Piling in for after-work drinks, around two dozen people pore over the menu at Mother's Ruin, a speciality gin bar in Cape Town, where homegrown varieties are making a mark on the global scene.

The menu is a daunting tome of 144 gins from around the globe, more than 20 of them South African and steeped in the flavors of the country's unique coastal mountains.

"Those are very popular - all the foreigners that come in here want to see what gins South Africa has to offer," says part owner Will Pretorius, whose current favourite is A Mari, a variety from Cape Town distilled with seawater.