Springbok shooters (Springbokkies)

A Springbokkie is a shooter made from Amarula Cream and peppermint liqueur. It is a very patriotic drink, not only because a Sprinkbokkie reflects the gold-and-green of South Africa’s national rugby team, but also because Amarula is the world’s second best selling cream liqueur (Bailey's Irish Cream being the first).

Amarula is a creamy South African liqueur with a distinctive fruity caramel taste. It is made from the marula fruit which grows in the warmer parts of northern South Africa. Marietjie was introduced to this exotic-tasting fruit by a neighbour, who had a small, fruit-bearing marula tree in his garden, long before Amarula Cream hit the shelves.

In fact, marula fruit has a long history: The illicit distilling of mampoer (moonshine) from fruit such as marulas and peaches was a big deal in South Africa’s Groot Mariko district in the late 19th century. The result was highly amusing anecdotes of close encounters with the law, retold around camp fires and even recorded by South African author Herman Charles Bosman. These stories went on to become part of South Africa’s entertaining story-telling tradition.