There is probably no more descriptive language in the world than Afrikaans, especially Afrikaans that is spoken while drinking brandy.
As an English speaker who stumbles over Die Taal, I have found that given a tot or two of brandy, I miraculously become fluent. Emotive verbs and adjectives and perhaps the odd expletive roll of my tongue as smoothly as that first sluk of a brandy and coke.
Perhaps the most Afrikaans of all brandies is Buffelsfontein Bradewyn. Produced by Buffelsfontein Baard-olie, this 3 year old brandy is excellent.
I always like to do a bit of research on the subject matter of my articles. This wasn’t too easy with Buffelsfontein Bradewyn as their website and even their Facebook page are in Afrikaans!
Well I tried the reverse process to see if I can understand the old mother tongue better by taking a sippie straight from the bottle and, boom, even the most colloquial Afrikaans shone through my translation receptors.
What makes Buffelsfontein Bradewyn special
The brandy its self is as good as one would expect from a 3 year. Neat, it has a good caramel lead and a strong, crisp bite in the follow through. The alcohol content of 43% by volume is normal and it comes in the usual 750ml bottle or a 250ml nippie. All very normal.
But let’s be honest when you mix your brandy with coke and it’s a long night next to a bright fire most brandies taste the same after the first double or triple mix.
However, make no mistake, this is a very special brandy because it is drunk by very special people. People who want to be known as a ‘rowwe bliksem’, people who stamp their bottle caps flat once it has been unscrewed and people who love the sound of rain on an old corrugated iron roof.
These are my kind of people, these are South Africans who skrik for niks and who would rather rest deep in thought staring into a fire than watch tiktok.
I took a bottle Buffelsfontein Bradewyn to a braai recently. The ladies were making the salad and men the fire but they all came together to sample my inspiringly named brandy.
Bederf jouself, jou rowwe bliksem and order online by clicking here.
