‘A lingering taste of coconut and vanilla’: how

On an eco resort near Lagos, distilled palm sap outlawed by colonial authorities is making a comeback

Since the pandemic, Lola Pedro has been spending a lot of time at an eco-tourist hamlet in Badagry town, on the outskirts of Lagos, surrounded by coconut and African apple trees next to chalets with showers open to the sky.

The hamlet’s beach house serves as operations base and brainstorming centre for “Nigeria’s first premium spirit”, as the 42-year old researcher, who was raised in London, describes the brand she co-founded in 2018.