Would you like a dop?

Dop. 

(pronounced “dawp”) – Afrikaans term for any alcoholic drink.

As you guys prepare snacks and drinks for SuperBowl Sunday (Go Broncos!), I thought I’d tell you about the types of adult beverages ZA’ers prefer. South Africans are known for being beer drinkers, but they also like many other types of alcohol including brandy and wine.

From our POV, here are some of the most popular:

Amarula Cream – It is a sweet and creamy after-dinner liqueur that is made from the fruit of the marula tree. It is a favorite of elephants, monkeys and baboons who are said to get drunk and p-a-r-t-y as they eat the fermenting fruit in the wild.

Brandy – South Africans. Love. Brandy.

Rum – Rum and coke = big time. They even sell double-barreled flasks – one side holds Coca-Cola and the other holds rum.

Whiskey – Believe it or not, Jack Daniels is considered a luxury whiskey here. You have instant Rockstar status if you drink it.

Beer – Castle lager, brewed in ZA, is by far the most popular beer. Carling Black Label, Grolsch, and Windhoek are also popular. Ever heard of a Shandy? In its most basic form, it’s 50% beer and 50% citrus soda (i.e. Sprite or 7Up). People LOVE Shandies here.

Ciders – South Africans (and my husband) love ciders. Hunters and Savanna are the front runners here.

Wine – As you may remember from my Stellenbosch recap, wine is hugely popular here. Wine was first produced back in 1659. Fun fact: Pintotage is a red varietal that is found only in South Africa.

Van der Hum liqueur – a blend of brandy, wine, naartjie (orange) peel and spices. This stuff dates back to the Dutch East India Company and is still made in many South African homes.

Obviously, these are just the most popular that we’ve seen. I am sure there are many others that we haven’t seen!

Warning: Too many dops will make you think you can do this…

Enjoy your weekend. We are headed to an Elephant Sanctuary on Saturday!

Love,

Jess & Mat