Dress the Drink - No more embarrassing naked cocktails!
Edible flowers and genuine gold sparkles glam up the macho world of cocktails.article by Pamela Irving
If your idea of garnishing a cocktail is a sprig of mint or a slice of lime, look again. Let Dress the Drink (DTD) add exquisite edible beauty to your cocktail menu-from sweet flowers grown with organic principles to genuine 24 carat gold dust, the DTD collection is unbelievable. Women adore it, but guys like it too.
"When men see these drinks all dressed up, they want to be part of it," says Diane Svehlak, President of Dress the Drink, from her office in southern California. "An undressed drink is a naked drink and everyone knows it's sexier to be adorned by a few sweet nothings than nothing at all," says Diane, known for branding labels like Cabo Azul Tequila, RAW Vodka, STR8Up, Le Snoot, and Mardi Gras wines.
Originally President of Access Beverage, Diane knows everyone worth knowing in the spirit and celebrity world and takes a hands-on approach to DTD which launched two years ago this May. Diane generated the beauteous and sophisticated Spring Fling collection of cocktails and food pairings specially for Raising the Bar readers with their mixologist Trevor Thorpe and Cindy McClure, CEO and Founder of DTD. "It's an exquisite collection and we are delighted to have created it. I love what we do. Nothing is more satisfying than to create something you know is the best of the best," says Diane.
Mother Nature is the queen bee behind the DTD spring garnishment line-up with her edible collection of real pansies, roses, violas and snapdragons for the human eye and palate. Most people know that these species flowers are edible when grown to organic principles and are great in salads, but not many know that they are doubly good in cocktails, desserts and gourmet food pairings. The flowers come exclusively to DTD through a joint marketing and sales venture with Sweetfields Farm, a 33-acre family owned farm in Jamul in Southern California. They are grown to organic principles until perfectly ripe for picking, then crystallised, glazed or dusted to capture the edible blooms that will last up to two years. The dream of all flower lovers: to capture perfection in perpetuity.
Not only do these little beauties look good, they taste sublime: a little sweet, a little crunch, and flower petals that evoke velvety fields of colour on your tongue. They can even be flavoured upon special order.
The DTD signature cocktails in the Spring Fling Collection (See Recipes and .pdf below) are all divine but my favourite has to be the ZViolet in its simplicity, to make, taste and see, with the little violet floating amid a purple sea. Perfect for Mother's Day paired with Angel food lemon cake-and you won't have to hunt out the recipe, because it is paired with the ZViolet as part of the collection.
"You inspired us to create the food pairings because of your interest in this developing side of the industry," Diane confides in me and I am honoured to have played a small part in this cocktail culinary feast.
The Blush Perfect, is rimmed with edible silver flakes and dressed with DTD edible silver diamonds made with gourmet sugars. Generally speaking, there is no danger in ingesting edible silver. It will pass out of the body after about 24 hours unchanged without causing any harm or reaction on the body. According to European Regulations, there is no limit to the quantity of edible silver that can be ingested. "However, the idea is to impress ones eyes and not fill your stomach with edible sparkles," says Diane. The Blush is Perfect for Weddings-and wedding season is coming up- diamond anniversaries and special intimate celebrations.
Spend time revelling in and getting to know the collection and select carefully for the occasion. "DTD offers a full range of services, from garnishments for consumers to creating special cocktails and events at home to corporate relationships," says Cindy.
If planning a corporate affair and would like to build a relationship with DTD and their services on a larger scale, DTD also provides Dress the Event services, that make mere table settings seem stuffy. DTD can take care of everything from creation to overseeing the complete event venue. If you are looking to brand or re-brand your company's beverage or food product and not sure where to turn, the Dress The Brand arm can also assist you.
"The DTD Internet site is a consumer driven purchase centre for people who want sophistication and fun at home. DTD also has a very large wholesale division focused for on-premise accounts: Key focus, event planners, catering companies, hotels, clubs and restaurants," explains Diane. Diane came onboard one year ago when DTD visionary and founder Cindy McClure of Las Vegas invited her to join the team as a partner. DTD started with the seed of an idea.. Within three months it was in full bloom and has been evolving ever since with huge capacity for growth.
"What do you see for the future of DTD?" I asked Cindy.
"Dress The Life of course."
Once you invite Dress the Drink into your cocktail coterie, Life before Dress the Drink will seem like a far distant barren past. Kind of like the world was before man.
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Download the high resolution .pdf of these recipes here... |
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Apple Zing
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Blush Perfect
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Callablossom
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Daffy Delight
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Lillaceae
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Spring Fling
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Marigold
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ZViolet
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