Cluver & Jack

Cluver & Jack is a pure, artisan craft cider brewed in Elgin, South Africa. It is made from freshly-pressed apples that are hand-picked from the trees on Paul Cluver Farm.

Cluver & Jack is a collaboration between 2 exceptional wine makers, Paul Cluver and Bruce Jack. They have united in this front-running product, combining their unique offerings to create a fresh, crisp, high quality and beautifully branded product.

Caro Jesse conceptualised and produced their launch at Hope Amphitheatre in November 2014. We collaborated with award-winning chef, Bertus Basson to create a cider-infused feast for all the senses.

Experiential Design Elements

Mixing Lab:
– To illustrate the fact that the apples are freshly-pressed, we created an apple mixing ‘lab’.
– Lab bottles filled with the 4 different pressed apple juice that are used in the cider were placed on old wine barrels.
– Guests had tiny tasting cups of each juice before they began to mix.
– Guests could play and mix their own juices to create their very own brew.
– They were decanted into personal bottles, labelled and taken home.

Get some perspective:
Some fun landscape art on a few of the trees in the amphitheatre – a piece of mirror is placed on the tree trunk at the perfect place and it seems as if the tree has been sliced in half and floating.

The cider instrument:
– 12 long lengths of art deco glass were filled at different levels with the cider
– Guests were encouraged to play the instrument, to feature the clarity of the cider

Wild flower chandeliers:
We made olive branch and wild fynbos chandeliers – 1 large one above the main table and 5 smaller ones.

Green grass place mats:
Each guests had a grass pacemat with their name tags ‘nailed’ onto an apple.

Glass ‘half full’:
Glasses were labelled in white with ‘half full’ – a humorous repitition on the label which says, “.. and yes, the glass is always half full”.

Bubble bunting:
50m of natural twine was threaded with bubbles in clear and pale yellow to echo the bubbles in the cider.

Side plates, bread boards and butter ‘dishes:
These were made of natural paper with a Cluver & Jack design printed on them for a rustic feel.

Vintage feel:
The cutlery was mixed vintage and antique and crockery enamel dishes.

Food
Bertus Basson is the king of open-fire cooking and he created a menu to pair perfectly to the beautiful cider.

To nibble on…
Sout ribbetjie with Dukka.
Spicy, sticky pork ribs.

First up…
Fresh breads, smoked olives, tapenade, garlic emulsion
Charred white asparagus, Buffalo Ridge mozzarella, nasturtium

And then…
Hot smoked hake, malay flavors, radish and pickled cucumber.
Organic corn Tacos, pulled pork, miso cream, kim chi greens, avocado.

Oh.. of course…
Apple pie, moms recipe, vanilla ice cream, tonka custard

Before you go…
Apple sorbet, apple blossom topped up with Cluver & Jack Cider.

Special thanks to Hein for the beautiful photograph of the ‘smoking sorbet’.
See his beautiful coverage and photographs on heinstirred.com
See luscious photographs by stylist queen Sam Linsell on her blog drizzleanddip.com
Photographs professionally taken at the event by Daniela Zondagh.