3 minute read
ASHLER MIXING IT IN THE WORLD OF COCKTAILS
Zim mixologist Ashler Zvipozvamambo brings her signature cocktails to pop-up events around the country and shares her skills at her cocktail masterclasses. Kuda Phiri meets her.
American writer David come with making something new. Sedaris once said, in his Every event is different and every collection of essays, season has its own menu,” says Naked, “In terms of emotional Zvipozvamambo. comfort, it was our belief that no “However, there has been one amount of physical contact could match the healing powers of a well-made cocktail.”
The global pandemic meant fresh passion fruit.” ordinary things like hugging became fraught with danger and we are getting back to finding the healing powers of well-made cocktails with the aid of Ashler Zvipozvamambo, a 29-year-old Zimbabwean woman chasing her dreams and changing the world one cocktail at a time.
Mixologist Asler Zvipozvamambo serving drinks at one of her pop-up events
Travelling and spending two years in Florida as the sommelier at a country club, she would occasionally find herself behind the bar and worked on improving her mixology skills while experimenting with different beverages and doing courses in her spare time.
Creating new recipes
Zvipozvamambo says she has multiple styles and approaches to her work as different clients request different menus, some asking for the classic cocktails while others opting for colour and flavour.
With techniques constantly changing and new technologies and products being introduced on the market every day, her work and ideas are constantly evolving.
Her surroundings, new trends as well as the products currently available on the Zimbabwean market influence the creation of new recipes.
“Some recipes have been created while on the job as at times my clients would have bought the wrong ingredients or forgotten some ingredients. Also, sometimes the drinks become a hit and we would quickly run out of ingredients, prompting me to put my thinking cap on and play around with the flavours and ingredients available to come up with something new.”
Mixology misunderstanding
She revealed that when she started out, many people found the idea funny and thought there was no way it would work in Zimbabwe. Zvipozvamambo attributed this to the lack of the real understanding of what mixology really is.
Other misconceptions include the belief that mixologists get into this industry because they like drinking, that the job is not suitable for a woman and that cocktails are expensive.
Zvipozvamambo says: “My journey has been about trying to show people that you can enjoy a good fun drink without spending a lot on expensive ingredients or having to go out of your way to get the right ingredients. There is always this misconception that you need to get ingredients outside Zimbabwe and that cocktail ingredients are hard to find which isn’t true.”
Despite the initial lack of appreciation of mixology, people are now opening up to the idea and she has recorded a lot of growth in the last two years with many events now serving cocktails and mocktails and restaurants introducing cocktail menus.
Growing business
Noting that there was still a lot of room to grow and appreciate beverages as well as the art and the science behind mixology, Zvipozvamambo introduced Mixology 101 classes to teach people the craft behind what she does.
Unfortunately, the Covid-19 pandemic has put a lot of this work on hold for safety concerns paramount.
“As much as it seemed like a set back and a huge stress on the business, we knew we had to shut down in order to keep our clients and everyone else around us safe,” she says.
Still, Zvipozvamambo has lots of ideas and plans in place for The Mixologist as a brand and was not limiting herself to one area of mixology.
“Why don’t you follow my journey, see what we have planned for the future,” she says.
Zvipozvamambo shares her skills with others at her Mixology 101 classes
Zvipozvamambo likes to play around with flavours and ingredients
