I was 14, visiting London for the first time, when I first realised that a Beefeater was more than my Dad’s favourite pre-dinner drink….and that the gin martini he savoured nightly which smelled like a collision of pine forest and lemon grove, was named after real humans.

Guys who wore ridiculous red suits and black hats, and guarded the Royals.

Thanks to my Dad and my husband (the two big men in my life), I’ve always had a soft spot for gin, even though I’m mostly a wine drinker. But I like it a lot more now that craft gin has trickled into my life. Because just like craft beer, craft gin has made it to South Africa.

Enter Lucy Beard and Leigh Lisk, partners in spirits and love. They aren’t the first gin distillers here, but they are the first to open a distillery in Cape Town. It’s called Hope on Hopkins: because besides cash, hope is what you need when you start a new business (and Hopkins Street is where they work and live).