Pop-up King Charles II with Fever-Tree and Bobby’s Gin

3-6-2015

Fever-Tree and Bobby’s Gin from Schiedam join forces and come to Rotterdam for a tasting of the many possibilities with gin, tonic and botanical herbs for three weekends in June.

Fever-Tree

In 2005 Charles Rolls and Tim Warrillow stepped into the world of soft drinks because of the dissatisfaction they got from the existing mixers that were available on the market to use for cocktails. They joined forces to reinvent soft drinks. Back to the basics and nature, to create a mixer that can supplement spirits. Fever-Tree presents itself as a valuable ingredient of a cocktail, which often contains 3 / 4 parts of soda. Thus this must be a high quality soda as well.

Bobby’s Gin

‘Dutch courage mixed with Indonesian spices’ is the best description of Bobby’s Schiedam dry gin basis. By recreating the recipe from his Moluccan grandfather Bobby, Sebastiaan van Bokkel developed a unique gin together with Herman Jansen distilleries in Schiedam.

Pop-up King Charles II

This June King Charles II pop’s up above restaurant ‘De Engel’ in Rotterdam. Bartenders literally lead visitors through a garden of ingredients and show a world beyond the established Gin & Tonics. Magical new cocktails are created as gin joins freshly picked herbs and Fever-Tree’s Ginger Ale, Bitter Lemon, Lemonade, Ginger Beer, soda water or lemonade Sicilian.

Opening and food pairings

Between 21:00 to 00:00 hours King Charles II serves a tasting menu from restaurant ‘De Engels’ downstairs, for food pairings as worthy companions to the royal refreshments. To personally experience the magic of gin and it’s necessary to make a reservation before your visit.

Opening hours: 12 & 13 June & 18-20 June and 25 to 27 June – Booking via www.king-charles.nl or via 06-401530 83.

Digital illuminated billboard addressing women

29-5-2015

The beer brand Astra’s digital billboard is able to target its messages only to women, using gender-detection software.
Agency Philipp und Keuntje created the first digital illuminated billboard advertisement for the German beer brand Astra (from Hamburg). The billboard was installed outside the ‘Zum Silbersack’ pub in Hamburg. Philipp und Keuntje shot around seventy short videos with the comedian and journalist Uke Bosse in the leading role, all with the aim of inspiring more females to try the beer.

The digital illuminated billboard in action

At the billboard, the comedian addresses passersby and specifically women with the aim to encourage them to sample an Astra beer. The billboard has been equipped with a camera and the latest gender-detection software, allowing to detect the gender and the age of the individual. Check the video for great examples of the video messages the billboard uses to ‘sell’ Astra to the passing women.

Siseng, the Asian Food Bar

27-5-2015

Siseng, the Asian Food Bar at the Quai de Jemmapes in Paris opened in December 2014. The food bar adds the Bao Burger to the thriving food scene of the Canal St.-Martin.

Siseng, worth the visit and the wait

The Asian Food Bar rapidly became popular amongst the Parisians! Last weekend there was a long line outside the small, packed but trendy and casual chic bar. Once inside you share a table with others in a tastefully decorated small bar with light bulbs, bare brick walls, dark table tops and bar stools. Very nice but busy servants who are having trouble delivering the food to the guests! And they make delicious cocktails with Asian ingredients like wasabi, ginger and sake. Combine a cocktail, glass of sake, or an Asahi beer with their great spring rolls or croquettes all served with an Asian sauce.

Tip to eat in Paris when you stroll down the canal Saint Martin

You don’t have to stroll down the canal, you can also have a relaxing afternoon with friends there like a lot of Parisians do, but anyway the signature burgers at Siseng are a great tip! The burgers are served in a bao, a steamed Chinese bun made out of rice flour. The bao burger 5 spices contains a beef patty (grilled medium rare, the French way), marinated in the 5 spices and comes with onion tempura, onion confit, rocket leaf and a caramelized tamarind sauce. But you can also choose the chicken burger Kaï with a piece of chicken, breaded in a Japanese style with coleslaw ‘maison’, fresh basil, confit de red peppers and a basil sauce with coconut milk. We also loved the tempura of vegetables and the sweet potato fries, which are really rare in Paris. The menu has been illustrated by Soba Paris.

Inspiration for those seeking for a new restaurant, we think that a small Asian Food Bar like Siseng would do great in Amsterdam or any place in the Netherlands as well!

Pimento: ginger, chili, lime, tonic, no alcohol and refreshing!

18-5-2015

Pimento – they say you have to take a sip and experience the surprise of ginger and the shock of chili. Pimento is a unique and innovative beverage made in France.
It has a strong taste like an alcoholic drink, yet it contains no alcohol. It is low in sugar, very spicy and full of taste. The chilli peppers come from Jamaica and the ginger from China and Ivory Coast (Africa).

Mixing with Pimento

Plenty of bartenders have created cocktails with Pimento. The recipes are described here.
The main uses are as follows: Neat (on the rocks with lime) / Mixed with fruit juices / Spice Beer (Pimento + beer) / (Virgin) Spicy Mojito (Pimento to replace the sparkling water) / Hot Mule (Pimento + Vodka + lime) / Spicy ‘n’ Stormy (Pimento + dark/spiced rum + lime + Angostura) / Hot Bomb (Jägermeister + Pimento).
The drink seems to be especially delicious mixed with a dark rum and lime. Rums such as Captain Morgan, Sailor Jerry, Gosling, Brugal or Kraken are currently very on-trend throughout the world and their flavours are really enhanced when mixed with a good ginger beer. But it’s also a great mixer with Jägermeister, vodka or gin. Pimento is bottled in Saverne (near Strasbourg in eastern France) by La Licorne (Karsbrau – Karlsberg Group), one of the biggest French breweries. Their head office is located in Paris. In the Netherlands the beverage is sold through La Source.

New disposable packaging for wine: the Flex Keg

15-5-2015

The new disposable packaging Flex Keg for wine casks is a durable solution for any caterer. The Zeddams Wijnhuis in the Netherlands has developed a disposable container that is fully recyclable and lightweight.

The market for wine on tap is growing fast in the Netherlands. Until today the draft wines were always delivered in steel casks. According to Eddie Kempers, creator of the new packaging, it is about time for a disposable container that is completely recyclable and lightweight. “Compared to the new Flex Keg, steel casks have the disadvantages of weight, returning for deposit, risk of theft and high CO2 emissions in transport”, he says. “The new Flex Keg was born after two years of intensive research.”

The Flex Keg

The Keg Flex consists of a sturdy cardboard box that contains a plastic vacuum bag of 20 liters. The packaging is entirely made of recycled materials. The Flex Keg weighs only 800 grams and can be folded completely flat after use. The PET upper and lower lid and the plastic bag are recyclable plastic waste and the cardboard is recyclable paper waste. Sales Director Erik Zwart sees tremendous opportunities for the hospitality industry; “The savings on waste is huge, 27 bottles of wine aren’t used instead of the Flex Keg. This has an equivalent of 8 to 10 kilograms of glass waste!”

The wine from the Flex Keg

Zeddams Wijnhuis offers the Flex Keg with a choice of 6 accessible, recognizable wines which they import from Italy and Spain themselves. “In these countries the transport costs are low, which you can see back in the price per liter. The reseller will notice this directly.”, Erik Zwart says. The wine will have the same constant quality in the Flex Keg, there is no chance of oxidation because of the special packaging. The wine will stay perfect for 12 weeks after opening. With the method used you will never taste cork or find other impurities in the wine. In most cases is it possible to connect the Flex Keg to existing beer and wine tap installations, and no CO2 or nitrogen is needed! Zeddams Wijnhuis also supplies dispensing systems that can be tested for a trial period of two weeks.

GPS-Bottles leads finders to the Heineken experience

6-5-2015

Amsterdam’s Heineken Experience has littered GPS-enabled beer bottles through the city which can lead curious residents and tourists to the beer museum.

Anyone picking up one of the bottles around Amsterdam will feel the bottle vibrate and see the cap light up as it activates. The in-built compass and rotating cap will then guide the finder through the city directly to the Heineken Experience.

GPS-bottles instead of flyers

The idea is to boost the visitors to the branded museum, which saw 730,000 visitors last year. Heineken teamed up with JWT Amsterdam to attract more visitors to their brewery. The custom-made Heineken bottles had an integrated GPS system designed to lead people who picked them up back to the Heineken Experience brewery.

Dirk Lubbers, manager of the Heineken Experience, said: “Handing out flyers is not very Heineken, so we wanted to play on the brand’s famous inventiveness, wit and pioneering spirit and create something that stands out for potential visitors. Our key differentiator is that we invite each visitor on a cultural and historical journey, enabling them to interact with the brand. This initiative is a great representation of our approach: innovative, dynamic, surprising, and always leave you with unforgettable memories.”

Crowdsourced campaign by Grolsch

17-4-2015

This May Grolsch exists 400 years. To celebrate it, Grolsch organizes a crowdsourced campaign. The beer brewery is going to make an anniversary video and asks everyone from 18 years and older to upload a video of the ‘popping’ of a Grolsch bottle.

Crowdsourced video

We have seen a similar crowdsourced campaign in a different branch. New Balance asks their customers to make videos while running and upload it to the website Together We Run.

Participate in the Grolsch campaign

To participate in the campaign, you’ll need a swingtop bottle to pop. According to Grolsch, it will sound better if the bottle is at room temperature.

A video of popping a swingtop isn’t enough for the lead role in the anniversary video. A unique location is needed as well. The more unique your location is, the better your chances are to win a role in the video.

Grolsch advises to keep your phone horizontal. This makes the image better viewable and prevents the Vertical Video Syndrome (VVS).

In the hospitality industry, you can use the camera’s on the smartphones for your benefits as well. Organize for example an event with hundreds of livestreams from the phones of your guests through Periscope.

Ciel Bleu IPA made by Brouwerij ‘t IJ

13-4-2015

Three years ago, two-star restaurant Ciel Bleu launched its first IPA (India Pale Ale) in collaboration with the renowned Amsterdam brewery ‘Brouwerij ‘t IJ’. While the intention was a single collaboration, guests kept asking for a new beer.

The chefs Onno Kokmeijer and Arjan Speelman thus faced the challenge to brew a new gastronomical beer that would taste even better than the first IPA. After many sessions and trying all kinds of ingredients, they chose kaffir lime as the main element of the Ciel Bleu IPA 2.0 beer. This citrus fruit is also known as Djeroek Poeroet and is widely used in the Asian cuisine. The dry-hop with Waimea and Citra hops gives the beer a flowery, freshly bitter character.

Brouwerij ‘t IJ

The brewery of Brouwerij ‘t IJ has two locations, one in East Amsterdam, next to the Gooyer windmill. This is also where the brewery began and where the pub is located. The second brewery is located on the Zeeburgerpad. The pub is opened every day from 2 pm to 8 pm. All the beers are brewed in the traditional manner, without filtering or pasteurization.

Ideal food pairing and serving

In restaurant Ciel Bleu the beer is served in a wine glass at a temperature of 10 to 12 degrees Celcuis. Dishes with mostly fresh elements best match the Ciel Bleu IPA, such as citrus combined with sweet elements. Like any IPA beer, it tastes best within a couple of months after production. The beer is available at the Ciel Bleu restaurant and several specialty beer shops. Of course the beer is also available at ‘Brouwerij ‘t IJ’ itself, which is worth a visit as well!

The Roast Bar and Rotisserie

9-4-2015

The Roast Room is the new restaurant of Michael and Saskia Deenik and opened officially on 8 April. The Roast Room is a butcher shop, roast bar and rotisserie in one, located in the RAI Amtrium at the Europaplein in Amsterdam.

The butchers cut the meat that’s used in the restaurant themselves and they make fresh sausages and burgers as well. The vegetables and herbs for the restaurant come from a five floors City Farming space on the south side of the Amtrium.

The Roast Bar and Rotisserie

The Roast Bar on the ground floor is a brasserie which is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. If the weather allows, it’s possible to eat outside at the terrace. The bar is decorated with large copper beer tanks filled with Warsteiner lager and the special beers.

The Rotisserie, a fine dining restaurant which is open for lunch and dinner, is located on the first floor. It includes a roof terrace for sunny days. The open kitchen has a Rotissoire, a charcoal grill, Australian Beech-wood furnaces for gas burners and a California South Bend-broiler that can heat up to 1,400 degrees Celsius.

Interior

The interior is the work of Studio Modijefsky and Studio Molen, who were responsible for the interior of Visaandeschelde as well. Restaurant Visaandeschelde is from the same owners. A bronze ‘Tower of Babel’ with shiny sausages welcomes guests at the entrance, an iconic butcher’s leg dangles in front of the butchery and a giant bronze ‘Ginger’ chandelier is one of the other unique cool features of the restaurant.

Signature cocktails or mocktails, with a spoonful of jam

24-3-2015

Are you already busy determining your terrace menu? Will you serve the popular cocktails and their non-alcoholic alternative, the mocktail? It might just be the 2015 hit, bartenders on the terrace shaking signature cocktails and mocktails. Latest trend in cocktails: serve a spoonful of preserves with your cocktail.

Cocktails and mocktails are hot

This past year we especially noticed a rise in the cocktails with beer in America. But mocktails are on the rise in popularity as wel. Women like to quietly sip on a cocktail and for girls who aren’t allowed any alcohol yet, a mocktail is a delicious and trendy alternative.

Various liquor brands invest in bringing cocktails to the crowd, last year we spotted the cocktail truck from Grey Goose Vodka for example. This is the most intimate cocktail bar in the world on four wheels (a Citroen H van) and part of an advertising campaign.

A cocktail with a spoonful of jam

The jam cocktails are being served in Madame Geneva, one of the most popular cocktail bars of New York City. It’s located in the back of restaurant Saxon + Parole of chef Brad Farmerie. According to the guys behind Tasting Table, the cocktails with jam aren’t even on the menu but they are so popular that the bartenders often make them on request. They are simple to make, vodka, sugar syrup and lime juice with a spoonful of jam to top of it. The jam taste is up to you, ‘choose your own sweetness adventure’. Because of the thicker consistency of the preserves, you’re able to decide whether you want to sip your cocktail quite sweet (keep stirring) or just only dip the jam, making the taste of the vodka more important. Take a look for a recipe by bartender Brett Hughes (working at Madam Geneva) at the website of Tasting Table.