I still remember when my grandfather used to distill cherry schnaps on his farm. At that time there was a law that allowed the farmers to distill some liters of booze corresponding the numbers of cows in the barn. We helped him at work; but as children we weren’t allowed to taste the brandy. (The grandmother, who was also a Sunday school teacher, would never have allowed that!)

Liquor was also distilled in the United States during Prohibition; in so-called «Moonshine-Breweries». A kind of prohibition also took place during the Corona crisis, when alcohol consumption was severely restricted or banned across Europe and also overseas. So also, in Namibia!

What do you do when you run out of booze and you’re left with nothing? You build your own distillery. Beat, a Swiss, who we met in Omaruru, did the same. We were invited to a Lasagna dinner with him and his wife. (One of the most delicious lasagna we have eaten for a long time!) For aperitif there was a homemade Cynar; two bottles of Pinotage from South Africa for dinner – we brought them with us. And as a nightcap, Beat offered his homemade gin. It was just delicious!

PS. Brigitta let Beat initiate her into the secrets of the distillery. And I’ll give Beat a hand the next time he makes gin. You never know…