Most of you might have seen or heard about the award winning Inverroche gin. We were invited to the home of Inverroche, in Still Bay, a small town just outside of George in the Western Cape.
We went on a tour of the Still Bay area and experienced all the Inverroche distillery had to offer.
About Inverroche
Inverroche is a French inspired gin that is not only award winning, but also known for its distinct flavour and unique packaging.
Founder Lorna Scott studied gin and decided to start her own gin brand inspired by nature.
Inverroche gin is mostly made out of locally sourced ingredients – the main ingredient being fynbos.
They have three main flavours: the aromatic Classic Gin is rich in colour; the Verdant gin is soft and floral; and the Amber Gin – their award winning flavour – holds a crispy, zesty and citrusy flavour.
Closer to the Inverroche distillery is the Stillbaai Fynbos Park. Here you get to see and feel the fynbos used to make Inverroche gin.
The founder values women empowerment, and the brand’s staff consists of 70% females from the Still Bay area. These women hand package the gins and produce over 4000 units a day.
There is only a small number of machinery in the distillery as all of their bottles are individually hand packaged – from filling the bottles with gin, bottling and labelling, to wrapping and packaging the gins.
The Gin Academy
The Inverroche Gin Academy – also known as the gin school – is where they teach you all about gin and how to make it.
We made our own citrus-inspired flavour infused with a blend of lemon zest, grapefruit, baobab, hibiscus, demerara sugar and raisins.
The instructor guides you through the process from flavour exploration, distillation, and bottling your unique gin.
After crafting your gin, you get to name it yourself. This was one of the most exciting parts of the experience!
The Bee&Bee Campaign
Unlike honey bees, solitary bees do not produce honey. Their main responsibility is to protect the environment, including fynbos: the hero ingredient for Inverroche gin. However, these bees are threatened and they are losing their homes.
Inverroche believes in fighting for nature, and they have redesigned their packaging into bee hotels – or Bee&Bee’s – to give these endangered bees safe new spaces nest. These bee hotels are available on the Inverroche website.
The overall experience was inspiring and fun!
Visiting the Inverroche distillery is definitely something to add to your bucket list when you next visit the Still Bay area.
Other experiences at the distillery include a gin tasting with chocolate pairings as well as a taste of their variety of gin infused gelato. Delish!
Here’s a simple Inverroche-inspired signature serve to try out:
ALSO SEE: Luxury gin and tonic
