Blog — Page 178 of 283

What's Sumatra with You?

Coffee Style

Prestel Publishing

As Madonna put it ever so eloquently: Espresso yourself. Tadum-tsh! Better latte than never.

Ahhh, coffee and procaffeinating, I never grow bored from how the world changes after you ingest it – the one liquid that only leads to exhaustion if you decide to not ingest it.

If you have perused some of my emissions on here it should not be hard to detect that not unlike T.S. Eliot, I have measured out my life with coffee spoons.

Then again, I kind of like Ralph Waldo Emerson’s take on it, who thought that it was a weak dilution with the surest poison being time. No matter if you think coffee is a vitamin or a drug, coffee makes the world go round.

For some, the fascination with the black gold goes a bit further and way deeper than the recent renaissance that came with the advent of hipster culture. There is an art to coffee and photographer Horst A. Friedrichs turned his lens to highlight the finer nuances in this coffee table book par excellence, e.g. baristas at work and a myriad of techniques of extracting the black liquid via espresso machines to consumers indulging in the enjoyment of it.

Event fringe phenomena like coffee related couture is paid attention to and the accompanying essays substantiate the eye candy with details on the transformative alchemy.

A delightful, opulently illustrated addition to your coffee table, be it for the uninitiated or the hardcore aficionado.

Read previous insallments of What’s Sumatra with You?.

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Photos by T

There is certainly no shortage of distilleries in this day and age.

They come in all sizes and specializations.

Every now and then you stumble across one whose liquid emissions have not yet been absorbed and praised by the mainstream, which is always a rewarding and gratifying experience.

Then you come across distilleries that have a distinct approach that makes them unique without deliberately pursuing to be perceived as a novelty.

Belgrove Distillery combines the best of both of these aspects.

Peter Bignell is the brain and driver behind Belgrove Distillery’s copper still.

His dedication to both his craft and recycling makes other distilleries pale in comparison when it comes to sustainability and small carbon footprint.

In essence, Belgrove Distillery is based on the foundation and spoils that is Peter Bignell’s farm.

An overproduction of a rye corn harvest resulted in him looking for ways to use it in other manners, i.e. the production of rye whisky.

Gesagt, getan – he built is own still from scratch, which he powers along with water heating by utilizing leftover cooking oil, which is also used to fuel his farm vehicles with biodiesel.

Now, all of the above make Belgrove Distillery an endeavor worth supporting, but there is more to it.

What takes Belgrove Distillery to the next level is not merely its closed loop operation but the fact that its rye whisky emissions are something else.

Belgrove’s golden sunshine coloured Oat Whisky smells like a sweet summery day in the tropics has been caught in a bottle, which is backed by a creamy, nutty palate and finishes with a hint of peppery smoke. A journey of delight, start to finish.

A favourite of the Belgrove range is the Peated Rye Whisky, which packs a bit of a punch with its sixty percent ABV.

The fact that the alcohol aspect is not overpowering and is instead dominated by a mélange of smoky meat honey and vanilla notes is testament to the alchemy Bignell channels when it comes to expertly calibrating the nuances of his whiskies. It is further substantiated with an earthy taste reminiscent of a rainy summer’s day.

Sounds exaggerated and overly metaphorical?

I dare you to taste it and then try to capture the experience in mundane words.

The Belgrove Rye Whisky opens with a profile that proves hard to put one’s finger on: There is bread, chamomile and scents of pickles, the palate is fruity and simultaneously floral, getting a tad more intense with a grainy finish.

A smooth operator that convinces with its creamy texture.

The Belgrove Rye Whisky expression that has been matured in Shiraz Casks takes things to the next level: Dark chocolate, Christmas spices, honey, vanilla, sweet- and spiciness.

Wow.

Describing it as “more-ish” would be an understatement par excellence.

One that makes you lust for another dram.

An interesting variant is the Belgrove Apple Hatched, which is its barrel aged distilled apple cider.

The emphasis is obviously on apple flavours, which it does in spades running the gamut from overripe to baked apples, backed by pepper and herbal notes and a finish reminiscent of a creamier version of a good French Calvados.

Needless to say that it did not take long for the world of whisky aficionados to take note of Belgrove Distillery, which resulted in his operation being inundated with praise and accolades and many making the pilgrimage to Kempton or to alternatively order its limited releases online, which due to its exposure are now notoriously rather hard to come by.

Let alone bands like Queens of the Stone Age holding court in Tasmania only to go out of their way to buy the remainder of Peter Bignell’s stock to sustain them on tour, which almost resulted in your humble narrator not having access to some of Belgrove’s expressions.

Peter Bignell is a renaissance man thriving on overcoming obstacles and the effort he puts into each step of Belgrove’s DIY rye whisky production pay dividends in the taste department and is well worth you making the effort to do yourself the favour to look out for its rare bottlings.

Read more Water of Life entries here.

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Photo by T

Taylor Swift

ANZ Stadium

Sydney, Australia

November 2, 2018

Truth be told - Taylor Swift is a pop phenomenon that has so far by passed me. Sure, I am familiar with the omnipresence of her in mainstream media, but I would not have been able to describe the DNA that makes her the superstar she undoubtedly is.

Reason enough to check out what is behind the mass hysteria that manifested itself in a nearly sold out stadium show – a spectacle that was meticulously orchestrated with a production of immense proportions.

Pyrotechnics galore, video projections gargantuan in scale, flame throwers, fireworks and epilepsy inducing lighting framed Swift’s and her dance troupe’s performances and set them in scene in a manner that enhanced the pitch perfect delivery without diluting the essence of her natural artistic talents, whose nuances were highlighted during the more stripped back, acoustic parts of the show.

It was not difficult to see that the Taylor Swift camp has refined their art of creating result oriented large-scale performances, as the audience was ecstatic and reacted with glee to the big gestures that were extended as well as the spot-on camera action, which enabled even the most remote sitting attendee to feel like being part of the action.

Despite the show being delayed due to electrical thunderstorms and on-going rain, it did not dampen the mood of the nearly 80,000 strong audience – au contraire, it seemed to heighten the anticipation and Swift’s performance seemed to indicate that she was making an extra effort to make up for the adverse weather conditions and honour her followers’ loyalty, with the bid where she was chair lifted in a golden birdcage across the stadium.

You might be able to read from my observations that she has won me over.

Being a multi-instrumentalist and song-writer, she expertly navigated through the carefully orchestrated ebbs and flows of the show, which were emphasized by costume changes running the gamut from snakeskin outfits to jumpsuits, which signified the different components of the show.

Taylor Swift in 2018 is a spectacle of epic proportions and a refreshingly joyous happening with a sense of intimacy that despite all the saccharine pop glamour seems to be centred around a genuinely talented artist – a spectacle that was thoroughly enjoyed by a diverse audience comprised of all ages, shapes and forms.

Fashion Plates: 150 Years of Style

Yale University Press

MMXVIII – fashion, labels, advertisement, and connectivity - access all areas. When it comes to the creation of couture these days, there is hardly anything that cannot be gained access to in nearly real time.

Rewind to the end of the 18th century and fashion plates were the only medium to convey what the latest styles would look like.

Fashion Plate: 150 Year of Style is an opulently illustrated mélange of two-hundred depictions of what the the fashionistas of the respective eras from 1778 to the early 1900s not only feasted their eyes on but helped them to decide what to purchase.

No matter if it is French dresses from the early eighteenth century, Art Deco from the early twentieth century or male and female haute couture in between, the book presents a diary-like chronic of the fashion world before photographic evidence became commonplace.

The quality of the depictions is superb, with the plates having been meticulously reproduced on quality paper, which makes it a visually appealing addition to one’s coffee table book collection.

The accompanying elaborations and essays by fashion historian April Calahan give additional insights and contextualize them in a meaningful and enlightening manner, which should offer something new to discover for both the uninitiated as well as subject matter experts.

The fashion plates illustrated come from the Gladys Marcus library at the Fashion Institute of New York, with some of them never having been reproduced before.

A great overview of how fashion has evolved but also deteriorated over the centuries that offers plenty of eye candy and is substantiated by a foundation of solid research.

The Art of Brutalism: Rescuing Hope from Catastrophe in 1950s Britain 

Yale University Press

Black is the new black, beautiful the new ugly, ugly the new . . . et cetera, et cetera. Brutalism as an architectural movement is an interesting one – what was etymologically derived from French “béton brut”, meaning roughcast concrete, is an eye sore for some, inspiration for others.

What initially emerged as a necessity to build accommodations for booming populations in the post-war era, the unadorned architectural style is often being dismissed as unimaginary, monolithic and a product of conservative thinking.

Whatever your standpoint may be, The Art of Brutalism: Rescuing Hope from Catastrophe in 1950s Britain zeros in on the brutalist movement and the effects has not only had during its inception but explores how it infiltrated the realm of art and created a sensibility that reverberates to the current day and age.

Opulently illustrated, the sujet is meticulously researched and sheds light on the circumstances that spawned brutalism as well as the influence it exerts via depicting sculptures, collages and the aftermath of World War II.

Substantiated by documentary evidence, sketches and pop culture tidbits, the tome offers an engaging visually rewarding experience that rests on a solid foundation of art history, which helps to thoroughly understand artistic milieus and what informed them.

What is particularly interesting is when artists from seemingly unrelated disciplines describe how their approach has been informed by a brutalist approach, e.g. photography or sculpting.

The book left me intrigued and triggered research into current local brutalist landmarks in a bid to experience first-hand how a style that lacked a movement or distinct style came to be.

After exposing themselves to this book, haters might find themselves questioning if brutalism is merely a noun for failed architectural endeavours, as it makes the merits of its legacy transparent especially when it comes to finding hope in wreckage.