Alcohol and Drugs History Society

Beer in South Africa (book)

Anne Kelk Mager, Beer, Sociability, and Masculinity in South Africa [African Systems of Thought] (Indiana UP, 2010). 

Beer in South Africa (book)

Anne Keik Mager, Beer, Sociability, and Masculinity in South Africa (Indiana UP, forthcoming  2010).

Apartheid and malted beer (article)

Anne Kelk Mager, "Apartheid and Business: Competition, Monopoly and Growth of the Malted Beer Industry in South Africa," Business History 50/3 (May 2008): 272-290.

South African brandy (book)

Craig Fraser and Wendy Toerien, Fire water: South African Brandy (Cape Town: Quivertree Publications in association with South African Brandy Foundation, 2008).

Beer sales go flat in so-called emerging economies

Beer sales have gone flat in many so-called emerging economies.  The decline has been especially sharp in Russia, Colombia, and South Africa.  There are exceptions, for instance, Peru.  For details, see here.

Coffee cheaper in Buenos Aires than in Moscow

Coffee is most expensive in Europe: US$10.19 per cup in Moscow, $6.77 in Paris, and $6.62 in Athens. It is cheaper in the southern hemisphere: $2.36 in Johannesburg and $2.03 in Buenos Aires. For more, see here.

Whiskey more popular than brandy in South Africa

Although South Africa is the world's fifth largest brandy producer and in contrast imports nearly all of its whiskey, brandy is easily outsold by the 300 brands of whiskey available in the country. For the battle between the two spirits, see here.

Apartheid and the malted beer industry in South Africa (article)

Anne Kelk Mager, "Apartheid and business: Competition, monopoly and the growth of the malted beer industry in South Africa," Business History 50/3 (May 2008): 272-290. The text of one of her related articles (Past & Present 188 [2005]: 163-194) is available online.

Xhosa Beer Drinking Rituals (book review)

Sean Redding reviews Patrick McAllister, Xhosa Beer Drinking Rituals (Durham: Carolina Academic Press, 2006) here.

Premium coffee for the price-conscious in South Africa

Premium coffee has become popular in South Africa even at price-conscious fast-food restaurants. For instance, Wimpy introduced premium coffee in 2006. In this context premium coffee has a modest meaning: only fresh ground Arabica beans and not instant. Although the opportunity for growth of premium coffee in South Africa seems limited, it appears to have acquired drinkers at the expense of tea. For more, see here.