Boozist

Did you know drinking cream liqueur can help save elephants?

amarula

Giving Tuesday is a big part of my life considering that I work for a non-profit in addition to running Boozist. Those two worlds collide with an ongoing campaign by Amarula. You drink. They help elephants. Pretty cool, right?

OK, so your drinking doesn’t directly save elephants, but it’s fun to think of it that way. For every bottle of Amarula sold in the U.S., $1 will be donated to WildlifeDirect. That’s not the non-profit for which I work, but I dug in, and it’s a pretty amazing organization. They were originally a general African wildlife conservation group but have recently narrowed their focus to protecting elephants.

The question is, why does a cream liqueur brand care about elephants? Well, first of all it’s a South African brand. And what’s more synonymous with South Africa than elephants? More relevant though, the fruit of the Marula trees is what gives Amarula (see what they did there?) its unique and utterly delightful flavor. There’s nothing African elephants love more than eating from Marula trees, and their snack-driven migration is what cues the locals that it’s time to start hand-harvesting the fruit.

There’s no word on whether or not the elephants like drinking Amarula, but plenty of people do. Cream liqueurs are making a comeback as coffee cocktails move to the forefront, so grab yourself a bottle knowing that you’re helping conserve the African elephant with every drink poured. Grab a few as gifts as well. Amarula’s $1/bottle donation runs through the end of the year, so now’s your chance!

“There are only approximately 400,000 African elephants left in the world, and one is lost every 15 minutes to poachers. We need help spreading the word about the plight of our elephants” says Dr. Kahumbu, CEO of WildlifeDIRECT. “This campaign is a critical component to our global conservation efforts, and the funds raised through Amarula’s help with truly make a difference.”

I’m working on a few of my own cocktail recipes to share here on Boozist, but until then you can find plenty of great drinks on Amarula’s website. Alternatively, there’s nothing to say you can’t drink it on the rocks.