Urban Brew: On the brandy wagon

Among some South Africans, brandy has a bad reputation. Its association with bouts of drunken violence have earned it nicknames like moer my vrou (hit my wife) and karate juice.

Christelle Reade-Jahn, director of the South African Brandy Foundation, is on a campaign to talk us into changing our minds using Urban Brandy Cocktail Routes (UBCR).

"Brandy has a bad reputation because people buy cheaper, blended brandies and then can't drink them because they are very harsh," Reade-Jahn said.

UBCRs are the urban answer to the Western Cape's rural brandy routes, where tourists bounce from distillery to distillery sampling what each has to offer. In the urban format, aspiring brandy connoisseurs have the chance to hop between some of South Africa's trendiest watering holes sampling brandy in its various guises. Each venue features a selection of brandy-based cocktails created by renowned cocktail mixologists.

Originally started in Cape Town with five venues, the Urban Brandy concept has grown exponentially since its launch in March last year.

"Urban Brandy Cocktail Routes started at one Cape Town venue as a bit of an experiment to see if we could get people interested in brandy, and it just expanded from there. It is now at close to 50 locations countrywide, including 20 in Cape Town, 15 in Durban and now about eight in Johannesburg," Reade-Jahn said.

The venues are lumped in clusters in each major city's social hotspot, allowing people to conveniently move from place to place without bankrupting themselves paying for taxis. The idea for UBCRs came, in part, from Reade-Jahn's childhood experiences of "food safaris".

"When I was younger we used to have these food safaris. We would start with our entrées at one place, move somewhere else for our main meal and finish the night at another venue for dessert," she said.

Reade-Jahn hopes initiatives like the UBCRs and Fine Brandy Fusion will help rehabilitate the image of brandy and lure more women into sampling a drink that has a male-dominated feel about it.

"People seem to have this perception that brandy is for the manne and that you can only drink it with Coke. The truth is that brandy is extremely versatile because it is made from wine and so it has a fruity base. It's great for mixing with fruity cocktails and pairs well with desserts. It also has half the calories of a glass of wine."

She said that, contrary to the prevailing perception, South Africa makes some of the best brandies in the world.

This statement is backed up by the fact that KWV 15-year-old won last year's award for the best brandy in the world at the International Spirits Challenge, an award that Van Ryn's has also won a number of times.