Women drinking traditional chicha.

We recently wrote about Bompas & Parr’s historically-inspired Architectural Punch Bowl. Another example of a company drawing from history is Dogfish Head Craft Brewed Ales.

Brands often look to the future for new ideas. But sometimes the past is the best place to find inspiration.

Ten years ago, the Delaware-based company created Midas Touch beer. The beer’s recipe was pieced together using the molecular analysis of residue found in an ancient drinking vessel. The vessel was excavated from the 2700-year-old tomb of King Midas.

Talk about endowing a product with a story.

Now, Dogfish Head is looking to history again with its latest creation, a traditional Latin American corn beer called chicha.

Chicha is not made the way most beers are made today. The chicha-maker chews up corn in his or her mouth and forms it into small cakes. The cakes are left out to dry while the salivary enzymes go to work breaking down the corn’s starch. As reported in the New York Times, the founder of the brewery chewed up some of the brew’s purple corn himself.  

For many, no amount of boiling could make a spit-crafted beer sterile enough. But for the more adventurous, the potential gross out factor adds to the story. It gives them something to tell their friends, and that story is strengthened by tradition and historical context.

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We wrote about the British company Bompas & Parr when they introduced the world to the walk-in gin and tonic. Now, the culinary events company is taking immersive cocktails one step further with a drink so big you can row a boat across it. It’s called the Architectural Punch Bowl.

The Architectural Punch Bowl follows the lead of England’s admiral Edward Russell. In 1694, Russell, the First Lord of the Admiralty, threw a party for his fellow officers. To impress the guests, he filled his garden fountain with 250 gallons of brandy, 125 gallons of wine, 1,400 pounds of sugar, 2,500 lemons, and 20 gallons of lime juice. A boy filled guests’ cups from a row boat.  

Now, Bompas & Parr, in association with Courvoisier, is holding a contest to find the best cocktail recipe made with VSOP Courvoisier Exclusif cognac. In November, a panel of judges will select the winning recipe, which will be used to fill an enormous punchbowl inside 33 Portland Place (pictured to the left) in London.

As of right now, the actual size, design, and materials of the massive punch bowl are still in the works.

Bompas & Parr are working with the University College London to answer questions like: How do you make a building food-safe? And, what technology could be used to keep the enormous beverage chilled at the right temperature?

The Architectural Punch Bowl will allow the public to have a cup of punch and step on-board a row boat for a quick paddle across the biggest punch bowl ever made.

The event will raise money for the architectural charity Article 25, which provides building expertise to aid agencies and communities in need.

The Architectural Punch Bowl demonstrates that experiences can be temporary. A temporary installation can pop up, generate customer excitement, and then disappear before becoming old hat.

(thanks to Sam Bompas for the photos.)

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Photo from Bompas & Parr

Alcoholic Architecture was a London-based pop up bar that gave patrons the option of drinking a cocktail or breathing one in. The bar used a heavy-duty humidifier to vaporize gin and tonic. The result was a walk-in cocktail cloud.

Patrons lucky enough to score reservations for the four-day affair were escorted from the street into a bar decorated with giant limes and straws. The interior was designed to look as if they’d just dived into a gin and tonic.

Upstairs, they grabbed a drink and were fitted with plastic suits to protect their clothes from the boozy vapors.

Downstairs, in the basement, they pass through a plastic flap door into a room transformed into the cocktail cloud. The small misty room fit about 25 people and guests were led out after 40 minutes. The limited time period helped ensure that guests would actually remember the unique experience.

The pop up was created by Bompas and Parr, a company that creates jellies and curates innovative culinary events.  

The company was also responsible for Scratch n Sniff Cinema, where a Valentine’s Day film screening was paired with a scratch and sniff card. The card featured aromas like rotting meat and old books that corresponded with scenes in the film.

Thanks to Anthony DeBono for pointing us to this story.

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