Towerwater Guava Liqueur

Guava time is preserving time, because there are only so many fresh guavas a person can eat. A fresh guava doesn’t like lying around, and it certainly doesn’t like travelling. You only have to look at it sideways and it’s bruised. The best thing is to eat it straight off the tree, before it even knows it has been picked.

By late autumn, the whole kitchen and house smell of guavas ripening further in the bowl on the kitchen table. It has become a ritual to go out in the late afternoon and pick the guavas before the mousebirds, Cape white-eyes and bulbuls get to them early the next morning. Guava time in the Towerwater orchard is competition time, with every bird and bug vying to get its beak, pincers or ovipositor into this exotic fruit first.

The harvest in the bowl on the kitchen table grows quickly with every evening’s picking, and before you know it, you have to find a way of dealing with them so that the goodness lasts a little longer than late autumn.

The old favourite is to preserve them in syrup, because what could be better than preserved guavas with custard? You eat them cold in summer and warm in winter, with just a little hint of cinnamon for that cosy feeling.

Guavas and custard are such a simple South African treat, but somehow the nostalgia settles right there, just this side of your heart, before you’ve even taken the first bite. You can almost feel your eyes start to swim when you see that bowl of pink and yellow coming towards you, because you’ve already tasted it in your mind.

No guava season at Towerwater goes by without making a few jars of preserved guavas. It is an unpretentious dessert that asks so little and gives so much. This year I wanted to try something a little different as well, so I decided to make a guava liqueur based on a recipe I came across in my book Maak Jou Eie Likeur by Jean Dickson.

I replaced the cane spirit with witblits to give it that extra bit of local flavour. Because I used witblits, I decided not to peel the guavas because the skin holds the highest concentration of the fruit's natural aroma, giving one a bolder, more authentic guava flavour. I reasoned that, because witblits has a very high alcohol percentage (55% ABV) and a fiery, rustic character, leaving the guava skin on was actually the better approach.

What could be better than a sweet little tot of guava on a cold winter’s evening, or a guava spritz over ice in summer?

Towerwater Guava Liqueur

Ingredients:

500 g guavas

4 whole cloves

1 piece of cinnamon stick

750 ml witblits or cane spirit

500 g (625 ml) sugar

600 ml water

Method:

Peel the guavas and cut them into small pieces for cane spirit, but consider leaving them in the peal for witblits.

Place the guavas, cloves and cinnamon stick in a clean, dry glass or earthenware container with a lid. Add the witblits, seal tightly and shake well. Leave to infuse for two weeks in a warm place. Shake at least twice a day.

First strain the mixture through a clean, dry sieve and then strain it again through two layers of fine cheesecloth. Set aside.

Mix the sugar and water in a heavy-based saucepan and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil and boil for one minute. Remove the syrup from the heat and allow it to cool. Add the infused witblits to the cooled syrup.

Pour the liqueur into a dry, sterilised bottle, fit the stopper, seal and label. Store for one month.

And so I could add a tropical fruit liqueur to the ingredients for the unique Towerwater cocktails.

Some cocktail suggestions using the Towerwater Guava Liqueur,

The Karoo Sun (Refreshing & Tropical)

This is a bright, easy-drinking cocktail where the lime and passion fruit complement the intense guava aroma.

40 ml Guava-infused Witblits

25 ml Fresh lime juice

15 ml Passion fruit cordial (or fresh granadilla pulp)

15 ml Simple syrup (1:1 sugar and water)

Method: Shake all ingredients vigorously with ice, then double-strain into a glass filled with fresh ice. Top with a splash of soda water if you want to lengthen the drink.

 

The Witblits Mule (Fiery & Bold)

The natural spice of ginger beer perfectly matches the rustic, fiery character of the witblits while letting the earthy guava notes shine.

50 ml Guava-infused Witblits

20 ml Fresh lemon juice

Top up with a fiery, high-quality ginger beer (Think classic Stoney Ginger Beer, approx. 150 ml)

Method: Build this drink directly in a tall glass or copper mug filled with crushed ice. Stir gently to combine and garnish with a lemon wheel or a slice of fresh guava.

🥂

The Boland Blush (Elegant & Spritz-Style)

A sophisticated option where the sparkling wine opens up the heavy aromatics trapped by the high-proof alcohol.

30 ml Guava-infused Witblits

15 ml Simple syrup

Top up with dry MCC (Methode Cap Classique) or sparkling wine

Method: Pour the infused witblits and simple syrup into a champagne flute, stir gently, and top slowly with the chilled sparkling wine. Garnish with a twist of lemon peel

Reasons to be cheerful

Before I retired, I had a clear idea of how I would structure my days to include more regular writing, but I discovered that it takes a lot more discipline to put fingers to the keyboard as part of a daily routine.

Spending more time at Towerwater as our primary residence, meant that we were now immediately part of any arising issue that affects the property.  Although we are safeguarded from outside issues affecting the inside of the property, the garden on the roadside alongside the picket fence seems to be in constant danger of upheaval.  I have become the manager of the gazanias and spekbome on the roadside along the picket fence. I think it is because I can deal with upsetting situations in a calm manner, and because I speak the Taal (Afrikaans).

The first threat to the gazanias and spekbome was when the local municipality retarred the streets on two sides of the property. The old tar on the street next to the roadside garden was mechanically lifted and removed, leaving the gazanias and spekbome covered in a thick layer of black dust. Although we rinsed it off regularly, I had no idea how it will affect the quality of the soil in future. Every afternoon I had to remove temporary road signs that were moved out of the road and onto the gazanias. Although the threat to the garden on the roadside was frustrating, living in a municipality that was maintaining and improving our road infrastructure was actually a reason to be cheerful.

The second threat to the gazanias and spekbome was when the local fibre company had to replace a fibre line on the pole next to the picket fence. Apparently, a neighbour’s dogs chewed through the unprotected fibre line against the pole in her property. The line damage in question was located two houses across the road away from us, but because the main fibre line was affected, all connecting lines had to be replaced, as fibre lines cannot be repaired.

I was able to assist and guide the contractors to reduce the impact on the roadside garden. I could guide them where to look for the line and by cutting back the spekbome near the pole on the roadside myself, I ensured that the plants would grow back correctly. I could prevent them from unnecessarily digging up large patches of gazanias, looking for the line by guiding them to precisely where I remember the previous contractors had buried it. What started out as an irritating exercise ended with the possibility of connecting to a working fibre line for uninterrupted wi-fi. The possibility of stronger wi-fi connection was another reason to be cheerful.

The third threat to the gazanias and spekbome was when a mobile crane came to lift an Izuzu pickup truck out of our property that had crash-landed onto the parking terrace. This amazing feat was accomplished by having sufficient speed to fly over the almost 3-meter-wide irrigation canal after mounting the street curb. The reported intention was to make a turn down the street which is parallel to the canal. One leg of the crane had to be placed in the bed of gazanias, squashing them in the process.  The damage to the gazanias was inevitable, but the fact that we had a heap of building stone chips in the parking terrace that stopped the pickup truck from causing damage to the pergola and our almost vintage pickup truck close by, was a reason to be cheerful.

The fourth threat to the gazanias and spekbome was when the municipality came to replace the main water pipes of the town that run underground on the roadside. To be confronted by a digger-loader ripping up the cobbled driveway to your property without any warning is not a pleasant experience. There was no way to control what was happening as the digger-loader casually ripped through the roadside, the newly tarred road, and the garden. I tried to keep the replacement pipes, that were waiting to be installed, off the remaining gazanias where they were dumped. We decided to allow the municipality to complete the projects before we attempt to restore the roadside garden and cobbled driveway. Firstly, the municipality needs to replace the stormwater gutters and repair the freshly tarred road that was ripped up. After weeks of daily interrupted water supply and road closures, we could start 2025 with what will hopefully be a more secure water supply in the future. And that is good cause to be cheerful.

We would have liked to see more coordinated change where municipal services are concerned. Seeing one contractor undo the work that was completed by another a mere three weeks before is frustrating. Particularly when it impacts one’s life in so many ways. After more than six months of what feels like an unrelenting effort by outside forces to destabilise our lives and outside gardens, we have resigned ourselves to the fact that change is inevitable and sometimes beneficial. These are all factors out of our control and although disruptive, it does change our lives for the better in the long run. At Towerwater we will always find reasons to be cheerful.

May the major upheaval we experienced towards the end of last year herald a relaxed and peaceful 2025.