This is not surprising, especially when you consider their versatility and what they are used for. For example, what is the main ingredient of your favourite cocktail? Your answer would most likely be a spirit or liqueur, which well, is a type of spirit!

It does not automatically mean other alcoholic beverages aren’t as useful. Vermouth has been used by mixologists for years, and recently, more wineries are encouraging and promoting wine cocktails as a better alcoholic option for those who cannot stomach high levels of alcohol. Beer cocktails are also a thing, as a quick Google search will reveal.

However, spirits appear to offer a more diverse range of cocktail options. This may be attributed to the fact that they have been used for so long in this area that a robust range of recipes and experimentation abound. It also helps that at its core, a spirit – be it a gin or rum or whisky – is an uncomplicated alcoholic beverage, making it perfect for whatever concoction you’re looking to put together. Lastly, compared to wines, they are more affordable, which means more people can have access to them.

Including here in Africa, where it is isn’t only used for cocktails, but for ceremonies and religious events. Spirits have been produced for more than a hundred years now across several countries in Africa, yet surprisingly, they are not as popular as others from beyond the continent.

If you love mixing up a good cocktail or would rather take a bottle of gin or vodka or rum above other types of alcoholic drinks, here are some premium, made-in-Africa brands to immediately try out, that is, if you haven’t already!

Pedro’s Ogogoro, Nigeria

Pedro’s Ogogoro is arguably one of the more popular spirits out of Africa, so there is a pretty high chance that you’ve tasted it or heard about it. Per Lola Pedro, one of its co-founders, Ogogoro is “a palm spirit from palm wine” not a gin, nor a rum, nor vodka.

During Nigeria’s colonial era, Ogogoro was associated with illicit and badly-produced alcohol. These days, it is used to refer to any cheap, badly-produced alcohol with a high ABV sold by roadsides all over Nigeria at least. In reality, neither one of these is what Ogogoro is.

Pedro’s is not only on a mission to change this narrative but is also eager to make this locally-produced alcoholic beverage a worldwide phenomenon.

Aphro Palm Spirit, Ghana

Like Pedro’s, Aphro is an alcoholic spirit made from the sap of palm trees. In fact, it is the same as Nigeria’s Ogogoro, only that in Ghana, it is known as Akpeteshie.

Just like its Nigerian brother, Akpeteshie was turned into a villainous, poisonous drink during the colonial era to push the sale of imported spirits.

Aphro is also trying to correct this misnomer, and if you’re looking to try something different yet familiar, then look no further than the Aphro Palm Spirit which comes in two flavours: the Nubi which is a mix of flamed pineapple, tropical passion fruit and a little West African honey, and, the Moor which mixes local ginger, spices and Hwentia pepper to make a spicy, robust delightful beverage.

Vusa Vodka, South Africa

Vusa Vodka is the brainchild of Chris Frederick and Damola Timeyin, the duo behind Spearhead Spirits which also produces Bayab Gin.

Unlike Pedro and Aphro, Spearhead Spirits is not so much about promoting original locally-developed alcoholic beverages as it is focused on proving that the continent is just as capable of making internationally acclaimed drinks as its counterparts.

Vusa Vodka is made from sugarcane grown in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa, and distilled in small batches in copper pot stills. It is then filtered through the shells of the baobab fruit before bottling to give it a clean, crisp finish.

Waragi Wildcrane, Uganda

The name ‘Waragi’ has some interesting history. According to sources, its original name wasn’t Waragi; although what that was is not immediately clear. The recipe for the alcoholic drink was passed on from generation to generation and, all over Uganda, it was the favoured drink for both the rich and poor.

When the colonisers came, they noticed that Ugandans would immediately bring out this spirit during periods of victory and celebration. And so they nicknamed it ‘war gin’. As with most things, war gin was soon localised to ‘Waragi’, which has now become the official name of the ancient local Ugandan drink made from a mix of any of the following: bananas, millet, cassava or sugarcane.

Unlike Nigeria’s Ogogoro, Waragi is widely produced and consumed in Uganda, and several distilleries making premium, standard Waragi exist. One such is the Kakira distillery whose Wildcrane Premium Gin uses the Waragi recipe in its formulation. What is this recipe exactly? We don’t know, but, judging by the fact that its other spirits have won international awards, it may be safe to say that this is possibly the Waragi you should add to your spirits portfolio.

Tambour Sodabi, Benin Republic

Sodabi is to Benin, as Akpeteshie is to Ghana, and Koutoukou is to Côte d’Ivoire. But unlike the others, the Beninese can actually trace the history of their Sodabi to its humble beginnings.

Per Tambour, it all started when Bonou Kiti Sodabi, a Beninese soldier, went to Europe to fight in WW1. There, he saw how the distillation process worked, and upon his return to his country, teamed up with his brother, Gbehlaton, to produce Sodabi using the popular palm wine as their main material after an initial failed experiment with bananas.

By 1920, Sodabi had become widespread and its popularity only continued to grow, leading the colonialists to ban its production and sale in 1931. The Sodabi brothers were even arrested, but this did nothing. As in other countries and civilisations of the world, prohibition only led to secret manufacture and sales.

In 1975, fifteen years after its independence, Benin officially lifted the prohibition against Sodabi. Today, Tambour Sodabi is perhaps the best-known palm spirit from the country, having won international awards twice now. You can choose between its two distinct flavours: the spiced Sodabi and its recently launched brother, White Sodabi.

The post Here are Some of Africa’s Finest Spirits You Should Know. Plus, Their Storied Histories! first appeared on Aspire Luxury Magazine.

The post Here are Some of Africa’s Finest Spirits You Should Know. Plus, Their Storied Histories! appeared first on Aspire Luxury Magazine.

The name, for the average Nigerian, conjures up images of an illicit trade conducted under the cover of darkness; of tiny sachets or bottles with funny names and current street slangs, sitting snugly in the hands of people that are often described as belonging to the lower echelons of the society.

Illegal, dirty, poisonous. All these are adjectives that have been associated with ogogoro, qualifiers that are false and rooted in our colonial history

Ogogoro is an alcoholic beverage like rum or tequila. The only difference? It originated in Africa

“Ogogoro is a very dirty word in Naija culture today, and has been for some time,” says Lola Pedro of Pedro’s Ogogoro. “Firstly it was criminalised by the British: when the colonisers came, they needed to sell British, or London dry gin [to us]. So the first thing they had to do was vilify our own products, our own indigenous spirit which is not a gin, it is a palm spirit, it’s ogogoro. And they did that very successfully.”

If you were to go online today in search of the definition of ogogoro, most of the results will refer to the alcoholic beverage as a local gin indigenous to West Africa. Armed with this ‘knowledge’, we thought it best to work with a home brand in celebration of this year’s World Gin Day. And so, imagine our surprise when we reached out to the co-founder of Pedro’s Ogogoro, Nigeria’s first formally distilled ogogoro and were told:

 “Ogogoro is a palm spirit from palm wine and gin is a grain spirit that is infused in juniper berries. So calling ogogoro ‘gin’ is a complete misnomer.” 

If this is the only difference between both drinks, why is it generally believed that the former is a cheaper, inferior kind of the latter?

[Due to colonisation] “Ogogoro never developed or evolved. And it was made very informally, almost similar to moonshine. Oftentimes it would be adulterated especially the kind of stuff you would drink in the cities and you’ll always tend to see low-level people in society consuming ogogoro. Think of the mama on the side of the road with the sachets. Most of that is actually not ogogoro but that’s what we call it. Because it’s just cheap, synthetic ethanol mixed with aromas and different colourants and flavourants. [sic] But now, the word ‘ogogoro’ has become a catchall phrase for bad alcohol, and for this reason, it’s really been demonised and ostracised,” explains Lola.

Ogogoro sits somewhere between a rum and a tequila actually.

“And this is actually because of the properties of the actual raw materials. We distil from the raffia palm (which is the tree from which we take the sap) … and not from grains steeped in juniper. If you think of tequila, it comes from the agave plant which holds many similarities to the palm. [Ogogoro] is like a lighter, softer tequila or even a rum, which is obviously from sugarcane.”

“When we work with mixologists who are unaware of the historical and cultural context surrounding ogogoro, for example, in Europe; when they want to play around with Pedro’s, they tend to naturally use our spirit in classic rum or tequila cocktails [in place of rum or tequila].  These cocktails are much more befitting of our product and really work in terms of the flavour profile and properties of ogogoro.”

As the world celebrates World Gin Day on June 11, we choose to honour a truly exceptional drink that has suffered so much indignity and has been wrongly called a gin for almost a century now. In celebration of the legendary ogogoro, here are recipes for three truly delicious cocktails, featuring Pedro’s Ogogoro. But don’t take our word for it: go ahead to make a glass – or two – of any of the cocktails below.

Zobogoro

Zobo ingredients

• Zobo leaves (Hibiscus)
• Water
• Dry or Fresh ginger
• Cloves
• 1 Large Pineapple
• Soursop juice

Zobo Preparation.

Peel and dice the pineapple, then set aside. Wash the hibiscus with cold water. Place the washed leaves in a large pot of water and boil for 25mins whilst adding the chunks of pineapple, ginger and cloves. Sieve out the extract into a bowl and leave the drink to cool. Add the soursop juice, then refrigerate the drink.

Cocktail Ingredients.

• 150ml Zobo
• 50ml Pedro’s
• Ice

Garnish: Fresh mint leaves

Steps.

In a ratio of 1:3, Pour Pedro’s and the zobo mixture into a cocktail shaker, with ice and shake well for 20 seconds.

Serve in a cocktail glass and garnish with mint.

Sapele Sour

Cocktail Ingredients.

• 60ml Pedro’s
• 40ml fresh lemon/lime juice
• 20ml Sugar Syrup
• 1 egg (optional)
• Ice

Garnish: Orijin bitters

Steps

Add the Pedro’s, lemon/lime juice, sugar syrup, and egg white into a cocktail shaker. If using the egg white, dry-shake for 30 seconds without ice, then add the ice and shake again until well-chilled. Otherwise, shake all ingredients together with ice. Strain into a rocks glass or a coupe and garnish with 3 or 4 drops of Orijin bitters.

PPC (Pedro’s Piña Colada)

Cocktail Ingredients

• 60ml Pedro’s
• 45ml  cream of coconut
• 45ml   pineapple juice
• 15ml  lime juice, freshly squeezed
• Ice

Garnish: pineapple wedge and leaf

Steps

Add the Pedro’s, cream of coconut and pineapple, and lime juices to a shaker with ice and shake vigorously for 30 seconds.

Strain into a chilled hurricane glass over ice and garnish with the pineapple wedge and leaf.

About Pedro’s Premium Ogogoro

For the increasingly discerning imbiber, Pedro’s premium ogogoro, is a batch distilled, 100% organic palm spirit. Handcrafted in Nigeria’s riverine communities and then refined in Lagos, Pedro’s is spearheading a new African narrative, audaciously unsurpassable and unapologetically local.

The post World Gin Day 2022: Ogogoro Is Not Gin! first appeared on Aspire Luxury Magazine.

The post World Gin Day 2022: Ogogoro Is Not Gin! appeared first on Aspire Luxury Magazine.