OnTap Magazine

AGAINST THE GRAIN ALWAYS ON THE LOOKOUT FOR SOMETHING NEW TO DRINK, LUCY CORNE SNIFFED OUT A BRAND NEW BREWERY IN CAPE TOWN, BUT THIS TIME IT WASN’T BEER THEY WERE BREWING… There are some p e o p l e who have a knack for spotting a bargain. They can walk into a department store, take a brief glance around and be heading home with a pair of designer sunglasses within minutes. Others prefer to save their keen eyes for wilder pursuits, like those who can instantly pick out hippos and crocs on a watery safari when all I can see are rocks and logs. Everyone has their talent and I think mine might be spotting shiny taps from great distances. And so it was when I recently visited Coco Safar, an impressive café based in Cape Town’s Sea Point neighbourhood. I had popped in for breakfast – they do amazing chocolate croissants and the coffee is superb – and was heading back to the car when something shiny caught my eye. As I swung around I realised that not only was there a row of taps, but through the window above them I could see the unmistakeable gleam of a brand new brewery. In fact, it couldn’t have been newer. It so happened that my impromptu visit coincided with the very day Coco Safar was commissioning their brewhouse – that is, getting it installed and up and running. But this wasn’t a normal brewery and the illuminated word on the wall of the bar made me even more curious about what was going on: rooibos. Coco Safar is something of a shrine to rooibos. You can get a rooibos espresso, siphon rooibos tea, rooibos- infused truffles and pastries – and cold- brewed rooibos from nitro-poured taps. The 400-litre brewhouse will not see any malt or hops within its steel tanks. Instead, ‘beverage curator’ Marc Osstyn produces batches of cold-brewed coffee, tonic water and tea. Loose-leaf tea is steeped in 3°C water for four days in order to get a fuller, deeper flavour without extracting the tannins that hot steeping methods do. Cold-brewing also helps to preserve the health benefits found within the tea. But Marc is not simply producing cold cups of tea. While steeping, the teas are infused with granulated maple sugar infused with a secret blend of 15 different spices. Once the tea is laboriously filtered from the leaves, it is kegged or bottled and served from the tap room – the sort of space that would have most brewers wild with envy. The resulting beverage is a slightly sparkling, highly refreshing and utterly unique brew that makes for a perfect alternative to beer if you’re driving or pregnant or simply not drinking. Alongside the two teas, Coco Safar serves a complex-tasting tonic water infused – of course – with rooibos, and a cold-brewed coffee lightly flavoured with fresh citrus zest. All four are sold on nitro pour at the café, or packed into a particularly pretty four-pack to take away. When you get them home, roll them as you would a weissbier to mix up the sediment which settles at the bottom. Cold brew coffee is big business in the States and Europe, and can be found at some of South Africa’s cooler cafés. But in turning to cold-brewed, nitro-poured rooibos, Coco Safar are ensuring that South Africa doesn’t necessarily follow trends – sometimes we make them too. 46 | Winter 2018 | ontapmag.co.za