South African couple Les and Paula Ansley have launched a new gin called Indlovu Gin that is infused with elephant poop.
The idea for the gin came to them when on a trip to Kenya when they are watching elephants at a watering hole. It is unclear which national park they visited in Kenya. According to the couple, they leaned how particular elephants are with their eating habits and also how little of the plant material they digest. This is when the idea of creating a gin infused hit them.
The elephant poop from their latest collection was collected from Botlierskop Game Reserve where the elephants forage on acacia, buchu, and many other indigenous plants.
To create the gin, their company Ibhu collects fresh dung from naturally foraging elephants, which is then dried, crumbled and sterilised. Once processed, the botanicals extracted from the dung are infused into the gin. The Ibhu Indlovu Gin is said to be smooth, complex with earthy flavours and is suggested served over ice.
According to company, each batch of Indlovu Gin will have slight variations in flavour due to the location and season during which the dung was collected. For its first batch of spirit, the company collected elephant poop from the Botlierskop Game Reserve in South Africa.
Indlovu Gin is currently available from select retailers in South Africa and has a recommended retail price of R659 (US$46) per 750ml bottle. It can be found at:
- Yuppie Chef (online)
- Big Five Duty-Free OR Thambo Airport, Johannesburg
- Siegies on Huguenot, Franschhoek
- Grande Provence, Franschhoek
- Knysna Elephant Park, Knysna
The company will donate 15% of the profits from the sales of Indlovu Gin to the Africa Foundation to support its work in wildlife conservation at Phinda Game Reserve.