Posts Tagged ‘drink’
“Thousands have lived without love, not one without water”*…
Katherine LaGrave with the story of America’s first water sommelier believes that the more we think about what we drink, the more we will care about the planet. But first, he has to get people to take him seriously…
… Martin Riese, is America’s first water sommelier, curating menus and tastings around what he calls “the most important beverage on the planet.”…
Riese is taking cues from the element he considers most beloved, going with the flow and flowing where he’s able, taking opportunities as they come, and sharing why we should care about water with anyone who cares to listen.
“Water is not just water,” he says to me one sunny October afternoon, shining bright from Los Angeles via laptop with the urgency of a theater attendant walking you to your seat just before the lights dim and the show starts. OK, I think. Off we go. Down into waterworld…
A trip worth taking- Riese’s story and his provocative thoughts on that most crucial substance: “Waterworld,” from @kjlagrave in @AFARmedia.
* W. H. Auden
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As we get wet, we might recall that on this date in 1993, after weeks of flooding elsewhere in the state (dramatically, in Ames), efforts to protect Valley Junction in West Des Moines from flooding failed, forcing 5,000 people from their homes. The Court Avenue district in downtown Des Moines was awash. By the next day, more than 250,000 people were without water after flooding shut down the Des Moines Water Works. In addition, An estimated 35,000 to 40,000 people were without electricity. Then-Sec Taylor Stadium, now the Iowa Cubs’ Principal Park, was underwater. The entire state was declared a disaster area.
“My favorite dish to prepare is something on the takeout menu”*…
Who drew that winking chef on your pizza box? Anne Ewbank investigates…
Takeout containers—especially for pizza, Chinese food, and sushi—have an iconic art and style. Granted, it’s not always the most elegant or politically correct, but some of these designs are now instantly recognizable. So, today, we investigate the origins of the smiling chef of pizza-box fame, the ubiquitous red pagoda of American-Chinese takeout, and the surprising elegance of plastic sushi trays…
The iconography of take-out: “The Hidden Histories of To-Go Container Art,” from @AEwbank in @atlasobscura.
* Tyler Perry
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As we forgo the extra cheese, we might send expressive birthday greetings to Ralph Steadman; he was born on this date in 1936. An artist and illustrator renowned for his political and social caricatures, cartoons, and picture books, he is probably best known for his collaborations with Hunter Thompson, especially on Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ’72.
But Steadman also dabbled in comestible labeling; he brought his gonzo sensibility to the art for Flying Dog beer and designed the V logo used on Flying Dog’s packaging since 1995… work that occasioned censorship by the Colorado State Liquor Board, then an appeal by Flying Dog that was, in 2001, settled in Flying Dog’s favor.
“Here’s to alcohol: the cause of, and solution to, all of life’s problems”*…
In 2011, @leyink, @han, and @flaneur made this site in 24 boozy hours at Music Hack Boston.
The api’s (to musician photos and streaming music) are beginning to go;still, fundamentally, it works. Enjoy it while you can: “Drinkify.” But heed the creator’s caution: “We take no responsibility for your poor, poor liver. Please Drinkify responsibly.”
* Homer Simpson
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As we praise pertinent pairings, we might note that today (and every May 6) is National Beverage Day.
“The effect of tea is cooling and as a beverage it is most suitable”*…
We think of tea as a drink– some of us, as the drink. But as Miranda Brown explains, for centuries tea was food; caffeinated soups and chewing the leaves were the norm…
Sometime in his adolescence, in the 700s, Lu Yu, an aspiring writer and professional clown, had his first taste of tea soup. This probably occurred not far from Lu’s childhood home: a Buddhist monastery that overlooked a scenic lake in Central China. But Lu was unimpressed; he called the soup “ditch water.”
What bothered Lu was not the tea, but all the other ingredients. The offending brew contained scallions, ginger, jujube dates, citrus peels, Dogwood berries, and mint, all of which cooks “threshed” together to make a smooth paste. The result was a chunky soup, or even a sauce.
Lu Yu, in fact, adored tea—he’d go on to become the “tea god” and the world’s greatest tea influencer. But the tea he loved—brewed only from powdered tea leaves, without any other flavoring—was, in the grand sweep of human history, a recent invention. People in Asia, where tea trees are native, ate tea leaves for centuries, perhaps even millennia, before ever thinking to drink it. And it is Lu Yu who is chiefly responsible for making tea drinking the norm for most people around the world…
The remarkable story of Lu Yu: “The Medieval Influencer Who Convinced the World to Drink Tea—Not Eat It,” from @Dong_Muda.
* Lu Yu
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As we steep, we might send bubbly birthday greetings to the founding master of another class of potable: Johann Jacob Schweppe; he was born on this date in 1740. A watchmaker and amateur scientist, he developed the first practical process for the manufacture of bottled carbonated mineral water, based on a process discovered by Joseph Priestley in 1767. His company, Schweppes (later Cadbury Schweppes, now Keurig Dr Pepper) graciously acknowledges Priestley as “the father of our industry.”
“I almost die for food, and let me have it!”*…
Explore a database of 1,000 unique foods…
We’re talking everything from North Carolina’s green-gilled oysters to a Bolivian volcanic-rock soup and a liqueur that only two silent monks know how to make…
Black apples, green oysters, hallucinogenic honey, and 997 other curious comestibles: “Explore Unique Food & Drink,” in @atlasobscura.
* Shakespeare, As You Like It
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As we sample, we might recall that it was on this date in 1883 that A. Ashwell, of Herne Hill in South London, received a patent for the “vacant/engaged” door bolt for lavatory doors… presumably a relief to the folks who had been using the public restrooms that had been introduced in London in 1852.
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