It’s a different way of staying friends … Germany has strengthened ties with Portugal by producing its Gin Sul, a heady mixture of Portuguese zests (especially a type of rock rose found only on the Costa Vicentina) combined with a delicious lacing of ‘saudade’.
It’s ironic though that Gin Sul had to be created so far north. The original plan was to produce it in the warmth and atmosphere of Portugal.
Algarve politician Cristovão Norte (PSD) says he “did everything” for the brew to stay local. “We lost an opportunity,” he wrote on Facebook – and so Gin Sul is being produced in Hamburg, Germany, “but with a love of Portugal”!
The attractive earthenware bottle is cleverly presented in three languages and depicts the old-fashioned “cacilheiro” ferryboats that used to navigate Central Europe’s Elbe River in the 50s.
The only aspect of the story we’re not sure about is how Gin Sul will be travelling south … it is unlikely to be by ferryboat.
