Remember me writing about that rocking Monkey Shoulder whiskey launch at House of Machines the other day? The spot with the seriously good bar snacks? (I mean, pork belly, hello?) Anyway, the Scottish whiskey brand’s now hosting Monkey Monday’s at Orphanage Cocktail Emporium in Bree Street every Monday until the end of April. This means you can score a complimentary Monkey Shoulder cocktail served up by ‘esoteric alchemist’ Dom Walsh and listen to Ann-Jangle live.

Myself and an old college friend, Ina who’s visiting from Germany, popped in earlier this week to try one of two Monkey Shoulder cocktails; a Monkey Mojito and a coffee-based martini type thing which name I’ve now forgotten. Oops! Of the two, Ina most liked the mojito while I really enjoyed the coffee number, which is weird ‘cos I’m not really a coffee liqueur kind of girl. I liked that it was sweet, but not too sweet and only just a little creamy.

Ina and I rocked up super early, at seven, as we thought it was an ‘event’ and didn’t realise it was just us and that a table had been set aside just for us, stocked with a big bottle of Monkey Shoulder, mixers and lots of ice. Tough gig, right? Still, we gave Dom a bit of flack about the spot being a bit empty due to it being so early in the evening. Think ‘Really?! I curled my hair for this?! Hope you got good snacks, dude’. While he laughed, I could see in his eyes that he didn’t quite get I was kidding and wrote me off as a total bitchface. Fortunately, we got to know each other better later on but, either way, any budding friendship was totally ruined ‘cos my douche bag ex-boyfriend Peter rocked up. I don’t know what it is about the place, but every time I hit up Orphanage, Peter turns up like clockwork. It’s like he lives there or something.

If you didn’t know, Peter’s a cruel drunk with a double scoop of selfish bastard. He wasted no time in downing three glasses of Monkey Shoulder neat on the rocks. He then proceeded to hoover up all the mini burgers, which were deffo the best thing on the snack platter Orphanage so kindly provided for us. He also tried to make me jealous by getting a little too friendly with Ina, but she’s a solid gold wing woman and wasted no time in telling him to hop along swiftly.

Anyway, that awkwies moment aside, this was a seriously fun night out. By the time we’d left, the place was totally pumping which is impressive for a Monday night anywhere in Cape Town. We’d put away half a bottle of Monkey Shoulder (like I said, it was Peter, not us, okay?) and made a bunch of new friends which, as it turns out, is easy if you stagger into the courtyard holding a bottle of killer good whiskey and insist on pouring it into everyone’s glass, regardless of what they’re drinking. (‘What do you mean you can’t mix whiskey with wine?! That’s a bespoke artisanal cocktail right there, dude!’)

Want to enjoy a Monkey Monday yourself? Swing past Orphanage in Bree street next week Monday. You’ll have fun. For more info check out Monkey Shoulder on Facebook.

Love, love

Leigh

P.S. If you’d like to live it up but not so keen on driving into the back end of Corsa Lite, perhaps make use of Uber, the slickest taxi service in the city. Simply download the app and use my promo code, ubv7n, to get R180 in credit totally free.