It doesn’t take me long to realise, as I stroll the streets of Monchique, that the town I left behind in 2020 has completely transformed. Admittedly, I used to walk around there bored to the bone, hoping for more inspiration somewhere and anywhere around the street corners.
The vibe has changed; it is more hopeful, upbeat and entrepreneurial. Younger expats have brought their energy and enthusiasm up the hill, and locals are also more inspired and perhaps braver to boast their traditional skills.
As I walk with an open mind and wondering eyes, a shop that was once a tiny grocery store where I used to buy my mangoes has disappeared, replaced now by an artisanal ‘lab’ full of experimental spreads. I realise that I have arrived at República Clandestina, the jam shop that a close friend from Monchique has been bringing me samples of to try for a while now.
The main thing that catches my eye is the label: bold and, with what feels like sarcasm, set against a communist poster aesthetic. Alexandra Águas, the owner, quickly assures me that it has absolutely nothing to do with politics – it’s simply based on a 16-year-old picture of her mother. How apt, I think, as this venture has evolved from an ambitious idea to distil gin into something far more in keeping with their family traditions: making jam.
A family tradition
Alexandra and her three other siblings grew up helping their mum preserve jam. Alexandra explains to me that most families made jam so that the abundant fruit harvest did not go to waste, and she fondly remembers making pumpkin jam just before Christmas to gift to friends and family.
While showing her mother the still they had recently purchased for their gin-making endeavours, Alexandra lifted the lid off the top. Her mother immediately recognised the pan at the bottom and said it was perfect for making jam! And so, Alexandra challenged her mother to use it for just that – but with one condition: she’d need to make at least 70 kilos of it!
Commercialising jam was never the family’s intention, and the story behind República Clandestina evolves from an unexpected turn of events. Alexandra’s brother, Marco, who lives in the UK as a microbiologist with a palate already trained in the food industry, had a genius idea. His angle was simple – breathe new life into the already existing medronho stills that sat dormant for most of the year, offering to coax flavours from them outside the brief December-to-March distilling season. But here’s where it gets interesting. To keep things above board, Customs open and close the distilleries like clockwork, maintaining tight control over medronho production. The officials tax producers appropriately, ensuring no ‘illegal’ moonshine slips through the cracks. With the medronho producers reluctant to share their stills outside the official season, and regulations as rigid as the mountain air, the family eventually took matters into their own hands – they bought their own still and stored it in their mother’s garage – waiting patiently, like the family’s dreams, for the right moment to ferment into reality.
The idea of using the same concept of ‘adding value’ but now to their own still and not the other producers, helped them move from what would otherwise be a long, drawn-out wait, to something they could tap into and profit from immediately. Without putting all their hopes on gin, they started to concentrate on producing jam, and in May 2024, their shop doors opened.
Creating new flavours
The family has always been close, bound together by collaboration and a shared passion for creating. Although her brother lives in the UK, his heart is still rooted in Monchique – his enthusiasm for creating something from these fertile mountain lands is evident. Alexandra recalls that when Marco visited, and they had a family brainstorming session, where they debated flavours and exchanged ideas, Marco suggested basing the jams on a chilli flavour, probably inspired by something they’d been eating at the table together that day. She explains that the family has always been passionate about the queimoso taste, literally translated as ‘burnt and hot’.
When these chilli jams were put to the test at their first fair in Monchique in 2023, the ‘older local women’, as Alexandra put it, showed a lot of support for these flavours, and this, to the family, was a sign that they were heading in the right direction.
They started with just five jams and now boast nineteen different flavours. In the ‘lab’,’’ as she likes to call it, she and her 30-year-old son experiment with combinations that to me taste also a little like the Indian pickles I grew up with, totally morish, subtle and delicious. She says recipes can take up to a year to perfect. One of their sweet potato jams – with a slight hint of cayenne – was featured in a competition at the Aljezur Sweet Potato Festival, where it won an award.
They have ventured away from solely chilli-based jams, yet kept the essence of the ‘hot ‘flavour still, with flavours like strawberry balsamic and black pepper – this giving the little kick that they hope their brand is always associated with. Flavours like these appeal to children’s palates, making their jams more accessible to all ages and tastes.
One of their popular lemon jams came along after Alexandra saw lemons from South Africa selling for 2 euros a kilo; she knew something had to change. Why import when Monchique’s abundant lemons were going to waste? She applied a similar philosophy to oranges, so these citrus flavours have become a staple among the 19 flavours.
Turning dreams into jam!
With the endless supply of fruit and creative recipe ideas, the Águas family have so much more room to grow. It seems their gin dreams have transformed into a sweet jammy reality – one that has not only revived a family tradition but breathed new life into Monchique itself.
República Clandestina is more than just a jam shop. It’s a story of adaptation, of family bonds, and of a town finding hope in unexpected places. Sometimes the best transformations come not from the plans we make, but from the pivots we’re brave enough to take.
To find the shop, head to the Monchique mountains, and you will see it opposite the local municipal market. If you would like to stock one of Águas’ family jams, please contact Alexandra on +351 928 043 961
Instagram: @republicaclandestina
Photos © Amy Martin
