CASTLE MILK STOUT: WHO SAID TIME BELONGS IN A CLOCK?

Time. When you hear the word “time”, the first thing that comes to mind is a clock. A calendar. But that was never the meaning or representation of time. Especially African Time. Telling time in Africa was not about using a tool but being present and observing nature or the moments around you.  

Castle Milk Stout is on a journey to redefine African Time. A journey to rewrite how a whole culture and society’s way of living turned into a stereotype. Yes, how the African way of looking at time turned into one phrase, “African Time”.  

To deep dive into this “African Time” stereotype we need to unpack how Africans and the Western world look at measuring time. Africans used nature as a tool to tell or measure time. They looked at when the sun rose or set. When the first tree bloomed, when the grass turned brown or green. When the first rains fell, or when the nights were longer or the days were shorter.  

This was an ever-changing process, a process that required you to all be present, to be looking around. A process that took time. A process to be savoured, not rushed. A process you had to learn from your elders. This was part of African culture year after year because it is not the same. The first rainfall wouldn’t be on the same day. The first tree can bloom later or earlier but never at the same specific time. This is African Time.  

The Western world uses the clock to tell or measure time. They also use the calendar. This way of measuring or telling time does not allow for flexibility. Observation or being present is not as important. This means that when the first rainfall starts on a certain date, it is predicted that it’s going to start on that date forever. But have the trees bloomed on the same day every year? No. Does that mean the trees are late? No. Because nature does not follow a strict calendar or schedule. Nature uses its own time. Nature moves on African Time.   

Now it’s 2026 and you are waking up, the alarm goes off, the rush has started. First meeting at 7am, next meeting at 10am.Lunch at 12, another meeting at 1pm. Then you need to meet with friends at 2pm, because you have a dinner party that is set for 5pm. This is just one day – how? No time to be present, just pushing to be punctual. That’s what Western time says keep moving, but African Time says be present over everything. Take time to Savour The Moment. 

Castle Milk Stout is a brand that believes Africa’s traditions and values should be savoured. That is why we aim to inspire Africans to rediscover the wisdom of their elders, the warmth of community, and the pride that flows through our veins. This That is why we asked the question: how did African Time end up being defined like this? 

Redefining a whole cultural and societal way of living into a stereotype. Is this what African Time really means? No, African Time can’t be classified as a stereotype or an idiom. African Time is a way of living life. For many centuries Africans have listened to nature to tell the time. Using the sun, animals, seasons and moments to tell the time. Time was not based on a clock or a calendar. Events were not planned on schedules, but when the moment felt right. Never late, but never in a rush. Time does not belong in a clock or have to be measured. 

That is why we pour one for the ancestors who paved the way and raise our glasses to the stories that are yet to be told. 

Castle Milk Stout. Savour Your Richness.