Category: People

Pour yourself a cocktail and get some insight into the world of competitive bartending – the highs, the lows, the inspiration and some advice – as Julian Short shares his story in conversation with Leah van Deventer, exclusively for Food24.

South Africa’s unemployment rate is sitting at around 27%, which translates to some 6 million individuals of working age being jobless. It should come as no surprise that – in desperation – many turn to crime, ending up incarcerated. And when they’re released, they’re faced with the same dire employment opportunities, yet their situation is compounded by the fact that jobs are even harder to come by for formerly incarcerated people…

South African whisky isn’t all that, right? WRONG. Very, very wrong in fact, as Bain’s Cape Mountain Whisky, water of life made right here in Mzanzi, just got named World’s Best Grain Whisky at the 2018 World Whiskies Awards.

Drinks writer Leah van Deventer recently went to Trinidad for the Angostura Global Cocktail Challenge, where she put together this exclusive rum interview for More Than Food.

The rum revolution is underway, with the popularity of this fun drink on a significant upswing. Leah van Deventer went all the way to the Caribbean, the historic home of rum, to chat to Master Blender at Angostura Rum, Carol Homer-Caesar, to find out about the art – and science – behind rum blending.

Women’s Day is all about celebrating female empowerment, and we could think of no better way to do this than by profiling 11 savvy, strong and sexy women who are dominating in the male-dominated liquor industry.

The bar industry is known for attracting unconventional souls, those who reject the formal white-collar world in favor of an atmosphere that’s more sociable. Forgiving, even.

Stephanie Simbo – a French entrepreneur and former bartender living in Cape Town, South Africa – knew this, and decided that bars might offer the perfect working environment for former inmates looking for a new start. She liked the idea so much that she started Beyond Bars Akademia, a non-profit that aims to facilitate the placement of ex-convicts within the South African bar industry.

Ladies go from serving a prison sentence to serving cocktails with this school.

Remember Team Rust n Dust from season one of The Ultimate Braai Master? Here’s what they’re doing now.

Capetonian craft bartender Brent Perremore has just been crowned South Africa’s Best Bartender in the Diageo Reserve World Class National Finals. We caught up with this mega mixologist in Cape Town prior to him heading to the UK to compete in the Global Final, which takes place from 28 July to 1 August 2014.