The Hangout: A proudly South African reason to toast Margarita Day

This is a bold, proudly South African story and it makes me ridiculously happy. There’s something incredibly special about taking a drink so deeply rooted in Mexican culture and reimagining it right here at home, in our own soil, under our own skies. It feels brave, it feels ambitious and it feels proudly local in the best possible way. It feels meant to be. 

Every year on February 22, National Margarita Day gives us the perfect excuse to raise a salt rim to one of the world’s most loved cocktails. The margarita has been around since the 1930s or 1940s depending on which origin story you believe, born somewhere between Mexico and Texas, and it’s stayed popular because it’s fresh, yummy, vibrant and endlessly versatile. I remember wandering down a road in Nashville and passing Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville bar there too. Whether you prefer a classic lime version or something with a bit more kick, it’s the kind of drink that instantly feels like sunshine in a glass.

Those of us who enjoy a little tipple usually have a go-to favourite and this one is mine. It seems like the most fun of the drinks and, in my mind at least, the healthiest. It comes from plants, right? Just like vegetables. I love all things Mexican, so to have something kinda Mexican yet grown right here in the Karoo makes it all the more impressive and special.

Enter Inzalo Agave Spirits, a premium South African agave spirit crafted from rare Red Agave harvested in the Klein Karoo. It’s not tequila and it’s not mezcal. Founders Diego Avila and Sebastian O’Keefe were clear from the start that they wanted to create something entirely its own. The agaves are hand harvested, slow steam cooked in converted dairy tanks and fermented using wild local yeasts. The result is a creamy, buttery spirit with hints of cocoa and coffee. There are two expressions, Batch One which is their unaged white spirit, and Barrel One, which is gently rested in oak for added depth.

Diego, who calls himself Inzalo’s flavour architect, says what began as scientific curiosity quickly became something more meaningful. As a Latin biologist, crafting an agave spirit in South Africa felt like honouring his heritage while celebrating agaves that have thrived here for more than 300 years. Sebastian adds that while agaves grow all over the world, they’ve remained largely a Mexican phenomenon. With some of the oldest and most diverse soils on earth, South Africa offered the chance to create a distinct spirit that truly expresses plant and place.

Their little piece of paradise revealed itself almost by chance. On Valentine’s Day 2025, after another road trip across the country, they checked into a small bed and breakfast near Ladismith. A conversation with locals led them to a farmer who mentioned agaves growing all over his land. The next morning they followed a pin into a remote valley beneath the Swartberg Mountains and found Red Agave with striking red tips growing in abundance. Later they discovered the harsh UV and high salt content from ancient seabeds were responsible for that colouring. They knew instantly their search had ended. It was the place that had gently waited to be discovered when the time was right. So, as Cupid would have it, these two adventurers did fall in love with that little piece of land after all and what better day to commemorate the start of something so filled with love and beauty. 

Inzalo means descendant in Zulu and that philosophy runs through everything they do. They travelled to Mexico three times to learn traditional methods, but ultimately created their own process rooted in local tools and techniques. Wild yeasts collected from the agaves, hand presses sourced from local winemakers and dairy tanks converted into steamers all form part of a process focused on purity and origin. It’s about terroir, science and tradition meeting in the middle, not imitating tequila or mezcal but carving out a new class of agave spirit altogether. 

I love that this was their pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. A recipe of adventure, friendship, passion, creativity and love for local that feels like bambanani. Togetherness. Community. Love. If Inzalo were an actor, Diego says it would be Pedro Pascal, charming, layered and effortlessly cool. Sebastian leans towards Daniel Day Lewis for his uncompromising authenticity. Either way, tomorrow is National Margarita Day and there’s no better time to discover a proudly South African agave spirit that’s rewriting the rules, one beautifully balanced sip at a time. Cheers to being proudly South African and to creating beautiful stories this Margarita Day.