I’m not a sportsman but even I heard that South Africa were kicked out of the World Cup (they were, right? and the less said about England…) but that really shouldn’t be a bar to celebrating all things SA, even if you are not really into football!

A sample of this new South African brandy came my way last week accompanied by a little cocktail recipe. Not expecting much I gave the cocktail a try out – wow! Combined with the glorious summer we are experiencing in the UK this can only be described as a thirst-quenching wonder. Some may say this is even more drinkable than the ubiquitous summer Pimms!

African Mishale is from the KWV operation in the Western Cape. Would your life be improved if you were enlightened that it is blended from double distilled pot still and column still brandies? Probably not. More interesting is the specific that the cocktail recipe, African Spice, was created by London Barman Gerry Calabrese of the Hoxton Pony, EC2.
Its highly drinkable, as the now empty bottle of Mishale indicates, and we did have to substitute the suggested Vanilla Sugar/Vanilla Syrup with plain old sugar syrup but this worked a treat.

African Mishale Brandy is available from the re-emerged Wine Racks 17-store chain. Normally retailing for £13.49 it is currently on offer until the 18th July 2010 at £9.49.

“Named after the word ‘spear’ in Swahili, Mishale is pronounced mi-sha-lay. Bright and golden it’s a proud blend of brave African spirit and the fine tradition of brandy distilling.”

African Spice Cocktail

• 50ml African Mishale Brandy


• 10ml fresh lime juice


• 2 spoons of Vanilla Sugar or 10ml Vanilla Syrup


• 80ml Fresh Apple Juice


• (Dash of Ginger Beer)


• (ice)

Shake with ice and strain into an ice filled highball glass. Top up with a dash of Ginger Beer. Delicious.