Coffee With Chibuku
If you were having coffee with me, I would welcome you to my tangle of words, make yourself at home and pour yourself a beverage your choice. Did you catch the wolf moon?… Legend has it that it was named such because of “the packs of wolves heard howling outside the villages amid the cold and deep snows of winter,” usually around January.
Well I don’t know about all that, what I do know is according to our traditional meteorological knowledge passed through oral tradition… it does not rain, at least not heavily during full moon days… Perhaps this might explain why there has been a bit of a dry spell…
According to the weather report, the reason is that, there was in intense tropical storm in the Indian Ocean drawing moisture from the ITCZ which was suppose to be bringing rains to our region of the continent..
Why the geography lesson you might ask… well its to explain the sunny and rather warm weather we are experiencing which is more suitable for a cold beverage than a piping hot cuppa tea..
If you are having coffee with me I would introduce you to Chibuku Super a beer based on a traditional beverage made from fermented sorghum and maize… I used to think it was exclusive to Zimbabwe but have since learnt that it has continental ties…. Chibuku International Beer.
Internet research suggests that Chibuku has been available in at least 8 African country that include Botswana, South Africa, Kenya and Uganda. Chibuku was introduced in Zambia by Max Heinrichs via the Heinrich’s Syndicate Limited in 1955 (which industrialised the brewing process adopting from the traditional brewing methods) Chibuku commercially in Zimbabwe in the 1960s and also in Malawi somewhere in that time frame through LONRHO non-milling subsidiaries.
The blurred origins are unsurprising as at some point three Southern African countries where practically one country under a federation government of Northern Rhodesia (Zambia), Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) and Nyasaland (Malawi).. Small wonder the countries still share a large number of similarities in culture and socio-economics.
If you were having coffee with me, I would tell you that Chibuku’s brand of opaque brew was introduced to target African labourers who were not allowed to drink lager beers and spirit liqueur due to the segregation laws of the time. It was mostly served in council beer halls that were found in townships and “reserve areas” as a way of monitoring and controlling behaviour as well as raise funding for municipal authorities.
Towards pre-independence Zimbabwe only the affluent and educated African could purchase bottled beers and whiskeys but only from designated pubs and hotels… While the segregation wasn’t as pronounced as the apartheid in our southern neighbour still the sign Right Of Admission Reserved served a sinister purpose…
With independence came freedom to do things that were previously out of reach. Its unsurprising people didn’t quite want to drink the opaque brew that was forced onto them and those who could afford it picked up more sophisticated palettes.
Chibuku didn’t disappear but instead rebranded to become a cheap alternative for those who could not afford the pricier bottled alcohol. In Zimbabwe, Chibuku launched a Chibuku Scud which according urban legend is named after its resemblance to the Scud Missile…
If you were having coffee with me, I would tell you that in the more recent times which is relative compared to the historical journey I just took you through… Delta introduced a more refined, smoother and carbonated version of Chibuku known Chibuku Super…
Affordable and minus the gritty texture that made is seem designed for people with industrial grade sieves on their throats to filter out sediments common with every sip of the scud brew. Chibuku Super blends well with milk, ice cream and other additives into a smoothie sometimes referred to as elephant yoghurt.
If you are having coffee with me I would tell you that Delta has also introduced various flavours to the Super Chibuku which include, Banana, Pineapple and Ginger…
If you were having coffee with me, I would tell you that the flavours are nice but the public doesn’t seem quite convinced which is unsurprising because they still haven’t shaken off the label that its something you drink when you cant afford anything else… I know people who swear they would never be caught dead drinking Chibuku because it would ruin their image….
If I was head of the marketing team I would probably find a way to push the message that its something you can choose to enjoy regardless of your situation walletically…
Still waiting for January to end and so staying in my lane but I promise you I still occasionally enjoy a Super Chibuku and not just because it’s the only thing in the fridge besides vegetables and a couple of slices of polony…
If you were having coffee with me I would tell you that might as well as drown our sorrows, the leader of the popular opposition party announced he was quitting the party in a 13 page document that said a lot without actually saying anything…
What about the elections, what about the MPs who got elected, what about the free falling economy, what about this, what about that…. But as someone else pointed out: “if one thinks they are better at changing the country one should stand up for it instead of dissecting what someone else should have done differently…”
Meanwhile the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission chairperson Justice Priscilla Chigumba has had her term renewed for another six years by the President… Looks like she did great work in the past elections and will be there to preside over the next elections…
Let me have another sip of my Super Chibuku… whats going on in your neck of the woods?
~B
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