Vessel
The other night, William & I went to Vessel, a swanky, world-class drinkery in downtown Seattle where one of Will’s former co-workers now tends bar. Apparently, they do some things there that no other bar in the country does, and, in fact, one service they provide is hardly done anywhere else on Earth:
I was told by the staff (who are more than eager to share their expansive knowledge of all things alcohol) that the Perlini System of carbonation was developed by a local guy in town, and that they’re using some of his prototypes. The device is a clear plastic cylinder, about 12″ tall with a 3″ diameter, that unscrews about 1/3 of the way down from the top.
The bartender fills the container with ice & other ingredients, screws the 2 “halves” together, and walks over to a CO2 tank on the wall. The lid on the cylinder has a valve top, and they simply fill it with the gas ’till it can’t stands no more. Then they shake it, and whatever liquid was put in there is now carbonated! And not big, uncivilized cola-bubbles type carbonated – no, these were tasty little precocious champagne bubbles. They were doing this process to straight gin & then adding a twist of lemon, and people were cheering about how good it was!
I didn’t get to taste any solo gin, but Michael made me a Captain Handsome (Vessel is known for their award-winning, classically inspired, original cocktails) which consisted of the following: gin, creme de violette, limoncello, lime juice & absinthe. It was then Perlini’d and poured into a martini glass.
Wow.