It’s a buzz of activity at the site of a new high-end mixology bar in Melville, scheduled to open here at the end of October.

Acclaimed bartenders Devin Cross, Denzel Heath, Dom Walsh and Peter Good have joined forces to open Johannesburg’s first 100% bartender owned craft bar called Mootee. Mootee, spelt muthi, is a universal term in Southern Africa for a substance that contains magical healing properties.

Having travelled extensively, making drinks in some of the top bars around the globe, the team decided a year ago to combine their knowledge and skills and open a concept bar back home.

The new bar will draw on traditional drinking and healing rituals, local ingredients and the latest technology available in the culinary and mixology industry to create unique, explorative drinks and cuisine.

Mootee will boast a one of a kind mixology laboratory, containing equipment that one would normally only find in a Michelin star restaurant or medical laboratory.

To help distil their inhouse Milktart Brandy, the bar will use a Rota Evaporator, traditionally used in chemical laboratories for gentle separation of solvents through evaporation and condensation. To clarifying juices, they’ll make use of a centrifuge apparatus that spin containers of liquids at high speeds to separate fluids of different densities. For rapid aging and fresh infusions, Mootee will use a Sonic Prep to allow solids like oils and fats to penetrate liquids by using ultra-sonic sound waves.

It all sounds like a magical concoction of modern day tech, mix with old school traditions and we can’t wait to take our first sip.