Encourage Sunday-Funday with one of these beverage-inclined gifts for Mom this Mother’s Day. Wine, dine and explore these picks as featured in our current issue of Sip Northwest! To subscribe to the quarterly print mailings, click here.
SEATTLE STEMWARE
The hulking metal door to Seattle’s MistralKitchen serves both as a guardian from the Northwest elements and as a portal to the culinary collaborative world that is chef/owner William Belickis’ multi-concept restaurant. Through the gateway and into the reimagined and revamped space that is the new Jewel Box Bar, guests not only find cocktail-oriented cuisine, but also custom glassware to serve the inventive libations in. In a partnership with Pennsylvania-based artist Michael Schunke and his partner Josie Gluck, both of Vetro Vero glass designs, each stunning hand-blown stemware is unique and made for a house cocktail in mind. The glassware is on display at the restaurant bar and also available for purchase. Prices vary || mistral-kitchen.com
INSIDE THE BOX
Switch up your morning Joe with Seattle-based Bean Box, a monthly multi-roaster coffee subscription that ships beans that have been roasted within a 1-2 day window. With 15 (and growing) Seattle roasters on board offering a variety of their blends, the subscription includes a box of rotating fresh-roasted Emerald City beans per month, with tasting notes, roaster profiles and a brew guide. The “Expand Your Palate” option gives newbies looking for nuance a chance to explore Seattle coffee with four 1.8 ounce bags of whole beans which amounts to 16 cups of coffee. The “Fill Your Morning Cup” subscription is a taste-tailored 12-ounce bag that can be shipped once a month or twice every other week. $20 each month || beanbox.co
BEERGRAPHICS
Catching on with the popularity of infographics, the Brooklyn designers at Pop Chart Lab have laid out a visually intriguing yet easy-to-follow instructional on beer-from history to style and specific suggestions. With 89 beer styles represented, more than 200 different brands noted as explicit examples and paired with glassware recommendations, The Very, Very Many Varieties of Beer print is also produced with sustainability on the mind. The 24-inch by 36-inch posters are printed on archival stock certified by The Forest Stewardship Council and pressed on an offset lithographic press with vegetable-based inks. The print is signed and numbered by the artists, marking not only the craftsmanship of the poster but the beers it represents. $35 || popchartlab.com
BAGGAGE TO KEEP
Technology has provided airplanes riding safely above 30,000 feet in the air with WiFi capabilities, so why not the ability to make craft cocktails as well? The Carry On Cocktail Kit provides all you need to mix two “proper” Old Fashioned cocktails for comfortable libation sipping for the duration of your flight-all in a pocket-sized tin. Your mom can stash it in her handbag and take it with her wherever she goes! Of course, if your mom is a true fashionista, you might want also want to treat her to a Replica LV handbag for her next trip. That way she will always have something to use to carry her handbag-sized cocktail making kit. Once she has this kit in her handbag all she has to do is simply order a brown liquor of her preference from the flight crew and use the custom combination bar spoon/muddler to mix in the included cane sugar and small-batch aromatic bitters. How luxurious! The kit is complete with a recipe card and first-class linen coaster to rest your drink on. $24 || carryoncocktailkit.com
RAW MATERIALS
Loaded with phytonutrients and other beneficial components, botanicals of the Northwest also contain aromas, flavors and colors that are key components of a delicious cocktail. Portland-based RAFT Syrups have bottled up a number of health-promoting herbs, roots and flowers for the use of the area’s locally derived cocktail revolution. The line of botanical cocktail and soda syrups range from hibiscus lavender to lemon ginger and smoked tea vanilla, all slow-brewed without preservatives, high-fructose corn syrup and artificial flavors or colors. They also come in a convenient travel size for cocktailing on the go. $19 for 12.7 ounces, $9.99 for 3.4 ounces || raftsyrups.com
SIP SLOWLY
After a 15-year search for the superlative wine preservation system, entrepreneur and founder Scott Tavenner finally firmed up his creation of the Savino Wine Preservation System. The flint glass “Connoisseur” carafe strives to conserve a bottle of wine for up to one week, courtesy of its food-grade, BPA-free plastic “float” cap that creates a physical barrier between the wine and the oxygen. Pour the wine into the pitcher, insert the float, place the top on and serve-for tonight, for tomorrow and the next day without worry. The glassware holds a full bottle of wine, is dishwasher safe and fits in most refrigerators. $59.95 for Connoisseur glass model || savinowine.com
