Seasonal cocktails boast a rich flavour offering that warms up the chest and chases away the cold.

The switch to dark liquor introduces a depth of taste and colour that pairs beautifully with hearty dishes or enjoyed on their own. Add a dash of local ingredients, it becomes celebrity mixologist approved.   

“During autumn, I switch to lots of whiskies, rums and brandy and mix them with autumnal flavours such as apple cider, herbs and spices,” says Colin Asare-Appiah.  

The influential celebrity mixologist was tongued tied and in wonderment by the discovery of a local hero ingredient that boasts an intense herbaceous taste with an exceptional floral note – a perfect drink pairing for those bitter cold afternoons weeks away.   

“How do you say it? Fein... bosh?...,” mimics Asare-Appiah.   

“Fynbos has become a unique space for me. I’m discovering all these different herbs and spices – so I would use some of those dynamic ingredients that people forage for in the cocktails. Those are the kinds of flavours that I would play around with.”

The 54-year-old Ghanaian-born, spent most of his life in the UK and now lives in the US. Together with business partner, Mark Talbot Homes, they are in SA to debut a distinctive continental bartending experience.  

Mixing it up over two nights in Joburg then Cape Town, the bi-annual Ajabu Cocktail and Spirits Festival will be charged with local and global bartenders from acclaimed bar houses. The mission is to carbonate Africa’s bar and hospitality industry, so it matches toe-to-toe with global bars.   

“Bars are coming from Mexico City, Washington DC and London. All these bartenders have been collaborating with local bars and discovering local ingredients such as fynbos,” says Asare-Appiah.  

“I hope that in their sense of discovery, they [international bartenders] take these ingredients back with them and before you know it, fynbos will appear on cocktail menus around the world.

“There are many barriers to opportunities for bartenders to work aboard, so it's important to build something here and make it attainable for bartending. There is no reason why SA bars can’t stand toe-to-toe with some of the best bars in the world.”

Rosebank’s Benchwarmers Sports Bars sits at the elbow of Bolton Road and Jan Smuts Avenue, rimmed among other popular bar spots in the northern suburbs. Walking in, he flips a glass, pours refreshing sparkling and slides it over. It quickly becomes evident that Asare Appiah’s sharp charismatic and charming personality has served him well in his 15-year experience as a master celebrity mixologist.   

He has co-hosted Discovery Channel’s cocktail enthusiast TV series Cocktail Kings; managed and owned award-winning bars such as Balancing House /SOHO House as well as Jamie Oliver’s restaurant Fifteen. That is when he’s not receiving personal requests to bartend at tight-lipped celebrity parties in La La Land.  

One of his pivotal accomplishments was being awarded Best Man Ambassador of the Year by Tales of the Cocktail in 2016, which he says for a black boy growing up in a village in Ghana was amazing.   

“I’ve always been a proud African and have seen the potential and opportunity for what is on the continent, and SA is a fantastic place to invite all the best people globally to come,” he says.  

“Debuting in SA is also in honour of the memory of my late best friend Douglas Ankrah with whom we both opened the LAB Bar (London Academy of Bartenders) in Cape Town in 2002 at age 22. Ankrah was inspired by the city to create the famous Pornstar Martini cocktail,” he says with pride.   

The festival marks his journey back home, Asare-Appiah recalls where it all began at the age of 17.   

“I always promised myself that I would never be a bartender. After college, I decided to go to Greece. Before going, I told my dad that I wanted to find myself after my studies. I had a good job in finance ready for me to step into. I just needed a breather,” he recalls.

“In Greece, I ran out of money on the island of Lemnos and I had to find a job. The owners of the bar were amazing human beings. One night, my cockiness landed me the tedious task of re-polishing all the bottles in the bar. 

“I remember taking one of the bottles, flipping it over and reading the stories of humanity and civilisations in how these liquors and spirits were created. I called my dad telling him I wanted to be a bartender, which as an African man, he lost it. ‘What is this? You are going to be a bar-man?’ he said. 

“The job in that club changed my life.”