Founders Story

Best friends and serial entrepreneurs Pierre Strydom and Stefan Coetzee shared a dream of starting a business together.

Pierre had been a certified sommelier who traveled the world onboard a six-star cruise liner, dabbling in the world’s finest tipples, before leaving ship life and taking on a portfolio of wines. Stefan was a wine producer, working long hours in wine cellars in Napa Valley and South Africa.

Putting their heads together to create their own small-batch craft alcohol business at a time when craft gin was booming in South Africa, the duo launched Bloedlemeon Gin and the world’s first Blood Orange gin – a flavor profile since adopted by many other brands. They also created South Africa’s first Gin and Tonic Festival, which garnered an overwhelming response.

Then they began a major pivot. As non-alcoholic products were coming to market, they knew they could create something magical. Feeling strongly that people should not have to compromise on the complexity, taste, or social experience, they set out to create a product line that could inspire anyone wanting to cut back, abstain, or who was just curious.

Pierre and Stefan looked to Cape Town’s Cape Floral Kingdom for botanical and flavor inspiration. They both loved the outdoors and collectively spent a lot of time hiking the towering mountains, fly fishing the rivers, camping the beautiful coastlines, and taking cold dips in the Atlantic Ocean.

Up in the Cape mountains, they found what they were looking for. Buchu, a native flowering plant, provided an unmistakable black currant scent. While hiking the Cederberg Mountains, they came across African Wormwood and Honeybush, and these are now layered into the botanical blends. The heavenly fragrant and calming smell of native rose geranium provided a floral focal point. These Hero Botanicals are truly inspirational and imprint an unmistakably distinct character on their products. Paired with classic botanicals like juniper and coriander, they complete sophisticated flavor profiles.

And so, Abstinence Spirits was born in 2020. The product line of four non-alcoholic spirits and two aperitifs launched in the United States in 2022 under the direction of Ranwei Chiang,