Landmark mixologist Ntando Ngema is a cheffy sort of bloke from a cheffy family. He said: "My gran was so particular about her food that if she didn't like what you had prepared, she'd send it back and have a bowl of Movite (instant porridge) instead."Thus Ngema learned to be imaginative, in the kitchen and on the stage, performing his own poetry. Then, with the mentorship of Ryan Duvenage of Barcode and Raymond Endean of the Orphanage cocktail bar in Cape Town, mixology became the primary expression of his creative spirit.He showed me how to make orange bitters by mixing Angostura and orange rind in a soda siphon, using the pressure to blast the orange oils into the bitters. This is a trick you can try at home - orange bitters are not available in South Africa.He made his signature drink, the Boozy Musi, for me. It is a unique take on the Italian classic, The Negroni. This cocktail emerged after the Count de Negroni asked a bartender in Florence to substitute gin for the soda water in his favourite cocktail, The Americano.The Negroni was so successful that the De Negroni family went into full-scale production of a premixed version called Antico Negroni in 1919. Orson Welles was a big fan, saying, ''The bitters are excellent for your liver, the gin is bad for you. They balance each other."In the Boozy Musi tequila replaces the gin and a flamed Mezcal rinse substitutes for the bitters. The effect is dry and smoky, just like his home town of Newcastle in KwaZulu-Natal. I wonder if his gran would have been reaching for the Movite?The Landmark, corner of William Nicol and Ballyclare Ave, Bryanston, 011-463-5081..