Inventory for April 24th, 2016
Welcome back! This week we finally learn what Alex Kratena and Simone Caporale have been up to, the 2016 San Francisco World Spirits took place, Ketel One celebrates its 325th anniversary with a limited edition bottle, and Tubi is Israel’s most popular liquor. Cheers!
If you’re anything like us, then you probably have a pretty nice selection of various bottles at home. Ever thought about how to store those properly? Here’s a nifty link that’ll teach you exactly what needs to be put in the fridge and what can stay outside. Happy-growing-your-collection!
Alex Kratena and Simone Caporale announce P(our) Symposium
After leaving The Artesian last year, the industry’s been waiting to see what Kratena and Caporale would come up with next. Well, the wait’s over, the two just announced their next project: the P(our) Symposium, an annual convention “that will feature a series of curated talks by influential bartenders and drinks professionals”. Not alone in this endeavour, Kratena and Caporale are joined by New York City’s Jim Meehan, London’s Ryan Chetiyawardana and Xavier Padovani, Oslo’s Monica Berg and Hamburg’s Joerg Meyer as P(our)’s founding members. “To ensure the platform is ‘free from any donor’s agendas’, all money raised will be used to cover production costs and will be published on pourdrink.org”. The first event will take place in Paris on June 19th – 20th, its theme is “The Modern Bartender”.
2016 San Francisco World Spirits Competition
Last month the San Francisco World Spirits Competition was held at the city’s Hotel Nikko. The panel of experts judged the record breaking amount of 1,899 entries from around the world. The Bunnahabhain Distillery of Islay, Scotland was named the 2016 Tasting Panel Distillery of the Year while the Importer of the Year went to Pernod Ricard of New York, U.S.A., “for their outstanding performance”. We’d like to highlight some German wins: the Lufthansa bottled cocktail won a gold medal in the pre-mixed category. Same for Krater Noster Gin, who took home a double gold medal in the Gin category. Belsazar’s white vermouth took home silver as an aperitif while the rose vermouth earned it a golden badge of honor. Find the complete list of winners here.
Ketel One Vodka Celebrates 325th Anniversary
In celebration of its 325th anniversary (now that’s a number to be proud of!) Ketel One Vodka just released a limited edition bottle. Run by the Nolet family of Schiedam, Holland the distillery introduced a one liter commemorative bottle, apptly titled “325th Anniversary Nolet Family Distillery Bottle by Ketel One”. Subtle, they are not. At a retail price of $33.00 the bottle “is accented with the signatures of the family’s 10th and 11th generations and with embossed gold coins to represent the first 10 generations”.
Tubi: Israel’s most Popular Liquor
A liquor, made “with lemons, herbs, flower with tree extracts, specially designed for a refreshing, uplifting, and pleasurable experience”, has taken Tel Aviv by storm. Though no one really knows what the stuff is made of. Munchies author Emilee Tombs made it her mission to find out and, after spending an evening with Tubi expert Jacob Rothschild and consuming copious amounts of Tubi that make her feel slightly high, she managed to speak to Tubi CEO and co-founder Hilal who tells her “While it is flattering to have people speculate about how Tubi gives such a great effect, the fact is, there is no khat or anything like it in the ingredients”.
Apparently, all it took to make the liquor exclusive and desirable was “some clever marketing via Facebook and Twitter combined with snubbing the mainstream media. Once the ‘hipsters’ got involved, Tubi’s popularity skyrocketed”. Well, this one’s a lesson for all you distillers out there.
