Born Book Puzzle
Story Time
A quick post this weekend about how boxes and booze can tell stories. This week we are featuring a beautiful wooden book created by up and coming woodworker Jesse Born from Rome, New York. His “Book” puzzle is an elegantly crafted delight to hold and explore. Made from maple, cherry and pine woods, it has additional accents of mahogany and spalted maple.
The Book Puzzle by Jesse Born
The book has a soft and warm wax finish. The details are really lovely, from the artistic crescent along the spine to the incredibly realistic wooden pages. But this book is a ruse. It hides a secret inside, and perhaps a good story to go with it. The opening mechanism is clever and, if you will allow me the liberty, quite “novel”. It’s sure to put a smile on your face once you discover it.
Beautiful details and craftsmanship - look at those pages!
A prior pairing took us on location to Houston's Spare Key bar (see here). To pair a potion with this beautiful book, I headed to another one of Houston’s "storied" cocktail bars. “Julep” has received national praise over the past year or so since it opened, being hailed as one of the country’s best new bars, along with it’s owner, Alba Huerta, who has been receiving her own accolades. The bar focuses on southern hospitality, as its namesake drink evokes scenes of country breezes, porch swings, and festive parties.
Something puzzling is going on at Julep ...
At Julep I found a delicious libation to pair up with the Book puzzle box, called “The Ruse”. The drink combines bourbon, amaro, Palo Cortado sherry, cane syrup, orgeat, lemon and orange bitters. There is a citrusy tart and sweet richness to this cocktail that works so well. Palo Cortado sherry is a mysterious ingredient, which starts life developing as a dry “fino” type sherry, but somehow ages and matures more like a sweeter “oloroso” type sherry, and thus retains qualities of both. Perhaps this is the “ruse” referred to by the cocktail’s name. It certainly pairs well with a puzzle box. Huerta says that every great cocktail tells a story. Cheers to the stories you come up with along your puzzling paths.
It's all a "Ruse" ...
To visit Jesse Born’s website:
For prior “Book” themed Boxes and Booze please visit: