mampoer, noun

Forms:
Also mapoer.
Origin:
AfrikaansShow more Afrikaans, perhaps adaptation of Mampuru the name of a former Pedi chief in a region where an abundance of marulas led to much distilling of spirits.
1. A raw brandy originating in the Transvaal and distilled, often illicitly, from fruits such as peaches, karee-berries, and marula fruit; witblits sense a. Also attributive.
1934 Sunday Times 13 May (Swart)Mampoer, as this home-distilled brandy is commonly called, has been very popular.
1943 I. Frack S. Afr. Doctor 29Mampoer is a home-made alchoholic beverage with a pleasant smell, yellowish, and a soapy consistence like strong nitric acid...I have known it to have a beneficial effect on sufferers from Tape-worm.
1946 H.C. Bosman Mafeking Rd (1969) 122It was good mampoer, made from karee-berries that were plucked when they were still green and full of thick sap.
1968 W. Kempen in D.J. Opperman Spirit of Vine 284Mapoer, fiery brandy illicitly distilled on farms.
1976 S. Afr. Panorama May 24What is moonshine white, has the kick of a pack of crazed mules and is in essence liquid folk-lore? Mampoer, my friend, mampoer.
1987 Investing Today (pamphlet)The Tzaneen distillery..now produces six popular mampoer spirits — peach, orange, pineapple, litchi, naartjie and marula...Mampoer has come of age and is a smooth, velvety spirit that is clean on the palate..with the same alcohol volume (43%) of its brothers cane, vodka and whiskey.
1987 D.W. Potgieter in Sunday Times 12 Apr.Moonshiners get mampoer lovers in impotent rage...Mampoer is traditionally distilled in the Transvaal from peaches, apricots,..in fact, any fruit except grapes. Grapes are used for making witblits.
1987 Weekly Mail 19 June 26In the past excise men made access to mampoer difficult.
1990 M. Shafto in Weekend Argus 9 June 11Mampoer stoking was very much part of his life — indeed, part of his earliest recollections.
2. combinations
mampoerfees [Afrikaans, fees festival], a fair at which mampoer is tasted and prizes awarded for the best distillation;
mampoerstoker /-ˈstʊəkə(r)/ [Afrikaans, stoker distiller], a distiller of mampoer; see also stoker.
1983 Frontline May 18Down the road, there is another gate with a small sign saying ‘mampoerfees’.
1988 Weekly Mail 27 May 3 (caption)About the only stall at the annual Mampoerfees in Pretoria last week to offer wares to rival the sharpness of the infamous throat-blistering brew was this selection of cutlery, perfect for the serious biltong-gnawer.
1988 Sunday Star 5 June 2In the above right picture mampoerstokers distill their precious brew of distilled juice and alcohol.
1990 Motorist 1st Quarter 16There are [sic] a plentiful supply of mampoer-stokers in our north-western Transvaal, most operate with a licence, some brew the clear liquid under cover of the bushes in the backyard, all their booze has the kick of a mule.
A raw brandy originating in the Transvaal and distilled, often illicitly, from fruits such as peaches, karee-berries, and marula fruit; witblits sense a. Also attributive.
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