Teleport

Someday, traveling from one place to another might not be much of a journey in the conventional, old fashioned sense. Not if you believe that science fiction can predict future technology, which has actually happened from time to time. In this case, if we are ever able to truly teleport, instantly moving from one place to somewhere else far away (at least, in the three-dimensional plane of existence), I wonder what that journey may be like. Perhaps it would not seem so spontaneous to the traveler, or perhaps it would. Perhaps, it might feel like entering the spirit world, for an age, or a moment. Who knows?

The Karakuri Creation Research Group of puzzle box artisans are beloved for their fanciful secret opening boxes, which are often quite magical. One of their products which doesn’t get as much press as the high-end limited-edition pieces they make is their “work kit” line. Classic designs and boxes with simpler mechanisms are crafted from plywood and packaged with easy to follow instructions as do-it-yourself kits to build at home. They offer an incredibly inexpensive, hands-on way to experience the fun. I don’t typically write about these types of boxes, but this one in particular is special, and I thought I would share it with you.

A few years ago the group unveiled a new work kit they named the “Teleport” box. To announce it, they held a public design contest, challenging anyone in the world to make the new box from the kit, and decorate it in a unique way. They would choose their favorite and the winner would receive one of their founder’s famous puzzle boxes, the Dice box by Akio Kamei. They describe the Teleport box this way:

“Something is sticking out of one hole.
Now, when you open the lid ...
Oh my God, it pops out of another hole!
It is a surprising Karakuri box as if it were moving instantaneously.
After completion, you can draw and color your favorite picture to create a one-of-a-kind Karakuri box in the world.”

Teleporting “through the spirit world” was how I envisioned the box (I’m rather fond of spirits, if you hadn’t noticed), and of course I’m a huge fan of Studio Ghibli, so my design is an homage to them and a few favorite films. My take on the teleportation gimmick is also a little surprise that might make you smile. The success of Hayao Miyazaki’s film Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind in 1984 was the impetus to form Studio Ghibli the next year, with Miyazaki, fellow animator and director Isao Takahata, and producer Toshio Suzuki. One of the many iconic characters created by the team is hiding at the heart of my Teleport Box, but I wrapped the box in the forest setting of Princess Mononoke. You might recognize a few details, such as the Kodama sprites and the wolf Moro. The overall effect was appreciated by the judges and I won the Karakuri contest with it, which was also nice!

I wasn’t sure I would ever “feature” the Teleport “Ghibli” Box, but recently came across a wonderful cocktail I couldn’t resist, which was too perfect a pairing to pass up as a toast to the Karakuri Group. A few years back, bartender and consultant Stella Miller created a set of eight Studio Ghibli themed cocktails for the winter menu at Chicago’s Michelin Starred restaurant Yugen. The list included a drink inspired by the mysteriously lovable “No Face” from Spirited Away, which is the one I chose. Fans of the movie will recall the oddly silent spirit in black known in Japanese as “kaonashi”, or “faceless”, who mimics and literally absorbs the personalities of those around it in an effort to befriend people and in particular, Chihiro, the story’s protagonist. Everyone seems to worship the gold nuggets of currency in the spirit world, so No Face offers false gold to everyone.

Miller crafted her drink as a riff on the classic Brooklyn cocktail, a pre-prohibition era original variation of the more famous Manhattan. Both the Manhattan and the Bronx cocktails were already well established when the Brooklyn borough of New York was given its own version of a rye whiskey and vermouth drink by Jacob “Jack” Grohusko, head bartender of Baracca’s Restaurant on Wall Street (notably not in Brooklyn). He published the recipe in his book, Jack’s Manual, 1908, where it can be found as a fifty-fifty split of rye and sweet vermouth (note how “wet” the drinks were in that era) with a dash of Maraschino liqueur and a dash of Amer Picon, a bitter orange French spirit no longer available in the US. The recipe has changed over the years, calling for dry vermouth, different proportions, and the loss of Picon.

Miller’s No Face reimagines the drink with dry sherry in place of vermouth, and orange curacao standing in for the Maraschino. To achieve the proper color, she infuses the whiskey with activated charcoal, a common and effective trick to turn a drink black. One last detail from her original cocktail was the use of a gold-leaf covered cherry, to complete the story. “Obviously the pitch black cocktail with the golden cherry was a visual reference to the no face character in spirited away,” she told me. The drink is an excellent whiskey cocktail in the classic style, and will easily spirit you away. Cheers!

No Face by Stella Miller

2oz Black Dewar's*
.75oz Lustau Fino Sherry
.5oz Pierre Ferrand Dry Curacao
.25oz simple syrup
2 dashes Angostura bitters
Stir and strain over a large ice cube and garnish with a gold leaf covered Luxardo cherry

*To make black Dewar's combine activated charcoal powder with Dewar's white label until it is opaque (about 2 teaspoons per bottle)

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