January 2022

Celebrating 50 (I)

The year had barely begun, but there was already something to celebrate! 50 … It’s just a number they say (and don’t forget, “you’re now half a century YOUNG”)!

To kick off my milestone birthday, one of my dearest and longest friends invited me to join her for a gin tasting. This was then followed by a (long) weekend of camping with family for more celebrations – we will tell you all about this in our next post (read here).

West Coast Distillers, Langebaan:

Friends told us about an amazing gin tasting they had (literally a kilometer from our home, which I didn’t even know about) and my friend immediately grabbed this opportunity to give me a fantastic 50th birthday gift!

West Coast Distillers is situated in an industrial area and doesn’t look like much from the outside … but wow, once you walked in, the gin lounge is just another world!

The premium handcrafted gin, bitters and spirits that are distilled and sold at West Coast Distillers

We loved the interior of West Coast Distillers – tables and chairs are laid out for tasting sessions, there are so many different bottles of gin and other spirits displayed in beautiful cupboards, colourful banners to advertise their gin and a bar area where everything good is happening!

Colourful banner to advertise their handcrafted gin
Our tasting table – let the fun begin!

Much to our surprise, we were each handed a welcome drink – a lovely decorated handcrafted gin, named Summer Cup (perfect for a hot summers’ day and oh, so refreshing)!

Welcoming drink

Except for the 6 glasses on the table, there were three bottles of bitters and a few cans of mix to add to the different gins. The most colourful ingredients however, were the garnish we could add to our different gins – dried orange slices, dried strawberries and blueberries, lemon peels and different herbs (mint, rosemary and thyme).

Garnish for our gin tasting session

The host at West Coast Distillers treated us with stories about how each gin was crafted and what is best to drink with it. She filled our glasses with the different types of gin and then we could add the different flavours and garnish.

One of the unique bitters (Rooibos) that compliments the gin

Here follow a series of photo’s of the 6 different gins (and vodka) we tasted – I love the names that were chosen for these drinks!

Atlantic Inspired Classic (Caspyn West Coast Dry)
Potion to Perfection (Belladona Nightshade)
The Jailbird (Tronkvoel Vodka) on the left and Born in Lockdown (Tronkvoel Nartjie Vodka) on the right
No Fuss no Frills (No Frills Gin)
Liquid Sunshine (Weskus Summer Cup) – my favourite

We had such an enjoyable time at West Coast Distillers – looking at our (almost) empty glasses, it was a great gin tasting session!

Gin & Vodka tasting done and dusted

Towards the end of our tasting session, the two Master Distillers of West Coast Distillers walked in (with an adorable dog). Shane and Shaun (yes, we also got confused) are the perfect hosts and we had great chats with them about their love for distilling and creating the perfect gin for gin lovers like us!

This adorable dog was almost as good as the gin!

Thank you to my dear friend for such a treat like this for my 50th birthday! She knows, after all these years, what I like most … a good gin and great company!

Happy (and 50)

And of course, we did not leave West Coast Distillers empty-handed! Between my friend and my husband, I walked away with amazing gifts … it’s good to be 50!

Wonderful gifts

To end it off, here’s a quote from Agatha Christie:

“Suddenly you find, at the age of 50, that a whole new life has opened before you”.