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Here at 2oceansvibe, we take the business of declaring summer open very seriously.

It is both an honour and a burden at times. The longer the wait goes on the more frenzied readers send panicked emails asking if it’s time to bust out the ‘brollies’ and take the beach by storm.

Inbox – “Can we begin to consume our new favourite summer drink en masse and start the WhatsApp group devoted solely to picking out the worst Vaalie tattoo on display?”

Due to the weather gods insisting on throwing the odd curveball our way it’s taken us long enough this year. Every single time we’ve thought ‘this week is the week’, some cloud cover has ruined the fun.

In fact, December 8 now goes into the record books as the latest date EVER that we have done the deed.

But here we are, so take a deep breath and rejoice because we are now officially declaring summer open.

We’ve had to bend the rules slightly to make this happen. The usual metric is the WeatherPro app showing a full week of sun icons (no clouds whatsoever) for Cape Town.

As you can see below today is all sun and although clouds do feature temperatures are still expected to hit a max of somewhere around the early to mid-20s.

Thankfully we don’t factor in wind speeds otherwise we may never send out the summer Bat-Signal.

With the emergence of that pesky Omicron variant there will be fewer real estate battles on the beach as well as scrambles for parking.

We must celebrate whatever mercies we can and I have two drinks in mind for doing so. The first is your classic Gin & Tonic using the Cape’s finest Malachite Gin.

Using only hand-picked, sustainable floral botanicals, the infused fynbos works in perfect harmony with the classic gin botanicals.

It’s Cape through and through.

Then there’s the new kid in town with whispers emanating from some of Cape Town’s most popular watering holes that it’s going to be the drink of choice for summer 21/22.

The Phantom R&R is reminiscent of the R&R drink made famous in Mozambique with Tipo Tinto rum spirit, so there’s a chance you’ll find it brings back some memories.

Perfectly served, it’s made as follows:

• Fill a glass with ice
• Add 50ml Elephantom Rum

• Top up with Bixie Sparkling Raspberry Soda
• Garnish with fresh lime

Keep it simple. You’ve worked hard this year.

Elephantom R&R will also be available as a bucket special at the likes of Oranjezicht City Farm Market bar (Wednesday nights and weekends), Bacini’s on Kloof Street, Mantra Café in Camps Bay, Judd’s Local on Kloof Street, and Mulberry & Prince in the CBD.

Triple distilled from pure fermented cane molasses in a copper pot still and aged in bourbon casks, Elephantom Rum has a rich, rounded fruity flavour that’s full of complexity.

It’s summer. You’re not going overseas. Try new things. Live a little.

And, as always, wear sunscreen.

Let the summer begin!