Heard of Monkey Shoulder yet? For those out the loop, it’s a blended malt Scotch whisky with a creamy brown sugar, toffee and vanilla taste that’s balanced by oak and a hint of spice. As for its super cute name, it’s a tribute to the workers who used to turn the malt by hand. As a result, they suffered a temporary shoulder injury referred to as ‘Monkey Shoulder’.

To celebrate it’s arrival in sunny South Africa, Butter Knife PR threw a li’l bash at The House of Machines, a hot n’ hipstery new coffee spot in town.

Upon arrival, guests were treated to a veritable river of Monkey Shoulder cocktails created by award-winning mixologist Nick Koumbarakis. Nick’s stuff is always crazily creative and tastes killer good which is why I probably had a few too many Monkey See Monkey Do’s.

If you look closely at the piccie of Karisa and Chad you’ll see she’s holding a tin mug which is what the Monkey See Monkey Do, a punch-style cocktail, was served in. Officially, it’s a mix of Monkey Shoulder whisky, lemon juice, citrus sherbet and jasmine tea but Mark and I decided it tasted exactly like naartjie-flavoured Game. This is probably the last thing Nick want’s to hear but damn it tasted good and went down the hatch like cooldrink. A very dangerous/delish little dop.

Later, as a dessert drink, tray upon tray of Hear No Evil See No Evil did the rounds; a blend of Monkey Shoulder and Evil Twin single origin coffee (available from House of Machines) ‘with an absinthe rinsed balloon’. It was served with a scooped out banana and, taste-wise, it reminded me of a whisky don pedro. Yum!

As the night wore on, our table got progressively ‘merry’ and Mark decided to start filling my handsak on the sly with a zillion discarded peanut shells. Clearly all the Hear No Evil See No Evils I’d knocked back earlier had lived up to their namesake as I was completely oblivious to what was going on. Unhappily for Mark, I’m a vengeful cow and am quite sure I still have snaps of him living it up in a very pretty dress at a particularly wild agency party back in the day…

But ja, a big thanks Butter Knife PR for having us, this was seriously good fun.

Love, love,

Leigh