These gins are ‘Flocking Fabulous’
Elzette Kirstein and her dad, Neels Marais are in the business of handcrafted gin and the name of their gin, 'Flocking Fabulous' came from wanting something unique, different, fun and funky in the current gin market.
POLOKWANE – Elzette Kirstein and her dad, Neels Marais are in the business of handcrafted gin. Majamela Distillery was founded three years ago by the duo who say they saw a gap in the market, and have been looking for an opportunity to grow their business.
“My dad has been a hobby distiller for more than 25 years and it has always been his passion. I then decided to join the business and I have to say, it is hard work and long hours, but I absolutely love it,” she said. She explained that the name of their gin, ‘Flocking Fabulous’ came from wanting something unique, different, fun and funky in the current gin market.
“We produce more than one product and when I bought into the company, I decided that the gin needed re-branding,” she said. Adding to their brand’s uniqueness are the Majamela Shakes which are only sold from their factory shop.
“We have clients from Matoks, Mokopane and around Polokwane buying the shakes. They are quite popular,” she added. Elzette said that their gin is couriered to clients across South Africa and they also have representatives in the North West and Gauteng.
“I love seeing this small venture grow. I put a lot of effort into it and I love learning new skills. Every single product has been through my hands before it is sold,” Elzette said. She added that their gin comes in five delicious flavours: original, berry, litchi, pink-sweets flavour and watermelon.
Elzette explains that creating gin is harder than it looks as the ‘fermenting mash’ they use takes four to seven days to ferment. “When that is ready, we distil that to get the alcohol. When we have enough alcohol, I make a batch of gin. The process can take up to three weeks to produce one batch,” she concluded.
