HOW TO MAKE NIGERIAN CHAPMAN

NIGERIAN MOCKTAIL: CHAPMAN DRINK

For a homebody like me, going to parties never really held any appeal for me. I prefer to stay at home, curl up in bed with a classic to pass the evening. But then for the love of asun (peppered meat), pepper soup, small chops (yummy!) and Chapman (YAY!), I trade home for the parties; hangouts, birthdays, get-togethers, whichever party. As long as there’s Chapman, I always turn up. There’s this friend of mine that makes a mean Chapman that always keeps me coming back for more.

Chapman is a delicious mocktail that’s very common in Nigerian restaurants. Good news is that you can make it t home and enjoy it too. It usually has very small quantities of alcohol due to the Angostura bitters in it but then it is actually nutritious and very healthy. Angostura bitters has some significant health benefits as it can act as a diuretic (increase the flow of urine) and also increase blood circulation. Coupled with the various fruits used to garnish this drink, you have this nourishing goodness that tastes amazing in every glass.

I love making my drinks as natural as possible, opting for natural alternatives and all. But for Chapman I usually make exceptions; I stick to the traditional recipe, sometimes make a few changes.

The ingredients you’ll need are

- ½ cup of grenadine syrup or ¼ liter of blackcurrant drink concentrate (Ribena or Boom)

- 35cl orange soda (Fanta orange or Mirinda orange)

- 35cl lemon-lime soda (Sprite or 7-Up)

- A few dashes of Angostura Aromatic Bitters

To garnish you can use any of these: cucumbers, watermelon, apples, lemon, bananas etc. for this recipe, I’ll be using:

*Apple 1 medium sized fruit

*Cucumber ½ medium sized fruit

*Watermelon ¼ medium sized fruit

*Pineapple 1 round slice

*Lemon 2 thin slices

Method

1. Wash fruits, peel and remove seeds. Cut into small sizes; dicing them is preferable (all except the lemon).

2. Put the diced fruits into a large jug or pitcher.

3. Pour in the blackcurrant concentrate, orange soda and lemon-lime soda into the pitcher.

4. Add a few dashes of the Angostura Bitters, stir lightly.

5. Serve chilled over ice in a glass.

6. Add the lemon slice (you could put one slice over the edge).

Notes:

I usually let this drink stand for 10-15 minutes or even more so as to let the fruits absorb the drink.

You could use fruit punch powders such as Eve, Nutri-C, Citrus and so on to substitute for the sodas. I prefer using the sodas; Fanta orange to be specific.

If you do mind alcohol, you can skip the bitters. But then the taste cannot be as delicious as the traditional Chapman drink.

I hope you enjoy this drink as much as I do. Send me a message as to what you think about this drink..

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kehinde is an avid reader who loves writing. A graduate of Anatomy, she writes to teach, inspire, encourage and amuse(sometimes). Asides from writing and reading, she loves teaching, eating (lol, yeah especially trying out new dishes and recipes) and traveling. She can be reached at kehindeadeniji32@gmail.com.