South Africans are great beer drinkers and, with our sunny climate, we tend to concentrate on the lighter lagers and pilsners, rather than the more substantial beers. Most of our beer is produced by one huge brewery, but there are a few small micro-breweries scattered around. The best known is Mitchells in Knysna, which also has an outlet in the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town.

Even more interesting, is the local beer made from sorghum or maize, colloquially called "shake shake", because you have to do that to the carton before you drink it. You may well be offered a taste of this delicacy if you visit a cultural village. It is very low in alcohol and actually very nutritious, really a food not an indulgence. One of our other local products is, however, a total indulgence, mampoer (pronounced mumpoo-r). This is a distilled spirit usually made from fruit, such as peaches, apricots, or the indigenous marulas, but you may find almost any variation. If it's made from grapes, it's called, no, not brandy, witblits, which means white thunder - appropriate.

The small town of Groot Marico in the northwest province has a large mampoer-distilling industry and offers interesting tasting tours. Just make sure someone else drives you home.