The Caperitif story – of the rediscovery and subsequent reemergence of the "ghost ingredient" – is one of synchronicity and destiny. This is an ultimate story of rebirth featuring an unlikely duo…

Once lost to time, shuttered and consolidated distilleries, and languishing intellectual property rights, the Caperitif was revived by Lars Erik Lyndgaard Schmidt, a bartender who was determined to faithfully recreate and adapt the many nearly forgotten cocktails found in The Savoy Cocktail Book that call for Caperitif. 

As chance would have it, Schmidt met winemaker Adi Badenhorst at a wedding near Cape Town where he pitched his vision to recreate Caperitif. Badenhorst—a renowned figure in South African wine, known for his biodynamic farming practices and traditional winemaking techniques—proved the perfect collaborator, and the two began experimenting with fynbos infusions after acquiring and tasting an original bottling of Caperitif.

Now, Caperitif lives on in this contemporary iteration, reverse-engineered using wines produced at Badenhorst’s Kalmoesfontein farm that are fortified with local neutral grape spirit and infused with locally sourced South African fruits, herbs, spices, and other botanicals.