LOUIS JANSE VAN RENSBURG
Louis Janse van Rensburg, aka the Bearded Gin Guy, is an entrepreneur and business owner from Port Elizabeth who has a passion for gin. Distilleries from all over the world send their gin to him for his unique creative reviews. This year he formed part of the judging panel for the Sunday Times Lifestyle Gin Awards. We caught up with him to find out what he’s obsessed with at the moment, and which gins we should be looking out for.
Place
There’s no place like home, but on my radar right now has to be Cape Town with its many gin distilleries and craft experience offerings. I travel the country visiting distillers and Cape Town has a big concentration of them.
App
I do a lot of photo editing for my social media and I’m using Light Room from Adobe a lot to create eye-catching pics.
Film
At the moment I’m into Indie. I’m a subscriber to many vlogging and creative film channels on YouTube — mainly because I’d like to launch my own YouTube channel.
Gin
Gins on my radar? Hahahaha. Everything that is made in South Africa! But I have to say Unit 43 is incredible, as well as the whole Monks range. I’ve collaborated with Monks to create a Bearded Gin Guy festive box. Right now, Knysna Gin is my go-to. I absolutely love the punchy herbal flavour.
Restaurant
I’ve been cutting out a lot of meat from my diet and moving towards a more plant-based diet. So Kindred Kitchen, a Port Elizabeth-based vegetarian restaurant, is on my radar as I discover new ways to enjoy plant-based foods.
Music
I recently watched Bottomless Coffee Band and was blown away by their talent and versatility. Since then I’ve been following them on social media and am looking forward to another live offering.