Because I know many of you must be thirsty after reading my blog post “The Trip Through Taste,” I thought I’d help quench the thirst by sharing my top five drinks of the trip so far.
Tropical Greens Smoothie
Since arriving and settling in here at Rivonia Premier Lodge, me and my peers have developed our own routines. We’ve all grown to find our favorite spots in Rivonia Village and are always on the hunt to find more. But one of my personal favorite places to go to after morning class and some time at the gym is Kauai. Kauai, as Ben would say, gives “clean girl energy.” There are a ton of smoothies, juices, bowls and wraps to pick from but the reason why I visit time and time again is for the Tropical Greens Smoothie. I had never really been into buying smoothies, as they’re normally outrageously priced, and had never had a green smoothie in my life before coming to South Africa, but that all changed when I decided to follow Anika and order the Tropical Greens Smoothie for the first time. Blended into a thick, refreshing and affordable beverage is pineapple, mango, baby spinach, celery, cucumber, ginger and pressed apple juice. The resulting beverage is sweet and gingery which satisfies my recently acquired ginger addiction and energizes me for the second half of the day.
“Orange juice” from Constitution Hill
Making a reappearance in the blog is food, i love you from Constitution Hill. Not only does the restaurant serve up fantastic eats, but some amazing beverages too. I chose to forgo my normal order of still water and try the orange juice concoction that they had on their menu. The drink was a blend of pineapple, carrot and ginger. Honestly, the ginger was probably what tempted me to abandon my usual order. (Like I said above, I’ve developed a ginger addiction). Although, unlike the slushy Kauai smoothie, this was a blended juice so it was thin and smooth. I ended up loving the flavors of the drink as the pineapple and ginger were the prominent flavors which complemented each other nicely since they both have powerful profiles. I loved the flavors so much that I don’t think I batted an eye at the smooth textural aspect of the drink which I normally wouldn’t prefer. But the drink quickly disappeared. We returned to the restaurant to have our sit-down lunch and I decided that one orange drink wasn’t enough and that I just had to order another. So that’s what I did. It was the perfect vibrant touch of flavor to the already lively salads that I had gotten to eat (see “The Trip Through Taste” to read more about the salads).
News Cafe’s Faithful Bitch
If you want to party with the locals, and celebrate a birthday or two, a weekend evening at News Cafe is the place for you. As part of our goals to truly live the Rivonia life, we decided that an evening at News Cafe would be for us. We arrived to find that the quiet cafe we routinely pass during the daytime became quite the scene in the evening. A DJ had the crowd singing and some fun lights set an interesting scene. We quickly found a table and all decided to order some drinks. I decided on the “Faithful Bitch:” Smirnoff Vodka, Tang Apple Sours, Schweppes Lemonade, grenadine & sour mix. And that drink sure was faithful and tasty. The perfect balance of sweet and sour, my two favorite qualities in a drink. However, the best surprise of the drink was the sour candy strip that sat across the rim of the glass. After finishing the drink, the chewy, sour strip was the perfect send off to the dance floor.
Neck and Deck Cafe Cranberry Sangria
After a long, hard, day of sitting in the van and watching animals at the Bothongo Rhino & Lion Nature Reserve, we ended up at Neck and Deck Cafe for a late lunch. The surreal experience of watching wild dogs and lions being fed their lunch made us all super hungry for our own lunch. So we arrived at the Neck and Deck Cafe with tons of excitement. Our eyes were massive when it came to being face-to-face with the menu. This meant that on top of the feast we ordered, we also ordered drinks. In the absence of pineapple juice which caused me to have to abort my first drink choice, I quickly pivoted to the Cranberry Sangria which consisted of cranberry juice, ginger beer and seasonal fruit. The drink arrived looking gorgeous and grand but also proved itself to be the full package with its spectacular taste. It was a bubbly, refreshing, thirst-quenching beverage that was perfect for the warm, sunny day.
Appletiser
A small glass bottle of some drink named “Appletiser“ sat on the desk of my room when I first arrived at the lodge. I didn’t try it upon arrival, and to this day I still haven’t had a sip from that bottle. However, after a couple nights of our group dinners I started to pick up that many people were consistently ordering Appletisers. A loyal fanbase developed quickly. It soon became the beverage of the trip and I didn’t understand the hype until I tried it myself. It is a very crisp, sweet and bubbly apple cider. It could be most closely compared to Martinelli’s sparkling cider which might ring a bell for some of your readers. But don’t let the simple concept of Appletisers fool you as they truly are such a splendid treat. I think VAGH runs on Appletiser; we might even have to import some when we return to Yale to curb future withdrawals.
