Inventory for July 19th, 2015
Welcome! This week we bring you news from London, where an alcoholic cloud has taken over the Borough Market, Heineken’s newest beer bottle inventions prevents the contained liquid from freezing, Headley magazine releases its bizarre list of most sold spirits, Tanqueray debuts a new special edition gin, and a Brooklyn bar hosts a special ladies’ night to raise awareness for the gender gap. Here we go!
How important is storytelling to a brand? Berlin’s Food Entrepreneurs Club will try to answer this question next Tuesday, July 21st, at the Hallesches Haus. The panel discussion (run by food communications consultant Heimo Tscherne) with a Q&A session afterward will set you back 10,- Euros but is a definite must for any young food and drink business owner.
1) Bompas & Parr’s Alcoholic Cloud
Bompas & Parr are granting visitors access to their “alcoholic architecture” at London’s Borough Market. Designboom reports that the weather system is a mixture of mereology and mixology in which a walk-in cloud, made from a breathable cocktail, surrounds the visitors and “brings the world’s best drinks to architectural scale”. The cloud vapor consists of spirits and mixers at a ratio of 1:3 and is made possible through the use of powerful humidifiers. Worried about the alcohol content? Not to fear, both respiratory scientists and chemists worked on this project to calculate a safe amount of time that guests are able to remain within the cloud without getting blackout drunk.
2) Heineken’s new Beer Bottles Prevent Beer from Freezing
You know that feeling of coming home from work and all you want is an ice cold beer? But the damn Späti guys don’t leave the good beer in the fridge, which means you pop it in the freezer and then forget all about it while you either open up a bottle of white or make yourself a negroni. The next day the beer is frozen and you’re sad. Fret no more!
Because Heineken’s scientist have developed a bottle which is produced from ultra-resistant polyethylene terephthalate and is able to chill beer in minus degrees, without having the inner liquids freeze. Miracle! The FoodBev Media sight writes that “Heineken’s iconic star … has adopted a functional turn, as well: it turns red when the beer inside has reached the optimum temperature, notifying the drinker that it is ready to consume.” Packaging like this could revolutionise your beer drinking temperatures, as long as Heineken gives up the patent.
3) The Millionaire’s Club Top Sold Spirits
British magazine Headley released its newest issue, which includes a spirit ranking of global, most sold spirits. The list is quite a head scratcher as the number one position goes to Jinro (who?), number two is awarded to Emperador (what?), and Officer’s Choice (where?) closes the ranks. Now, none of these are virtually unknown but they are certainly a far cry from we consider to be the world’s top most sold spirits …
4) Tanqueray Debuts Bloomsbury Gin
Available from August 2015 Tanqueray just debuted it new Bloomsbury Gin. Diageo’s newest limited edition, which continues the trend of premiumizing its gin, is based on a 1880s-era recipe which was created by Charles Waugh Tanqueray – son of the founder Charles. The Bloomsbury gin, named after the borough in which the distillery used to be located, features prominent notes of juniper and other botanicals. It’s the third in a row of upscale, special edition gins that Tanqueray has launched over the last few years.
5) Mind the (Gender) Gap
Much too often, we’re surprised by people’s stupidity. Today though, let’s talk about humanity’s better moments. On July 7th Brooklyn-based bar Way Station charged women 77% of their bar tabs in order to encourage their clientele to talk about the States’ ongoing gender wage gap debate. The figures were based on a US Census Bureau annual report that stated in 2012, women made 77 cents for every male dollar. Liquor.com reports that the night did encourage debate, not all of it was positive. A group of men’s right activists (yeah, because we really need more of those) threatened to boycott the bar. Owner Andy Heidel, who sounds like the most righteous guy, wasn’t concerned about losing clientele. Instead, he tells The Guardian, “that he felt Tuesday’s promotion helped to weed out those who do not want to treat women with respect”. Yes please, more of this!
