Everything started with Dona Alice's grilled bacalhau. I caught lusophilia – the love of Portugal and its people – a long time ago, in a shed converted into an "Adega" on the outskirts of Lisbon. I traveled the country, began to learn the language in bars using gestures and signs, and eventually commuted between Hamburg and the south of Portugal.
The rough Atlantic coast was not just beautiful, it also provided the perfect backdrop for cultivated 5 o-clock gin tonics – my second passion. And so a few years ago, on the beach at Odeceixe, the idea for a Portuguese-inspired gin was born, a gin that would capture the fragrances and tastes of the south – well, maybe not that of bacalhau.