My friend brought me some Konyagi back from Tanzania. Konyagi is a local spirit made in Tanzania that resembles something between gin and vodka. It’s a clear spirit with less juniper or other herbs. It’s also sold in plastic bags which adds to the novelty.

Obviously my first thought was “how do I make a martini out of this?”

So I put the konyagi in the freezer for a few days. It didn’t freeze: it’s quite strong. I then poured it as if it were a classic gin martini, although I poured the konyagi before the vermouth because I wanted to taste it “raw” to begin with out of curiosity. It was strong.

I then added vermouth to taste, lemon oil and garnished it with a nasturtium (a fiery, edible flower you can grow in your garden).

I was delighted with this East African slant on an old classic.

However, one Tanzanian warned me that it could make me go blind. One of my other friends also found the martini a little bit strong and dubbed it The Serenget-me-to-a-hospital… I’ll leave it to you to decide. If you ever visit Tanzania, or if you live there, you know what to do!