Mampoer

Mampoer is a fruit spirit distilled from whatever the farm has - peaches, apricots, prickly pear, marula, karee berries - fermented and then run through a copper still, and it comes out strong, often well above fifty percent. The Groot Marico district in North West is its heartland, partly because farms there have distilled it for generations and partly because Herman Charles Bosman set his Marico stories in this landscape in the 1930s and 1940s and wrote mampoer into South African literature; the district now runs a Bosman festival and several licensed distillers offer tastings. The distinction that matters is legality: mampoer made and sold by licensed distillers is a regulated product, while farm distilling without a licence is illegal and the quality of what comes out of an unlicensed still cannot be judged by taste. Buy from the licensed producers.

What's there

• Whatever the farm grows - peaches, apricots, prickly pear, marula and karee.
• Copper stills - small-batch distilling on farms around the district.
• The Bosman connection - a writer who put the Marico and its brandy into literature.
• Licensed producers - the regulated version, and the only one worth buying.

When to go

All year; summer for the fruit season. Two hours, with tastings booked ahead.

Practical notes

It is very strong and tastings are short for a reason. Unlicensed farm spirit is illegal and cannot be assessed for safety - stick to licensed distillers. The district is remote with limited facilities. Tastings need arranging in advance.

Nearby

Groot Marico village; the Marico river and eye are close by.