Feeling Frosty

Snowman Box

Snowman Box by Kyle Chester

It’s been really cold here in Houston over the past week or two, and any time the temperature gets below freezing the city goes into crisis mode. We can’t handle the cold! The best thing to do in these circumstances is make yourself a hot drink and settle in with a clever puzzle box, like this special one from our friend Kyle Chester across the pond. Kyle has made a few fun designs already with his Grandfather under their Potentially Perplexing Puzzles moniker, including the Dual Dial and the 3P Box. Dual Dial was initially created for a special holiday gift exchange, and Kyle had so much fun doing that he decided to do it again!

taking a different turn this time

Kyle shared the evolution of his cutest design to date, which was inspired by that annual holiday exchange amongst the international mechanical puzzle community. “I’ve been working on the follow up to Dual Dial on and off for about half a year now - and have conceptually completed the puzzle, it’s now subject to a lot of design work and prototyping in early 2024, before official release - watch this space! But I needed something to fill the festive hole that I could gift to someone - so in between working on “Reluctant Drawer” - 2024’s sequential discovery puzzle, I was filling every creative moment I could by coming up with a unique Christmas themed puzzle.

what do you call a person with only a nose and no body?

A mechanism that I had been saving for a rainy day seemed the perfect choice. My idea was to make a small ‘trick-opening puzzle box’, and the prototype was a simple dial atop the box - it was reminiscent of a smaller version of 3P Box. This prototype didn’t feel rewarding enough or festive enough and so to get it to fit the Christmas theme I chose to make the dial into a snowman, and to add an extra step into the puzzle to make the goal of the puzzle to ‘Find the snowman’s nose’.

nobody nose

It all came together wonderfully and the initial feedback received has been very positive. I’m very pleased with the end result! Whilst it’s just under 12 months until we get to do it all again, I’ve already started thinking about what could be in store for my holiday puzzle 2024.” Well it’s never too early to start thinking about holiday gift giving, right? There’s hardly any time left at all!

I don’t carrot all who nose it

Kyle’s Snowman Box is really perfect, a lovely little puzzle box that looks so cute and is handsomely crafted. The trick opening aspect is just right in my opinion, enough to have stumped me initially and then a nice realization of how it works. There’s even that extra step at the end to finish the goal. It’s just like a clever Karakuri puzzle box from Japan, and you can admire the simple yet effective mechanics once it has been opened. I’m really looking forward to more of Kyle’s designs.

Hotto Campari by Julia Momose

I did mention that the current weather demands something warm, and that’s just what we will employ to get toasty with while toasting this adorable Snowman. You can create a tasty cold weather cocktail from almost any spirit by adding some lemon, honey and hot water to make a “toddy”. Most hot toddies have whiskey or rum, and if you want to be ultra decadent you can add a “batter” of butter and sugar to make it “hot buttered”. In Japan, they have a little known insider tradition of making a hot toddy with Campari! Imagine a hot drink with that bright red bitter aperitif so familiar in the Americano and Negroni. Intrigued? Try it with some lemon, honey, hot water and see for yourself.

toddy time

Or you can go all out with this incredibly delicious recipe from award winning Japanese American bartender Julia Momose, owner of Chicago’s outstanding restaurant bar Kumiko and author of The Way of the Cocktail, where this drink is featured. She adds a healthy dose of a specific type of korui shochu, Awa No Kaori Sudachi Chu, which lends a specific citrus flavor but is likely hard to source for most at home. I substituted a caraway forward aquavit, which creates a different drink but compliments the other interesting ingredient, Kummel, very nicely. Kummel is a predominantly German liqueur (which originated in the Netherlands and then gained prominence in Russia) made from infusions of caraway, coriander or cumin, and fennel. It may sound strange but is a really interesting spirit that can lend quite unique flavors to the right drink, and it works so well in this one. It should be readily available to purchase in most areas but is easy to make at home as well, by infusing those spices into neutral grain spirit or vodka. There are plenty of easy recipes available online if you are feeling adventurous. This is one of the most unusual, delicious and surprising drinks I’ve made in some time and really hit the spot on a cold night. Cheers!

warm up with this cozy pair

Hotto Campari adapted from Julia Momose

1 oz Campari

¾ oz aquavit

1 barspoon Kummel liqueur

¼ oz fresh lemon

½ oz rich honey syrup (2 parts honey:1 part hot water)

3 to 4 oz hot water

Add initial ingredients to a teacup and top with the hot water. Stir gently. Express a lemon peel over the drink and garnish.