2020-03-01 Woolworths Taste

DRINKS

Can of the best?

Incaseyoumissedthememo,a growingnumberofcraftdistillers,brewers

andevenwinemakersareditchingglassbottlesinfavourofartfullydesigned

aluminiumcans.Here’swhysomearetalkingaboutit asa revolution

TABLE TALK

They’regreen(er)

Aluminiumcanshavean

evensmallercarbonfootprint

thanglass.“Cansareinfinitely

recyclable– they’rethemost

recycledpackagingmaterialin

SouthAfrica,”saysTomRiley,

MDandfounderofTinyKeg,

a mobilecanningsupplierto

localcraftdrinkproducers.

“Cansarelighter,whichmakes

it possibletotransportmore

productpertrip,makingit

moreenvironmentallyfriendly

thanglass,”addsLittleWolf

ownerandbrewerStefan

Wiswedel.“Theyalsotakeup

lessspace,soareeasierand

cheapertostore.”

Thedrinktastes

thesame

Rememberwhencansused

toadda tinnytangtoyour

favouritebeverage?Ancient

history,saysTom.“Cansare

nowmadewithaluminium

andtheinsideis coveredwith

a food-gradefilmthatdoesn’t

lettheliquidcomeintocontact

withthemetal,”heexplains.

JanHofmeyr,founderand

CEOofVinette,a newrangeof

single-varietalcannedwines,

agrees.“Numerousconsumer

testshaveproventhis,with

blindtastingsfindingno

markeddifferencesbetween

winefromglassversusa can.”

Tom,whocansanarrayof

wineranges,saysthatwhile

vinophilesmightarguethat

boldvarietalsbenefitfromthe

slowintroductionofoxygen

thathappenswithageing

They’reInstaready

Doyourselfa favourandcheck

out#canartonInstagram.

Localcraftdrinksproducers

arefallingoverthemselvesto

collaboratewithcoolartists

anddesignerstolendtheir

canssomehipstercred.“The

canrevolutionhasunleashed

creativitylikewe’veneverseen

beforeondrinkspackaging,”

saysTom.“Wine,inparticular,

hasembracedthistrend,

movingawayfromtraditional

conservativebottlelabelsin

favourofdesignswe’remore

accustomedtoseeingoncraft

beercans.”

CraftbrewerNial

CookofRichmondHill

BrewingCompany,who

hascollaboratedwithlocal

artiststoadornhiscanswith

bespokeartworks,likenscan

arttolimited-editionprints.

“Assmall-scaleproducers,we

tomaking

They’re practical
Yes, glass is great, but having
your beer bottle shatter into
a thousand shards isn’t. Neither
is having your brewskies
confiscated at a music festival.
Guess what: cans are allowed
in most public spaces where
glass isn’t. When it comes to
wine, single-serving cans give
you the chance to chop and
change varietals when you
don’t want to commit to a
full bottle. Best of all, if you’re
caught short and don’t have
enough drinks in the fridge,
cans cool down much quicker
than glass bottles.

TEXT

ANNETTE KLINGER

PHOTOGRAPHS

SADIQAH ASSUR-ISMAIL

PRODUCTION

HANNAH LEWRY

FOOD ASSISTANT

BIANCA STRYDOM

“Do yourself

a favour and

check out

#canart on

Instagram”

38 TASTE MARCH 2020

atwe

it withitwith

special.”

thathaappenswithageing

in a bottle,everyday,easy-

drinking wineskeepextremely

wellinncacansnsssduetotheladuetothelackck

oflighhttandoxygen.

Assmall scaleprodu

putsomucheffortin

y somethingspecialth

need to do justice toneedtodojusticeto

can art that’s equally