ABOUT US
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WORTHY OF THE NAME
Promerops cafer, or Cape Sugarbird as she is known, is the dusty copper-brown, long-tailed songbird, endemic to the regions where we source our spirit range's floral ingredient profile.
She is a specialist nectar feeder and will be found roaming in search of perfect nectar, her long feathers, with the tell tale yellow, flitting between protea and fynbos buds.
Like us, she would be nothing without Proteaceae (and indeed they without her) She is the graceful, unassuming, yet diligent hustler of the Cape Floral Kingdom she calls her home.
She is our ideal ambassador for the genesis of our journey which began with gin, ambition and entrepreneurial spirit.
THE TASTE OF THE CAPE
A lightly floral gin, reminiscent of London Dry, she offers notes of rooibos, honeybush, rose geranium and the Cape May Flower, sourced by botanists from the slopes of our iconic mountain. Perfect on ice or as a mixer, Sugarbird Gin is perfect for socialising or collaborating over big ideas.
SUGARBIRD CAPE FYNBOS SPIRITS
Becoming Sugarbird Cape Fynbos Spirits and Kindred Spirits.
Since its inception in 2017, Sugarbird Cape Fynbos Gin has extended its footprint in the South African alcohol beverage industry, beyond gin (our Signature gin range now also boasts 4 sublime varietals) which has necessitated a change in name, from ‘Sugarbird Cape Fynbos Gin’, to ‘Sugarbird Cape Fynbos Spirits’
After winning the Luxury Lifestyle award of best premium gin in South Africa in 2021, we went on to launch a pure potstill 14 year aged Brandy - the award winning and SA Brandy Foundation recognised Sugarbird XO Brandy. Later in 2021, we entered the Rum category with Sugarbird Cape Fynbos Rum.
We also released the more accessible Kindred Spirits, which we affectionately refer to as our Lockdown-inspired range – a range of spirits not afraid to ‘say it like it is’.
From this was born, amongst others, a low cost vintage dry gin, called ‘Lean on me’, reminding us of the good times, the better times to come and the friends we all need, to help us carry on, because really - we all need somebody to ‘Lean on’. The Gin has won two critically acclaimed awards since its official launch in September 2021, and for Festive 2021, we launched a Christmas-inspired ‘glitter’ version of ‘Lean on Me’.
Kindred Spirits also boasts an affordable Brandy “Ja Nee Fok”, in a bid to communicate, via a brandy label, what every South African was thinking during Lockdown. Año de los Muertos, is our agave spirit - the English translation of the Spanish, is “Year of the Dead.’ (This agave has already won a brand of promise award from the International, Tequila Aficionado.
The Spirits range grew, and after the Liquor Industry began to normalise, the range welcomed Joker Brandy, Grandmother’s Bear Vodka, and Howler Rum to the stable.
We pride ourselves on imparting a taste of Africa into each of the Kindred Spirits brands, using locally grown, and where possible, indigenous ingredients.
Although uniquely individual, each brand shares the same attention to traditional distilling methods, as well as the quality ingredients that go into the making of all of them – true ‘Kindred Spirits’.
For more on our Kindred Spirits range CLICK HERE