Gaza Perfume named after Hamas Missile

 Submitted without comment.

A new perfume created in Gaza will bear the name of a missile designed by Jerusalem and Operation Pillar of Defense.

 A local cosmetics company, decided to name a new scent M-75, saying “the fragrance is pleasant and attractive, like the missiles of the Palestinian resistance.”

The perfume comes in masculine and feminine scents and costs twice the price of other perfumes as it uses ingredients “worthy of the victory in the Gaza Strip.”

Dave Arnold in Gotham Mag

The always interesting Dave Arnold talking cocktails with Gotham magazine. Nice recipe included for the home bar enthusiast as well. 
Dave Arnold's First Date

Real Actors Reading Yelp Reviews

Calling all service people! Ever had a bad Yelp review written about your establishment? Yeah, we thought so... Yelp reviews can be helpful, but they can also we written by absolute morons with too much time on their hands. Now someone had a brilliant idea and decided to use real actors to do dramatic readings of the "best" Yelp reviews. Don't click on the link unless you want to lose the next hour of your life watching them.
Real Actors Reading Yelp Reviews

A Sustainable Alternative to Ambergris?

Scientists have recently created a compound mimicking ambergris- that lovely perfume and drink ingredient that smells like sex in heaven, never mind it's made from regurgitated bits in the intestines of the sperm whale. Ambergris is wickedly expensive, costing up to hundreds of pounds an ounce. This is because whale hunting is now illegal, and the only ambergris that can be sold has to be found washed up on beaches. Now scientists say that using two enzymes extracted from clary sage they have managed to have bacteria recreate the molecule that is so prized in ambergris. I guess its no more or less gross to have it be vomited up by whale or made by bacteria, right?

Link to the ScienceDaily article is below. 

Synthetic Ambergris 

Marmite a Base Note in New Perfume

Celtic Fire, a new fragrance by Union Fragrance, is supposed to conjure up the Celtic spirit, down to cold salty ocean air, peat bogs, tea, toast- and Marmite. Yes, love it or hate it, Marmite has found its way out of your breakfast and onto your wrist. The company's website refers to it as a "startlingly original" perfume and we here at Drink Factory are inclined to agree. No word yet on whether the fragrance is as polarizing as the substance itself...

Celtic Fire

Tomorrow is Repeal Day!

This will certainly not come as news to our American readers, but just in case our UK community is confused as to why tomorrow is a good day to have a drink, Repeal Day is the day in 1933 that prohibition was overturned in the States. Silly Yanks, outlawing booze in the first place... If you want to read more about Repeal Day and all it means clink the link below. If you just want to skip that part and have a celebratory drink, that's ok, too.

http://www.repealday.org/

Flavour of the Week

The flavour of the week is violet. Violet is a genus of flowering plants in the violet family Violaceae, with around 400–500 species distributed around the world. Most species are found in the temperate Northern Hemisphere, however some are also found in widely divergent areas such as Hawaii, Australasia, and the Andes. Violets are used in perfumery, alcohol, medicines and cuisine.

When newly opened, Viola flowers may be used to decorate salads and soufflés, while ice cream and similar desserts can be flavoured with essence of Viola flowers. The young leaves are edible raw or cooked as a somewhat bland leaf vegetable. There are many types of violets and their culinary uses vary from type to type. For example, the flowers and leaves of the cultivar 'Rebecca', one of the Violetta violets, have a distinct vanilla flavour with hints of wintergreen. The pungent perfume of other types add sweetness to desserts, fruit, and teas while the mild pea flavour of V. tricolor combines well with savoury foods, like grilled meats and steamed vegetables.

One popular method of preserving the flower is to candy them. Candied violet or crystallized violet is a flower preserved by a coating of egg white and crystallised sugar. Alternatively, hot syrup is poured over the fresh flower (or the flower is immersed in the syrup) and stirred until the sugar recrystallizes and has dried. Candied violets are still made commercially in Toulouse, France, where they are known as violettes de Toulouse. They are used as decorating or included in aromatic desserts.

The French are also known for their violet syrup, most commonly made from an extract of violets. In alcohol, violet essence flavours Crème Yvette, Crème de Violette, and Parfait d'Amour. It is also used in Parma Violet confectionery.

The flowers, leaves and roots of various species are used for medicinal purposes, being rich in vitamins A and C and antioxidants. The flowers are also used to make an herbal tea that is used in Chinese herbal medicine to relieve hay fever, sinus problems, eczema, and more. Most violas and many plants of the Violaceae plant family contain cyclotides. These compounds have a diverse range of biological activities when isolated from the plant, including uterotonic, anti-HIV, antimicrobial, and insecticidal activities.

Viola odorata is used as a source for scents in the perfume industry. Violet is an interesting scent because ionone is present in the flowers, which is a compound that turns off the ability for humans to smell the fragrance for moments at a time.

The scent of violet leaves is different from the scent of the flowers. The leaves give off an intense green aroma which resembles mowed grass combined with a hint of cucumber. The fresh scent of violet leaves is an integral component in many fragrance compositions, ranging from fresh floral to oriental spicy and fougere.

Violet liqueur was an integral part of classic cocktails such as the Aviation, though its use in modern bartending is much diminished.

Flavour of the Week

The flavour of the week is persimmon. Persimmons are the edible fruit of a number of species of ebony trees in the genus Diospyros., however not all species of ebony trees bear edible fruit. In color the ripe fruit of the cultivated strains range from light yellow-orange to dark red-orange depending on the species and variety. They similarly vary in size from 1.5 to 9 cm in diameter, and in shape the varieties may be spherical, acorn, or pumpkin-shaped. The ripe fruit have a high glucose content. The protein content is low, but such as it is, it has a balanced protein profile. Like the tomato, persimmons are not popularly considered to be berries, but in terms of botanical morphology the fruit is in fact a berry.

Persimmon fruit have been put to various medicinal and chemical uses. The astringency of dried persimmons help to prevent diarrhea and stop the bleeding associated with hemorrhoids. The fruit also helps to prevent cancer thanks to its high content of beta-carotene, sibutol and betulinic acid. A new study in Japan seems to have established that persimmons actually slow the aging process due to the presence of proanthocyanidin, a compound that resides in the fruit’s skin.

There are two types of persimmons: astringent and non-astringent.

As novice persimmon eaters often belatedly discover, the astringent persimmon has two personalities. When ripe, it possesses a rich, sweet, spicy flavor. The unripened fruit, however, tastes so bitter that biting into it causes the mouth to pucker. However as the fruit ripens and softens, the tannins become inert and the astringency disappears. You can wash a Fuyu persimmon and eat it like an apple, either whole or cut into slices or wedges. The thicker-skinned Hachiya can be messy to bite into, and is easier to handle if halved lengthwise and eaten from the skin with a spoon. Persimmons are excellent blended into margaritas or in an autumnal version of a bellini.

Harold McGee Does it Again!

 We here at Drink Factory love Harold McGee. First of all, he's brilliant. Secondly, you could not find a more lovely, humble man on the planet. So imagine our chagrin when we found ourselves a little, well, angry at the man. We now have to rethink the way sugar cooks and caramelises?? It would appear so... Thanks, Harold for once again shifting the paradigm. Read the article that will change the way you think about sugar FOREVER below.




http://www.curiouscook.com/

MurrayAid

Murray Stenson has been serving people for over three decades (36 years to be exact) from behind Seattle's most esteemed bars. Now, he has a heart ailment that prevents him from working in the profession to which he has given so much. This online fund, MurrayAid, has been established to raise money for his medical expenses.
Go to the MurrayAid Facebook Page for up-to-date information on progress, photos, and Murray anecdotes (everybody has at least one), and watch this page for a comprehensive list of upcoming events and ways to help our friend who has brought so much joy and laughter to so many people. Click on the link below to donate now and look out for a benefit to be organized at 69 Colebrooke Row later in the year.
http://murrayaid.org/

The Art of Scent at the Museum of Art and Design

If you are lucky enough to be in NYC anytime from  November 13, 2012 to February 24, 2013 do yourself a favor and go see this exhibit at the Museum of Art and Design.

"The Art of Scent 1889-2012 is the first major museum exhibition to recognize scent as a major medium of artistic creation and fifteen artists who work in this medium.

The exhibition focuses on twelve works made between 1889 and 2012, and will include Jicky, created by Aimé Guerlain in 1889; Ernest Beaux’s Chanel N° 5 from 1921; Jean-Claude Ellena’s Osmanthe Yunnan from 2006; and Daniela Andrier’s Untitled, created in 2010.

Each scent was selected by curator Chandler Burr to reveal the evolution of aesthetics in the medium or to illustrate major innovations in scent design. Among the innovations was the introduction of synthetic raw materials, which appeared in the late nineteenth century. Before then, the creation of scents was limited to only natural ingredients; synthetics transformed artisanal products into works of art."

The Art of Scent

The Absinthe Depot- Berlin

 

The last time we were in Berlin we stumbled upon a little shop with a lot of beautiful bottles in the window. Upon closer inspection we realized all the bottles were absinthe. Peering in, we saw tables with young hip looking people perched on stools, smoking, and drinking what appeared to be absinthe. Clearly, we went in the door.

Inside was a dizzying array of absinthes and wonderful German and Swiss eau-de-vies, many of which you simply can’t find outside of those countries. The staff is knowledgeable and more than willing to give you a taste of something if they have it open before you commit to buying.

I put a few questions to Hermann Plöckl, the proprietor of the Absinthe Depot. Next time you are in Berlin go and check it out. (Just make sure to behave yourself…)

1.How many absinthes do you carry?

"We have about 150 different Absinthes, most of them in different sizes."

2.How long has the shop been open?

"We have been open since the early 1990s, and have focused on absinthe since the late 1990s."

3.Do you get mostly locals or tourists coming in?

"The locals buy, the tourists take pictures. But they both come in."

4.What are a few of your favourite absinthes?

"Angelique, La P´tite, Butterfly"

5.Do you have any amusing story or anecdote about absinthe you like to share?

"Sorry, the behavior and the questions of some of the visitors might be considered as amusing, but in reality it’s more depressing."

So there you have it! Absinthe Depot is a lovely spot with a stunning range of absinthes. Just remember to behave yourself and don’t take pictures and you and Hermann will get along just fine…

Location:

Weinmeisterstraße 4  10178 Berlin, Germany 030 2816789

Website: http://www.erstesabsinthdepotberlin.de/

Flavour of the Week

The flavour of the week is tamarind. The tamarind, a slow-growing, long-lived, massive tree with strong, supple branches, is covered in dark grey bark. The tree is covered in bright green, feathery foliage and produces inconspicuous, inch wide flowers yellow with orange or red streaks.  The Tamarind tree is indigenous to Africa, but is now grown in most tropical countries, including Mexico, India, Australia, and China.

The fruits are flattish, beanlike pods and are tender skinned with green, highly acidic flesh and soft, whitish seeds. As they mature, the pods fill out somewhat and the juicy, acidic pulp turns brown or red. When fully ripe the skin becomes a brittle, easily cracked shell and the pulp dehydrates naturally to a sticky paste enclosed by a few coarse strands of fibre.

The flavor of the greenish unripe tamarind is watery, acidic and very sour. The ripened sticky pulp has a musky flavor and is sweet and sour due to the sugar and the acid content.

The food uses of the tamarind are many. The tender, immature, very sour pods are cooked as seasoning for savoury dishes in India. The fully grown, but still unripe fruits are roasted in coals until they burst and the pulp is dipped in wood ashes and eaten. The fully ripe, fresh fruit is eaten raw.

The pulp is made into a variety of products. It is an important ingredient in chutneys, curries and sauces, including some brands of Worcestershire and barbecue sauce. Sugared tamarind pulp is often prepared as a confection.Tamarind drinks are very popular in the tropics and most especially in Mexico. The strained pulp, much like apple butter in appearance, can be stored under refrigeration for use in cold drinks or as a sauce for meats and poultry, plain cakes or puddings. Tamarind is excellent in margaritas and other cocktails.

Absolutely Stunning Perfume Jewelry

Jody Kocken loved perfume but was allergic to any skin contact. So she created a stunning line of industrial jewelry designed to trap the scent and release it when the metal was warmed with contact with the wearer's body. Clever girl...

                               PERFUME TOOL JEWELRY

Bar Le Coq- Opening November 10th in Paris

Oui, c'est vrai! It's official, Bar Le Coq will be opening on November 10th in Paris.

Bringing many elements of French drinks, perfume, and literary traditions together under the glamorous and somewhat sordid banner of the 1970’s, Le Coq combines a rock chic sensibility with an eye towards locally sourced French products to create drinks that are not just delicious, they are infused with the spirit of the vrai esprit Parisian.

Bucking the current trends in drinks industry Le Coq celebrates the style and spirit of a different era. Yves ST. Laurent, Jane Birkin, and Marian Faithful would all have felt at home in Le Coq. It brings to mind the feeling of Andy Warhol’s Factory, a slightly dark space where the people that inhabit it are as much the art as the photography and paintings on the walls.

Taking direct inspiration from the 1970’s and drawing on the cross-pollination of the Paris/NY/London musical influences of the time, Le Coq brings together the tradition and glamour of the French “chanteuse” with the brash energy of the NY underground music scene. Le Coq is all dark glamour and delicious drinks. Tres sexy....

Vive Le Coq!

GQ.com, Tony C.'s Article on London Cocktail Week

Tony C.'s favorite moment at London Cocktail Week revealed!

GQ.com

Flavour of the Week

The flavour of the week is curry leaf. Curry leaf, also known as Bergera koenigii, Chalcas koenigii, or Dhivehi is a tropical to sub-tropical tree in the family Rutaceae which is native to India.

Curry tree is a fast-growing deciduous shrub or small tree with deep roots and scented leaves. It can can grow to 6 m high and the bark is dark brown, almost black. The berries are poisonous. The leaves are an important ingredient in curry in South India and Sri Lanka. They look rather like bay leaves and have a smoky deep flavour. In South Asia they are used fresh and dried in cooking. Fresh leaves are also steam distilled to produce an oil which is used for the production of soap. It is important to note that British curry powder does not contain curry leaf. Ingredients it may include are chilli peppers, cumin, corainder seeds, black pepper and dried ginger.

Curry leaf is used in South Asian traditional medicine to treat the digestive system, skin conditions and diabetes. Its anti-diabetic properties are supported by scientific research. Scientists believe that the Indian curry may contain agents that slow down the rate of starch-to-glucose breakdown in people with diabetes. The tree's leaves could control the amount of glucose entering the bloodstream.

Curry leaves are readily available on line and in Eastern speciality shops. The tree grows well in temperate areas and can even handle some frost. A tincture of curry leaf adds a subtle smoky depth to a cocktail.

Tony C, 69 Colebrooke, and the Zetter Townhouse in the New York Times Magazine

69 Colebrooke Row, The Zetter Townhouse, and Tony C feature in the New York Times Magazine Food and Drinks issue regarding culinary quests around the world. Fantastic to be in the NYT of course, but also worth noting that the piece ended up in an article regarding culinary quests. Kudos to the entire team at the lab and both bars!
Read the full article here:
NY TIMES MAGAZINE ARTICLE

Explaining Why Food and Wine Pairings Work

A new study highlighting and explaining why some foods and wines naturally pair up. It seems the sommelier was right- you really do want a high tannin, high acid wine with that fatty steak.Or pickled ginger with your sushi. Or even an olive oil and red wine vinegar salad dressing.

It’s all about texture, researchers say, tannic beverages and foods feel rough, while fats feel slippery. As quoted from the study,

...weakly astringent brews—in this case containing grape seed extract, a green tea ingredient, and aluminum sulfate—build in perceived astringency with repeated sipping. When paired with dried meat, those astringent beverages indeed counter the slippery sensation that goes with fattiness.”

In other words, having a sip of red wine after your bite of steak hits a reset button in your mouth and in perception of flavor and texture, allowing you to re-experience that first pleasurable mouthful without having a buildup of fat on your tongue. It would appear the sommelier buzz-phrase, “palate cleansing”, is actually spot on.

Read the entire article, published in the October 9^th issue of Current Biology here:

CURRENT BIOLOGY ARTICLE

TONY C IN THE EVENING STANDARD

New article in the Evening Standard about Tony C., the new book, the new bar, and distilling the colour blue. This is one worth clicking on, full stop!

The Intersection of Fragrance and Opera

 A lovely article about Cheryl Barker, an Australian opera singer who uses perfumes to inform and flesh out her characters. Yet another example of how aroma is inextricably tied into art and emotion...

 perfume and opera

Charles Spense and Condiment Junkie, Very Special Masterclass!

Can we taste woodland sunlight, hear the scent of roses, or smell the sound of the barber’s clippers..!?

These are intriguing questions which Condiment Junkie, the sensory experience architects, will be exploring at this interactive masterclass.

These long-time collaborators with the world’s most innovative chefs and food/drink brands will be taking guests on an elegant synaesthetic journey as they enjoy three unique cocktails; the Woodland Martini, the Rose and the Barbershop Fizz.

Prof. Charles Spence, Head of the Crossmodal Research Lab at Oxford University, will be on hand explaining the neuroscience underpinning the perceptual effects.

And there will be plenty of experiments to participate in and enjoy as we further our understanding of these crossmodal effects on our senses.

This unique event is taking place at 69 Colebrooke Row on October 20th 2012, 2-4pm, £25pp…
To book your place, email: maria@69colebrookerow.com

Holiday Cocktail Masterclass in London

Holiday Masterclasses the 17th of November and 15th of December in London, presented by Drink Factory! Perfect punch? Amazing Eggnog? Champagne Cocktails? Click on the link below for more information and how to reserve your spot.

http://69colebrookerow.com/index.php/category/masterclasses/

WORLD'S MOST EXPENSIVE COCKTAIL

 We leave you to your own devices on this one...

WORLD'S MOST EXPENSIVE COCKTAIL

CHANDLER BURR-EVERY BOTTLE OF PERFUME CONTAINS A WORLD

An article on a new perfume museum installation in Florence, Italy, curated by one of our favourite perfume writers, Chandler Burr. In this exhibit Chandler tries to illustrate the global nature of perfume, from Tonka beans from Brazil to ginger oil from the Ivory Coast.

The idea for this concept came from the idea that he “had never thought of it, (perfume), in terms of its human geography, nor of the people whose lives perfume is made of. The perfumes we wear are things that come from our planet, an immense, miraculous factory of extraordinary scents, and are filled with the lives of human beings. Every bottle of perfume contains a world.”

The article itself is a good read, but there is also a fantastic video interview with Chandler Burr himself. Enjoy!

CHANDLER BURR-EVERY BOTTLE OF PERFUME CONTAINS A WORLD