- EWB sells ‘The Pink Elephant’ gin
- Distribution rights exclusive to EWB
- Partners with Cape Town distiller
SONNY SERITE
Dr Mike Chase and his organisation, Elephants Without Borders (EWB) recently made headlines with their claims that poachers had unleashed a genocide on Botswana elephants. It has since emerged that apart from their elephant conservation work, EWB deals in liquor trade and have partnered with a Cape Town based wine and spirits distilling company, Ginny Fowl Gin.
On their website and social media platforms, Ginny Fowl Gin which is run by a Motswana of South African origins, introduces the handcrafted ‘The Pink Elephant’ gin as a natural cold compound infusion of botanicals created ‘‘especially for Elephants Without Borders’’. The EWB logo is wrapped around the neck of the bottle and at the back of the 750ml bottle there is another logo and the inscription ‘Elephants Without Borders’. Dr Chase is also quoted on the bottle sticker with the words, ‘‘Elephants are the symbols of freedom. They are the symbols of Africa’’.
According to Shane Douglas-Evans, the gin story began with her wanting to make gins with different flavours. She started with a Fynbos gin and decided to explore the boundaries. Shane decided that to really stand out and be different she would embrace the retro ‘bathtub,’ cold compound infusion method. Making use of distilled liquor and then infusing the botanicals and filtering. This preserves the freshness of the botanicals, since distilling takes them to high temperature. Because there are people who are purists, she produced a distilled Classic gin with eight botanicals too. For this, she has used a herb she knows from Botswana called the Resurrection Herb (Myrothamnus flabellifolia), A ‘cure-all’ herb with extraordinary anti-oxidant properties, which adds a delightful piney depth of flavour, to compliment the Juniper.
Speaking to the Botswana Gazette from Cape Town, Douglas-Evans revealed that she does not have distribution rights to ‘The Pink Elephant’ gin as she only manufactures it exclusively for EWB who hold exclusive distribution rights. On why she was not distilling her liquor from Botswana, Douglas-Evans decried the lack of reliable water supply in the country. Dr Chase did not respond to our questions on whether customers can buy the liquor over the counter or on request.