Old Blue Eyes
Loris
Madagascar is a small island about two hundred and fifty miles off the east coast of Africa, where you’ll find the only natural habitat of the lemur in the world. These cute mammals are the oldest living species of primates in existence, a fact perhaps related to their female-dominant society – humans ought to take note. Did you know that lemurs are the only primates besides humans that have blue eyes? Lemurs have a less well known cousin, a species that live primarily in India, Sri Lanka and South East Asia called the loris. These adorable little animals are not to be trifled with despite their cuddly appearance. The slow loris, in particular, has a defense mechanism which is hard to make up. It will lick the noxious secretions from its armpit, which when mixed with its saliva, becomes a toxic venom that it stores in its canines. A bite to its enemy, strong enough to pierce bones, will cause flesh to rot, and faces to melt. And you thought your body odor was bad.
Loris by Dave Rossetti, Frank Chambers and Ken Stevens
Make note of these references as you attempt to open the Loris Box, a storied puzzle box collaboration from Dave Rossetti, Frank Chambers and Ken Stevens. They probably won’t help, but they might make you handle it with more trepidation! Frank Chambers was one of the original modern puzzle box makers to reinvigorate the art, using his preferred medium of Corian, the kitchen counter composite material invented by DuPont. You can read more about Frank in Peter Hajek’s excellent book, Enter If You Can. Dave Rossetti explains the history of Loris: “In my early IPP days (around 2000) I asked Frank Chambers if he could make IPP exchanges for me because I loved his little Corian secret boxes. The Oriental Toothpick Safe at IPP 21 Tokyo 2001 was the first one, Frank’s design, and as usual it was made of Corian and beautifully machined.”
Dave had been playing around with an idea for a puzzle box for some time. To explain the basic concept would provide too much of a hint, so I will remain subtly obscure and let Dave continue his story: “since Frank and I had a good relationship, and he made puzzle boxes, I asked if he would be willing to collaborate on a design for my IPP23 (2003) Chicago exchange. He lived in Freeport, Ireland, so the collaboration would be long distance.” Frank and Dave traded thoughts and ideas, until Frank proposed an elegant solution and built a prototype. Again from Dave, “The prototype worked great, but there was a problem: you could cheat by [certain manipulations]. So he improved the design by adding [internal components to prevent a false solve]. Frank’s health was starting to fail in early 2002 and he hesitated committing to the job, so he enlisted the help of Ken Stevens to follow through with the production of the Loris boxes, and in addition he submitted two specially finished ones to the 2003 IPP Design Competition. Ken Stevens was a buddy of Frank’s in Ireland — I guess they hung out together and Ken liked puzzles and building things — and Frank (I guess) hired Ken to do a lot of the fabrication work. He brought Ken to IPP as a guest at IPP22 Antwerp 2002. These were the days before 3D printing so all those Lorises had to be machined out of Corian sheet and block, lots of work.”
Cryptic Corian
Dave likely knew that based on the novel mechanism and beautiful craftsmanship the puzzle box would be an instant classic. “Yes the puzzle was beautifully made of Corian, [and Velstone, acrylic, brass and steel,] but was quite expensive. That’s okay, my IPP friends are worth it! I asked Frank to make the 100 boxes and all extras sold immediately. And given the interest people have shown over the years I certainly wish I had more to sell! And one more thing: the name “Loris” was suggested by Frank, and though we went round-and-round to brainstorm other names, we stuck with Loris and I’m glad we did. Geez, we needed to give at least one hint to the solution ;-).”
Dolores Way by Karri Kiyuna
For the toast to the Loris Box, I’m slowing things down with a delicious low alcohol content (ABV) cocktail featuring a classic styling of aromatized wine. Vermouth is an often misunderstood category of spirit which originated in Turin, Italy in the mid to late eighteenth century. It is essentially an aromatized wine, using local grapes, botanicals, roots and herbs of the region, which has been “fortified” by the addition of neutral grain alcohol. House made vermouths on the rocks or mixed with soda water were and continue to be a popular drink at Italian cafes in the afternoon. Vermouth is also a staple ingredient of many great classic cocktails like the Americano, the Manhattan, and the Negroni. Craft vermouths are currently having a moment in the American spirits market and are very popular in drinks now.
This is the way
Bartender Karri Kiyuna got her start in Georgia before climbing the ranks of San Francisco’s cocktail scene. She is now “Head Bird” at Wildhawk, a mostly female run lounge where she has developed a number of low ABV cocktails including this one, which features Martini and Rossi’s new Ambrato vermouth, a higher quality product than their standard line, with rich honey notes and an amber hue which lends the name. She named the drink after her Grandmother, Dolores, who would have loved the bright, floral flavors and low alcohol profile. The light and refreshing vermouth is anchored by a small dose of bold aquavit, and the drink gets a complex boost as well from another small dose of Bitter Bianco, a deceptive amaro which looks clear but tastes like a classic red bitter spirit. The peppercorn tincture lends a touch of spiciness and ties it all together for a very pleasurable experience. Take this one slow and enjoy the solution. Cheers!
right this way
Dolores Way by Karri Kiyuna
2 ounces Martini & Rossi Ambrato Vermouth
½ ounce aquavit, preferably Linie
½ ounce Luxardo Bitter Bianco
1 dash peppercorn tincture (peppercorn infused high proof vodka)
Stir ingredients with ice and strain into a coupe glass. Lemon twist garnish (or a lemon wheel lemur).
*Special thanks to Dave Rossetti for providing the history for this tribute!