Our Story
Two friends. One question. What if gin tasted like where we're from?
PHOTO — Founders candid · Chris & Damola
The Beginning
Africa produces some of the world's most extraordinary botanical ingredients. Baobab, rooibos, buchu, marula. Yet somehow, the global spirits industry had largely ignored them. We thought that was wrong.
Chris and Damola started Spearhead Spirits in London with one goal: to build an African spirits company truly rooted in the continent, its botanicals, its people, its stories.
Explore the ginsOur Story
Two friends. One question. What if gin tasted like where we're from?
The Mission
Most gins taste like gin. Bayab tastes like Africa. We set out to make a gin that was genuinely rooted in the continent — its fruits, its botanicals, its spirit. Small batch, copper pot distilled in KwaZulu-Natal, crafted with twelve botanicals sourced from seven African countries.
Founders Photo Goes Here
The Founders
Andy and Bridget founded Bayab with a simple belief — that Africa's incredible botanicals, fruits and flavours deserved a place on the global spirits stage. Not as a novelty. As a serious, award-winning gin.
Distilled in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, using locally grown sugarcane spirit and the purest water from the Midlands, every bottle of Bayab is a love letter to the continent.
The Distillery
Every expression is made in small batches using a copper pot still, allowing us to control every element of the distillation process. The result is a gin of exceptional clarity and character.
We use locally grown sugarcane spirit as our base, blended with the purest water from the Midlands — giving Bayab its distinctively clean, bright finish.
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What We Stand For
01
Every botanical, every fruit, every drop of water is sourced from across the African continent. This is non-negotiable.
02
We measure success not just in bottles sold, but in communities supported, trees planted and a planet protected.
03
Gold medals. Best African Gin. Editor's Choice. Recognition that Africa's gin is world-class.
The Journey
2018
Andy and Bridget ask one question: why isn't there a gin that truly represents Africa? The journey begins.
2020
After two years of botanical research and recipe development, the first batch of Bayab Classic Dry is distilled in KwaZulu-Natal.
2021
Bayab becomes a certified B Corporation, cementing its commitment to people, planet and purpose.
2022–2024
Gold medals, best African Gin awards, coverage in The Times, Esquire and Delicious Magazine. Africa's gin earns its place.
Today
Classic Dry, Palm & Pineapple, Orange & Marula, African Rose. Each a different window into Africa's extraordinary flavour.