What the heck is Caperitif?
A while ago I visited AA Badenhorst Family Wines (they make a fantastic Chenin!), you can read about the adventure here. On the visit I was introduced to the Caperitif.
I’m not really sure exactly how to describe it so I’ll go with The Vintage Drink‘s description: “Defunct proprietary South African sweet deep golden quinquina from Capetown – along the lines of Lillet blanc.”
Defunct? Obviously there’s more to the story here. The Cape Aperitif was fairly famous drink all over the world, until in 1910 the company that produced it went out of business, and the Caperitif was lost to the world, as was the recipe. It became the “ghost ingredient”, hence becoming “Defunct”.
That was until Adi Badenhorst and a Scandinavian mixologist started trying to recreate it almost a century later.
In a nutshell, it’s fortified Chenin Blanc, that’s infused with 35 elements found in and around Cape Town, but it’s so much more than that. It’s definitely worth a try. You can find some great cocktail recipes here.
