Bloom-Box

In Bloom

“Ignorance is like a delicate fruit; touch it, and the bloom is gone.” – Oscar Wilde

Bloom-Box by Rocky Chiarro

Spring has come and gone, and here we are in the midst of summer (apologies for my Northern Hemisphere centric view of the world). The flowers have bloomed already, so this pairing is a little late in the scheme of nature, but the weather is so absurd lately I’m thinking it doesn’t really matter. Also, despite the name, the provenance of this marvelous little box doesn’t actually have to do with flowers after all, despite it’s being called the “Bloom-Box”.

in full Bloom

A description of “Brass Puzzles by Rocky”, which is the name Rocco Chiarro uses for his puzzling endeavors, and also the segue into this run on sentence, should theoretically start with the solution. That’s because Rocky always thinks about the way a puzzle will work first, before deciding how it will look or act. He develops a mechanism, then applies it to a new puzzle design. He actually copyrights his puzzle solutions, and their odd and playful names. But of course I’m not going to explain the solution here. We’ll just have to do things backwards. The “Bloom-Box” is a simple appearing rectangular chest with square legs and a lid. Rocky made another, different chest as well in the past, called the En-Deavor (named after the Space Shuttle). But that is another story. The Bloom Box came about after Rocky sold a puzzle to French magician Gaetan Bloom many years ago. They proceeded to correspond about a magic trick involving a big box and Bloom even sent Rocky a book about it. Which led to Rocky creating the Bloom Box. You won’t find any hidden rabbits inside it, but you might find it to be rather magical.

Pins and Needles by Alex Day

Despite what I said before about the box, I’m sticking with the flower theme for the cocktail, at least. Blooming flowers in the mixology world mean Daisies, and Daisies mean spirit, citrus, sweetener and soda. The sweetener was historically with orange cordial, but that changed to grenadine in the early twentieth century. Plenty of variations abound, but most agree that a Daisy should be cold, refreshing and garnished with seasonal fruit.

Extra special with champagne

Here’s a great modern Daisy from Alex Day, the well-known innovator behind famed Death & Co. New York, among many other great bars. After his New York stint he helped open Honeycut, another highly regarded hotspot in Los Angeles, where he created this drink. In it, he uses rhum agricole as the base spirit, which is made from sugar cane juice rather than molasses that imparts a grassier, “funky” flavor element which rum aficionados love. Add to that the floral Lillet Rose aperitif (a perfect bloom) and some pineapple syrup to sweeten things up. Carbonated water Daisifies it for a truly wonderful sipper for the season. These are definitely in bloom right now. Cheers!

This pair is in bloom

Pins and Needles by Alex Day

1 oz white rhum agricole

1 ½ oz Lillet Rose

¾ oz pineapple gum syrup

½ oz lime

1 dash Angostura bitters

1 oz soda water

Shake ingredients over ice and strain into a highball glass filled with ice. Top with the soda water and garnish with a lime wheel and pineapple wedge.

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