceanic gin. All delicious. They also make their own ceramic gin bottles which are lovely.
Once our gin started to distill, we were instructed to throw away the first 10 ml of the alcohol which is undrinkable and then carry on until our batch was complete. Our completed batch was measured for alcohol content and then diluted with water to reduce it to the maximum allowed which is 43%. Each of us received a bottle and a label of our own too! We got to name our gin - Adrian chose In"gin"eous for his name and I chose Wanderlust.
After our class we had a spectacular lunch in the Cafe Gannet which is part of the distillery which also includes a hotel. The distillery and masterclass were added during Covid as a job creation project and now employs 13 people.
After lunch we returned to ship and our friends Mary and Steve introduced us to another new drink - this one nonalcoholic, thank goodness! Steve taught eh barista onboard how to make an espresso tonic - tall glass filled with ice and tonic water with a shot of espresso poured slowly into it. Always tonic first or it will bubble up and overflow. Lovely and refreshing, a bit bitter from both the espresso and the tonic but with just a touch of sweet from the tonic coming through! A great ending to a wonderful day in Mossel Bay...
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