THE GIN PASSPORT ATLAS - DISTILLERY STORY- PINNED ON THE MAP - AFRICA
HOPE GIN, Cape Town, South Africa
I finally got to visit Hope Distillery in February 2025, spending some time with Lucy Beard, tasting their gin expressions and learning more about the story behind one of South Africa's pioneering craft distilleries.
Hope was founded in 2014 by Lucy Beard and her husband, Leigh Lisk, after they left their careers as lawyers and returned to South Africa. Neither came from a traditional distilling background, but after travelling through Europe and Morocco in their campervan, they decided to leave corporate life behind and establish a distillery in Cape Town.
Getting there wasn't straightforward. They spent around 18 months navigating the licensing process before opening in a former warehouse in Salt River, becoming Cape Town's first licensed craft distillery. From those early days, Hope has grown considerably while remaining independently owned by Lucy and Leigh.
Cape Town was a natural fit, surrounded by the extraordinary biodiversity of the Cape Floral Kingdom and its wealth of indigenous botanicals. That influence runs through much of Hope's range, with ingredients such as buchu, kapokbos, lemon pelargonium, rosemary and local citrus appearing across their spirits.
Hope's core gin range includes London Dry, Mediterranean, African Botanical and Navy Strength, with each recipe taking a different approach to the botanicals.
African Botanical Gin is particularly rooted in the Cape, using botanicals including buchu and kapokbos, both associated with the indigenous fynbos vegetation around the region. Their London Dry incorporates lemon pelargonium alongside more traditional gin botanicals, while the Mediterranean expression takes inspiration from the Mediterranean with herbs and citrus.
The range has expanded well beyond the original Hope-labelled gins. The Hope Family Spirits portfolio now includes Hobbs Cape Dry Gin, Hobbs Pink Pepper Gin, ClemenGold, Resurrection Bush, A Mari, vodka, rhum agricole and agave spirit.
One of the more unusual projects is A Mari, meaning "from the sea" in Latin. There are now two versions: A Mari Atlantic Ocean Gin and A Mari Indian Ocean Gin.
The Atlantic expression uses Atlantic Ocean water and botanicals inspired by the Cape's West Coast. The Indian Ocean expression draws inspiration from the opposite side of the continent, incorporating botanicals including Swahili lime and pink peppercorn, with chai masala added after distillation.
Lucy also told me something during my visit which I couldn't resist including. The two A Mari gins use water from their respective oceans during distillation and, according to Lucy, the still actually has its own "music". She says it sounds different when distilling the Atlantic and Indian Ocean versions. Whether it's just the different minerality of the water, or there is a scientific explanation for the difference in sound, or simply a distiller who has spent enough time with her still to recognise its every noise, it's a brilliant little insight into what happens behind the scenes.
Hope has also played an important role in the growth of South Africa's modern craft-spirit industry.
Before Hope had even received its distilling licence, the founders were approached by Musgrave Gin. This led them into contract distilling, initially as a way of helping cover the considerable costs of establishing the distillery, but it soon became an important part of the business.
Over the years Hope has worked with a number of South African brands, producing or developing spirits including Musgrave, Bloedlemoen, ClemenGold and A Mari, among others.
The distillery has subsequently expanded its production beyond gin, with rhum agricole made from fresh sugarcane juice, vodka and agave spirit now part of the wider operation.
Their equipment has grown too, with the original still Maude joined by the larger hybrid still Mad Mary.
Lucy remains heavily involved in the creative and commercial side of Hope, including recipe development, experimentation, tasting, marketing and client relationships, while Ranga Mlambo leads the day-to-day distillery operations.
When I visited in February 2025, another Hope project was still in progress. The team were developing a new city space, which has since opened as Hope Provisions Store in the Longkloof Precinct in Gardens.
The space combines a tasting room and cocktail bar with bottles and spirits from the Hope portfolio. It opened in 2026, so unfortunately I was a little too early on my visit.
That has now firmly been added to my list for the next time I'm in Cape Town!
Lucy Beard - Master Distiller
A huge thank you to Lucy for spending so much time with me, showing me around, sharing the history of Hope and letting me taste through the range.
Hope has been part of South Africa's craft-gin story from the beginning, but the business has evolved far beyond those early gin days.
From contract distilling and indigenous botanicals to rum, agave and the two A Mari ocean gins, there is plenty happening behind those doors in Salt River.
"Show me a bottle
and I'll tell you a story"
