Old spirits join a new party

BE IT BRANDY or gin, spirits remain the indisputable backbone of any decent cocktail crying out for a kick to fire up a frazzled soul.

The pleasure of this mixed drink is invariably in both the compatibility of the blending elements as well as the allure of its conglomerate of colours. Whatever choice of base spirit, the blending and the kaleidoscope of colours always add to its enduring mystique.

While the purpose of the spirits is to rev up both the drink and tippler, cocktail lovers are known to put as much store in its palatability as they do in its seductive colours.

For die-hards, the cocktail is something akin to the rainbow that chases the clouds away at the end of a particularly gloomy or hard day. Much like what poet Lord Byron extolled in one of his poems: "Be thou the rainbow in the storms of life. The evening beam that smiles the clouds away, and tints tomorrow with prophetic ray."

But the point of all this is not so much poetic as to highlight the versatility and peculiarity of the drink - and the fact that the sky is the limit once one has assembled its basic elements in the quest of its rainbow. This much was further illustrated - for example - by the Brandy Foundation last year when it launched across the country its quest for "a mixed drink that best showcases the modern side of South Africa's brandy". All kinds of brandy-based concoctions were assessed to this end. With due respect to the cola-and-brandy old timers, this concoction has long seen its better days and they are sorely urged to find a new party.

Through this initiative, the foundation has been able to discover what it calls "a new national drink" - amalekkercious, also named its brandy cocktail of 2011.

Christelle Reade-Jahn, director of the SA Brandy Foundation, says the interest in brandy as a trendy drink is soaring in tandem with the popularity of cocktails nationwide. Created by Joburg mixologist Kurt Schlechter, Ama-Lekkerlicious's ingredients are: brandy (25ml), triple sec (12.5ml), fresh lemon juice (15ml), dash of bitters, peach syrup (12.5ml) and cranberry juice (50ml). I have tried the concoction myself (and, alas, I am still standing) and found it rather interesting. As always, it takes many permutations to arrive at a point where all the elements harmoniously blend together - and before the imbiber hums heartily in approval of what is in his glass.

I am not sure though whether it was the cranberry juice that loosened my system or what. So, the next time I dabble with the stuff I might try either red berry or red grape juice as a replacement.