Idris Elba Tours With Oude Meester

Two weeks ago on November 14th, I had the opportunity to ‘live’ interview Oude Meester brand ambassador Idris Elba and Master in the Making Siyabonga Radebe at the Joburg leg of the Oude Meester #InspireMastery Tour that went to Durban and Cape Town first. The energy in the room was palpable, while Idris and Siyabonga, despite doing 3 events in about 4 days, were engaging. It was a short conversation made interesting by the incessant buzz of the attendees, especially the women, every time Idris spoke. One of the questions from the audience was how does he deal with the ‘sexual energy’ that...

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Win with FB.BD: Van Ryn’s

This is the final post for the Fine Brandy By Design competition I’ve been running on evolutionary. The winner will be drawn and announced by mid-January 2013. I’m hoping to also travel to the distillery in Cape Town to go through the masterful process involved in the creation of brandy. I’ve been fascinated by the approach Distell – under Fine Brandy By Design - has taken to gradually change the perception of the brandies in its stable. Taking something that has a long and rich history and evolving it into a contemporary setting is not always the easiest. These brandies include: Klipdrift...

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Win With Fine Brandy.By Design: Oude Meester

In September, I wrote a post on how Distell has brought their different brandies under the banner of Fine Brandy.By Design and are working to change how we perceive and consume brandy. As part of that initiative, and to get consumers to explore the brands more, they have been kind enough to provide me with the prize for evolutionary readers. The prize is a FB.BD Cape Town Experience, which consists of a 2 night stay for 2 people for an exclusive distillery and food pairing experience. I will be doing a series of four posts for the next four weeks on a different brandy cocktail and food...

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Re-Branding Brandy

My father was a brandy man for years. As a result, I always associated it with grown-ups. He would sit with his friends deep in debate around politics, Africa, economics, etc, some Ellington, Miles, Basie and the like playing on the record player with a bottle or two of brandy in the mix. When I started drinking, getting some brandy was a novelty. It felt like I was becoming a man. Truth be told, that was years ago and I shifted off the brandy in my 20s and have never really gone back. I have been following, with interest, how brandy brands have been working to change the stereotypes that...

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