Hustling is not something we would normally advocate here at The Amazing Blog, however when an advertising campaign comes in which is structured around the very essence of a jolly good hustle, we sit up, keyboards poised and channel the inner opportunist. Sxollie is the brand, and their delicious cider is the product which takes no prisoners and proudly promotes a good down to earth hustle.
Now ‘sxollie’ is derived from the english word scallywag, the afrikaans word skorrie-morrie, the dutch word schoelje meaning rascal, and the yiddish word meaning jackal. Quite a heady mix to get our teeth into, but also a highly effective marketing tool to ensure we are sitting up and taking notice, especially since it forms the basis for the philosophy behind Sxollie Cider. ‘In a nutshell’, as they decree, the term Sxollie means ‘hustler’, and its composition is a barrelful of single varietal cider, backed up by the company’s rousing chorus that this is the best cider to come out of Africa.
The interesting part of this approach is that actually the taste of Sxollie is rather refined - elegant almost, which must derive from the Champagne yeasts which are used to ferment their carefully chosen apples from the Elgin orchards of Cape Town. Perhaps the harder edge synopsis of this drink comes from the urban jungle itself which forms an integral ingredient to the finished product? However, that final product is certainly one to take a chance on, as it celebrates with all it’s might it’s African heritage, right down to the pottery design mosaic ‘X’ sprawled across the bottle. We discovered the brand as they were the winners of the International Cider Challenge 2019. There is a trio in the range to try, although we were ONLY sent one bottle Cripps Pink (Pink Lady) - ahem, Sxollie we would have like to have tried more!
Sxollie is available from our high street supermarkets, Waitrose and Sainsburys across the country have them on their shelves, as well as many good independent outlets. Waitrose currently have a 330ml bottle on at £1.85, but if you get your skates on, Sainsbury's have an offer running with bottles priced at £1.60. As the ‘Sxollie philosophy’ tells us - “Pursue that glint in your eye … a little hustle goes a long way”!