buchu brandy and buchu gin are two separate substances. Buchu brandy, or boegoebrandewyn, has been made in what is now South Africa since at least the eighteenth century, although now it is scarce. It is prepared either by infusing brandy with the leaves of the buchu bush (Agathosma betulina) or by distilling them with grape pomace and wine lees, and it is a traditional remedy for urinary problems when taken internally and wounds when taken externally. Its flavor partakes of black currants and peppermint. Buchu gin, a rather more cynical affair, was an American drink of the late nineteenth century that traded on the medicinal reputation of the South African herb to sell a drink that was essentially a bottled cocktail. It was first marketed in 1896 with the Buchu, Gin and Juniper of the Murray Drug Co. of Columbia, South Carolina (like buchu, juniper was widely held to benefit the kidneys and bladder). By far the most successful brand, however, was Dr. C. Bouvier’s Buchu Gin, introduced by the Rosenbaum Bros. of Louisville, Kentucky, in 1900 or thereabouts (as far as can be determined, there was no Dr. Bouvier). This was advertised as a preparation of the “best leaves of buchu” and “the purest old Holland gin,” and as delicious in a Fizz or Rickey, even for those who were not drinking for medical reasons. See Fizz and Rickey. (“Drink all you want,” the ads advised.) A 1916 analysis, however found that it was almost 40 percent alcohol, with sugar, “coloring matter,” and “a very small amount of buchu.” By then, it was no longer sold in bars and was exclusively a patent medicine. It did not survive Prohibition.
See also health and spirits and South Africa.
Louisiana State Board of Health. “Quarterly Bulletin.” September 1916, 77.
Stephenson, John, and James Moss Churchill. Medical Botany. London: John Churchill, 1831.
Sullivan, Jack. “The Elusive Dr. C. Bouvier and the Rosenbaum Brothers.” Those Pre-Pro Whiskey Men! (blog), October 14, 2013, http://pre-prowhiskeymen.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-elusive-dr-c-bouvier-and-rosenbaum.html (accessed February 4, 2021).
By: David Wondrich