Dance with a Sedgwick's Cocktail
Sedgwick’s Original Old Brown celebrates the festive season with a refreshing, easy-to-prepare cocktail, the Charles Shandy.
Who would ever have thought the familiar “Obies” could also be such a great cocktail ingredient? It has always been a trusted source of warmth in the cold winter months, but what about summer? So surprise everyone by taking out that bottle of Sedgwick’s you’ve moved to the back of the cupboard as summer settled in, and welcome your friends and family this Christmas with the Charles Shandy cocktail.
The Charles Shandy is a dance of legend created by the original Charles Sedgwick of Sedgwick’s fame. It is claimed to be similar to the Foxtrot, a ballroom dance dating back to the early 1900’s and which could only be danced with a partner. Charles included two sets of shimmy moves. Shimmy is a dance movement where the whole body is held still, except for the shoulders, which alternate back and forth - when the right shoulder goes back, the left shoulder comes forward. The arms are held slightly bent at the elbow and when the shoulders move, the hands stay in the same position. Charles combined the shimmy moves with one or two backward steps and a few fun hand flicks. He always made sure it was danced to a melody that made his audience grin, and he ended the dance with a bow.
Whether Charles taught the dance to his guests before he enjoyed the cocktail, or after, we shall never know. That’s for you to decide!
Sedgwick’s has just released a series of easy-to-prepare cocktail recipes. Visit www.sedgwicksoriginal.co.za or the Sedgwick’s Facebook and YouTube page to read how each cocktail originated and to see how each is assembled. Sedgwick’s Original Old Brown is available countrywide and retails for about R30 per bottle.
The Charles Shandy
Ingredients
50ml Sedgwick’s Original Old Brown
4 ice cubes
½ orange squeezed or 30ml orange juice
50ml cranberry juice
2 dashes of bitters
Crushed ice
3ml Grenadine
1 strawberry, sliced
1 thin strip of orange peel
Method
Combine the ice cubes, Sedgwick’s Original Old Brown, the orange juice, cranberry juice and the two dashes of bitters in a cocktail shaker and shake well. Strain the mixture into a cocktail glass over the crushed ice and blend in the Grenadine to your taste. Garnish with strawberry slices and the orange peel.