Let The Good Times Flow…

Scottish Leader Signature honey, apple and mint cocktail

Ingredients

8 mint leaves

37.5ml Scottish Leader Signature whisky

50ml cloudy apple juice

12.5ml honey or honey syrup

Dash of fresh lemon juice

Cubed ice

Method

Place the mint leaves into a cocktail shaker. Pour the honey or honey syrup over the leaves. Using a muddle stick, press the mint leaves and honey together. Fill the shaker with cubed ice. Pour the Scottish Leader Signature whisky and apple juice over the mixture. Add a dash of fresh lemon juice. Close the cocktail shaker and shake vigorously for 20 seconds. Fill a short glass with cubed ice and pour the mixture over the ice. Garnish with a sprig of mint. 

South African cocktails with an American twist!

The US meets SA in these delicious new cocktails by Alex Farenheim, one of the award-winning bartenders at the Speak No Evil cocktail bar in Rosebank. Try his Nje, Jus’Now and Monate cocktail recipes.

Monate  

Lose track of time over this fluffy cocktail that blends garden-fresh South African fruit juices with rich, complex American bourbon.

Ingredients

50ml bourbon

25ml aloe juice

25ml apple syrup

30ml fresh lemon juice

3 basil leaves

Vegan "egg white"

Method

American bourbon is one of the most popular cocktail ingredients around the world, thanks to its complex flavours and aromas, and authentic all-American heritage. Blend the bourbon, apple syrup, aloe juice, lemon juice and vegan fluff and mix in a cocktail shaker. Pour into a stemmed cocktail glass and garnish with bruised fresh basil leaves.

Vegan egg white – such as aquafaba, or chickpea water whisked to a dense foam – is a liquid egg white substitute that creates a gorgeous foamy crown and delivers an elegant, creamy mouthfeel to the cocktail. Buy a pre-packaged vegan egg white or simply drain a tin of chickpeas and whisk the liquid until it’s foamy.

Nje 

“Nje” – just because… Who needs an excuse for a cocktail break when this delectable blend of South African naartjie juice, rooibos tea, kombucha, and sweet, complex American bourbon is waiting at the bar?

Ingredients

50ml bourbon

25ml naartjie juice

25ml simple syrup

25ml lemon juice

Rooibos & ginger kombucha

Method

American bourbon is a deep amber American whiskey distilled primarily from corn and aged in oak barrels to deliver complex woody, spicy and caramel flavours. Make a simple syrup by mixing equal parts of sugar and water in a pot and heating until all the sugar has dissolved. Decant and allow the syrup to cool. Blend the bourbon, naartjie and lemon juice and simple syrup in a cocktail shaker filled with ice, shake vigorously and strain into a tall glass filled with ice.

Top up with a splash of rooibos and ginger kombucha, a slightly fizzy fermented tea and sugar health drink reputedly packed with antioxidants and probiotics. Garnish with a sprig of mint.

Jus’ now  

Ingredients

Procrastinate deliciously with this crisp, refreshing mix of amber US bourbon and uniquely South African vermouth for a new take on the Boulevardier cocktail.

25ml bourbon

25ml Campari

25ml Caperitif Kaapse Dief

Orange zest

Method

Bourbon is an all-American corn-based, barrel-aged spirit renowned for its complex, slightly sweet, slightly spicy flavour. Caperitif Kaapse Dief is a revived South African vermouth steeped in history and made in the Swartland from Chenin Blanc grapes and 35 native ingredients, including quinchona bark, fynbos and naartjies. Blend the bourbon, Campari and vermouth in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake vigorously and strain into a chilled cocktail glass filled with fresh ice. Garnish with a twist of orange rind.