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Gin – the Show

Stamford Plaza Hotel

Sydney, Australia

April 7, 2018

Apparently the only time Phyllis Diller enjoyed ironing, was the day she accidentally put gin in her iron.

She would have had a ball at Gin – The Show: Sydney’s brand-new inaugural specialty gin extravaganza, orchestrated and curated by the heads behind Alchemist Events, an entity whose founder David Ligoff has been organizing events in the realm of quality libations for the last three decades.

Incarnating for the first time at the Stamford Plaza Hotel, distillers, bartenders, and sales reps were on site to proffer the alcoholic liquor, which is obtained by distilling grain mash with juniper berries and infused with botanicals and other additions.

Equipped with a tasting glass, H2O and a bottle of complimentary of FeverTree Mediterranean tonic, attendants were able to sample from an array of over one hundred variations of the clear spirit ranging from local boutique craft distilleries to internationally renowned heavy hitters and learn a thing or two about the alchemy the is channeled to create the spirit as well as its historic roots as a medicine of the herbal kind.

Apart from individual brands offering their emissions mixologist extraordinaire Ben Davidson crafted four customized gin cocktails, including a Tom Collins, New Orleans Fizz, Dry Martini and the classic Negroni at a designated bar area.

Exiting through the gift shop, gin was sold in all shapes and sizes for one-off show prices. 

Our favourite juniper spirits of the forty-five brands that participated in each of the two three-hour sessions included:

Tasmania’s Lawrenny’s naturally fresh Diemen’s Gin with its refined herbal and citrus notes that are accentuated and by the pure waters of the River Derwent.

Another highlight from Tasmania came courtesy of the boutique distillery Killara, one of the few distilleries worldwide to be owned and operated by a female. Kristy Booth is overlooking operations and ensures that all products are being made and bottled by hand. Killara’s Apothecary gin is a small batch, hand crafted gin made by individually distilling a range of botanicals then marrying them together to produce the tipple. With a percentage of the proceeds of each sold bottle being donated to a charity, drinking becomes purposeful.

We already covered Archie Rose as part of the recent Time Out Bar Awards, where one of their staff was awarded the “Best New Talent” Award. Utilizing copper shipped in from Scandinavia and fabricated to their specifications and other self-made equipment, their signature Dry Gin is a thing of beauty: Enriched by fourteen native botanicals, Archie Rose’s emission is well calibrated and complex with hints of pepper, lime, myrtle and mint.

The surprise of the day came from Africa:

Musgrave 11 Gin is no ordinary spirit – it is one hell of an artisan gin that is not for nothing celebrated for its top notes of Cardamom, African Ginger and Grains of Paradise, which makes it reminiscent of the perfume of spice markets.   The aroma is woody and forest-like and the flavour is inviting, peppery warmth without the harshness of black pepper.  The woody character gives way to cloves, cinnamon and a faint hint of cardamom and leaves you with a gentle flame. 

While Musgrave 11 scored high, Musgrave’s Pink Gin is the more subtle, refined little brother: Toned down to be gentler and less spicy and to bring out the floral of the rosehips and the infused rosewater.

A well organized and curated event that had something to offer for both newcomers as well as gin aficionados.

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Photos by @ka.vv

Ten Principles for Good Design: Dieter Rams

Cees W. de Jong (Editor)

Prestel Publishing / Random House

Familiar with the German brand Braun?

Ever wondered what made it the successful brand it came to be?

Braun’s designs are renowned the world over and Dieter Rams has been the driver and architect behind it all, as well as the designs behind the brand Vitsoe. In this book he boils down his approach to design and distils it down to ten principles. What is great about the principles is that they can be applied to creative process in general and are not merely limited to product design.

However, the illustrations accompanying his guidelines mainly depict products he has designed, with emphasis put on the merits that made them usable independently from cultural and other demarcation lines.

Apart from Rams own elaborations on design, his speeches and other publications, he is placed in the bigger context in the world of design and light is shed not only on his personal philosophy but also on the immense influence he has exerted ever since with the breadth of his oeuvre beautifully illustrated via the accompaniment of photo galleries depicting Rams’ and his design team’s emissions.

Good design matters and this tome is a vital source of inspiration and ode to one of the great designers of our day and age, whose influence reverberates through ubiquitous products through all facets of our daily routine – be it coffee grinders, shelving systems or cigarette lighters.

Anselm Kiefer

Notebooks, Volume 1, 1998-99

Seagull Books

Now truth be told – I am in awe of Anselm Kiefer. I have traveled far and wide to see his artworks in person and his emissions have yet to disappoint. While art critics have their way of putting into words what Kiefer accomplishes, I prefer to no reduce it to labels as it has a profound effect on me that transcends stylistic categories. Kiefer works with a myriad of materials and media and often incorporates texts and words into his artworks. While this is common practice, him writing per se is not a common occurrence as he focuses more on literally carving out poetry in physical manifestations.

The nearly 400 pages of his Notebooks (Volume 1: 1998-1999), offer unique, personal insights on Anselm’s thoughts, reflections, work processes but also mundane day-today occurrences in an open form stream-of-consciousness manner, peppered with digressive interludes galore and coloured by Kiefer’s faible for contradictions and alienation as he prefers to write in the second person to create distance for himself and the reader.

Kiefer’s notes are pervaded by honesty and openness, which creates a sense of intimacy and serves as an antipode to the Unnahbarkeit of his art.

While translating personal notes into a foreign language always bears the risk of meaning getting lost in the transition, the translator Tess Davies aligns with Kiefer’s style and the result is masterfully annotated which culminates in a cohesive whole rather than fractioned entries.

I’d recommend this book to anyone interested in Anselm Kiefer as it is a meaningful extension and addition that adds a new dimension to his oeuvre and creative process and the way Kiefer values and uses language as a medium.

Lodestars Anthology

Issue 9 – France

Traveling is never without an appeal. For the downtime between my excursions when time allows, I indulge in paper and ink. While literature on travel is not necessarily high on the agenda, Lodestars Anthology travel magazine is a welcome exception. Beautifully illustrated and crafted, with a myriad of subtle details, the magazine, named after a direction giving star for travelers, Lodestars Anthology sets its focus on countries and fills its pages with observations, stories, interviews, photos, essays and recommendations.

What Lodestars Anthology does is bringing more than the mere listings of sights and places to be – it endeavours to give the reader a feel of the place and conveys its charms and splendors well, putting oil onto the embers of your wanderlust.

Established in 2014, the current issue features France, a country I have recently spent some time in. The fact that after perusing this issue of Lodestars Anthology, I feel like turning on the heel and returning is testament to its quality – it not only covers the stereotypical French selling points but zeros in on places off the beaten track, finding often overlooked relicts of the past as well as contemporary marvels, while accommodating a wide range of readers not limited to the well heeled ones.

A creative and information publication of beauty that is worth getting swept up in.

Print is not dead long live Lodestars Anthology!

Juan Montoya

The Monacelli Press

Juan Montoya made a name for himself by pushing boundaries and exerting a dominant influence on design in the contemporary world– a feat that he achieved with attention to details and his idiosyncratic play with abutment and the use of seemingly opposite or adverse components from the realms of proportion, chromaticity and the use of materials whose significance find themselves firmly ingrained in cultural contexts, e.g. combining open spaces with neatly designed entryways which adds dimension to the way they unfold and greet the visitor.

The tome is testament to Montoya’s flexibility and versatility, and while his background in architecture certainly helps, he is not subscribed to a particular style that is informed by a thorough understanding of how to use spaces and the aimful placement of objects therein.

A beautiful book that illustrates Montoya’s interior design across a range of contexts, from the usual houses and apartments via floating devices to commercial projects in the United States and Europe.
 
No matter if you are an expert when it comes to interior design, it is hard to argue that his carefully calibrated emissions and custom designs are inspirational and lend themselves perfectly to either live or work in them a major contributing factor to his work is the use of geometry and how he can make it work for the project he is working on.

What makes Montoya’s work exciting is that he does not seem to discriminate between commercial and residential projects and his approach to start each from scratch, not accepting any given circumstances.

A beautiful book for anyone with a general interest in design.