The programme has been running for the past three days and, while it's geared towards upskilling bartenders into great mixologists, it was open to anyone interested in attending and learning to think creatively and differently.
“This event is open to other people who are interested in creativity,” Mabombo explained. “We firmly believe in unleashing creativity within everyone, a core ethos driving Bombay Sapphire.” And this, he says, is only the beginning, with more of these hubs planned for the future.
To share this creativity, the Creator’s Hub will be open to the public on September 7 for First Thursdays as the celebrations come to a close.
Apart from the cocktails on offer from a new team of bartenders on duty for the night, visitors can also take in the “Saw This, Made This” art exhibition which has been created as part of a programme launched earlier this year in partnership with Baz Luhrmann with the goal of inspiring people to find creativity in everyday things.
Come find your creativity at the Bombay Sapphire Creator’s Hub
The week of cocktails and helping bartenders to unlock their creativity may be drawing to a close with First Thursdays on Thursday evening, but it’s the start of more exciting collaborations
Something exciting has been astir in Cape Town this week. Something delicious, something fun, something done entirely in the name of creativity.
The festivities kicked off on Sunday night when a row of people snaked its way down Loop Street through a narrow entrance marked by the words “The Creator's Hub”. Queuing to mark their names off an exclusive, invite-only list, the attendees slowly shuffled their way inside, where they were greeted by the first of many cocktails for the night.
These bespoke cocktail creations were all part of the Creator’s Hub, a first-of-its-kind programme launched by Bombay Sapphire to help bartenders unlock their creativity and self-expression.
The programme is building on a much smaller, inaugural event which took place last year. But, this time round, instead of a handful of bartenders, more than 50 bartenders from around South Africa and some from as far as India and guests from around the world came together for three days of masterclasses, talks and workshops presented by masters in their field. There was also ceramic painting and creativity tests on top of all sorts of drinks and culinary delights.
The opening night included a pop-up bar manned by Daniel Waddy and Kevin Armstrong from Satan’s Whiskers, a London cocktail bar which is ranked 23rd in The World’s 50 Best Bars. After waiting their turn in yet another queue, guests were let through a blue velvet curtain one-by-one in speakeasy style for their turn at the bar where they could order bespoke cocktails available for one night only.
One sip confirmed that the big guns had been brought in for this event.
“It’s not just about us at a local level kind of sharing our knowledge but bringing the very best people from all over the world,” explained Avukile Mabombo, Bombay Sapphire marketing manager for Middle East and Africa. “We thought rather than having guys travel all over the world to get this type of knowledge and experience, let’s bring it to them.”
The programme officially kicked off on Monday with a full roster which included a masterclass by Dr Anne Brock, Bombay Sapphire’s master distiller, and Dr Alessandro Garneri, the brand’s master of botanicals. The pair travelled to South Africa to inaugurate the programme and share their skills with the attendees.
“Sometimes people are a little bit confused around the mysticism of the distillation process and what my role is as master distiller is. So, Alesandro and I are going to be talking about and demystifying the process of how we take the botanicals and take base spirits and turn it into Bombay Sapphire,” Brock said ahead of the workshop.
The programme has been running for the past three days and, while it's geared towards upskilling bartenders into great mixologists, it was open to anyone interested in attending and learning to think creatively and differently.
“This event is open to other people who are interested in creativity,” Mabombo explained. “We firmly believe in unleashing creativity within everyone, a core ethos driving Bombay Sapphire.” And this, he says, is only the beginning, with more of these hubs planned for the future.
To share this creativity, the Creator’s Hub will be open to the public on September 7 for First Thursdays as the celebrations come to a close.
Apart from the cocktails on offer from a new team of bartenders on duty for the night, visitors can also take in the “Saw This, Made This” art exhibition which has been created as part of a programme launched earlier this year in partnership with Baz Luhrmann with the goal of inspiring people to find creativity in everyday things.
Featuring works from 16 of South Africa’s top emerging artists, each artwork was conceptualised by presenting the artist with a specific picture and asking them to provide their take of it.
For Nusenu P. Mawuli, this meant creating a portrait out of his signature style of using only fabric cut offs as a commentary on the problem of textile waste.
If you’re in Cape Town, head through to 61 Loop Street on Thursday evening for a taste of what’s been created this week at their First Thursday closing party.
To learn more about the programme, visit the website.
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