Silver Lyan Menus

Fords gin, starfruit fino, bleu curaçao, fuji apple, damson plum EDV

Two of the world’s most famous pieces of art owe their unique hues to a lab accident. In 1704, Johann Jacob Diesbach accidentally created a pigment that would be named Prussian Blue, marking the first affordable blue dye. Europe went crazy for the new colour, and 100 years later when it finally reached Japan, woodblock master Hokusai used it in his “Great Wave of Kanagawa” – today the world’s most-replicated artwork. Inspired by Hokusai, 58 years later Van Gogh would use Prussian Blue as the basis for “Starry Night,” cementing the pigment in the artistic canon. On a related note, a similar lab accident resulted in the birth of the first antibiotic, when chemist Alexander Fleming’s notoriously-lax cleaning habits led to his discovery of Penicillin. A snowball resulting in a spirit forward, yet bright sipper.

Elyx vodka, passion fruit, sugarcane vermouth, cedar, buddha’s hand bitters

The Hawaiian “shaka” gesture isn’t ancient– it started with a sugar mill worker named Hamana Kalili, who unfortunately lost three fingers in an accident. Reassigned to work as a security guard, he waved his unique hand to scare kids off the trains he was guarding, and they eventually adopted the gesture to signal he wasn’t around. Decades later, used car salesman David “Lippy” Estrada popularised it in ads, ending with the phrase “shaka, brah!” It caught on, and when a Honolulu mayor used it in his campaign, the gesture became mainstream. A rich, tropical sour in tribute to the worldwide symbol of aloha, rooted in accident, imitation, and clever marketing.

Available boozeless for 14

Patrón reposado, reanimated berry madeira, acorns, pandan absinthe, Champagne

The invention of both science fiction and sexy vampire stories both trace back to a volcanic eruption. In 1815, Mount Tambora erupted in Indonesia, triggering a massive ash cloud that led to global cooling, leading to 1816 being known as “the year without a summer.” Stuck indoors all summer on what turned out to be an unusually cold Swiss vacation, Mary Shelley, her husband Percy, Lord Byron, and John Polidori challenged each other to write scary stories. Mary created Frankenstein, the first science fiction novel, while Polidori, inspired by a vampire fragment from Byron, wrote The Vampyre, birthing the saucy vampires that haunt pop-culture to this day. A fuller version of the classic, replete with electrocuted berries and an underpinning of golden richness.

Available boozeless for 14

Siete Misterios mezcal, pechuga, purple potato amazake, strawberry donuts, green café con leche

Since the beginning of television (as with every new technological development), critics have expressed concern that people will imitate bad behaviour they see on screen. But what about good behaviour? The rescues of dozens of choking victims have been credited to bystanders having seen the Heimlich manoeuvre performed on TV, including at least two credited specifically to having seen Homer Simpson choke on a donut. For a more extreme example, in 2014 a doctor was able to correctly diagnose a case of extremely-rare cobalt poisoning due to recently having seen it on an episode of House M.D. Sometimes pop media can lead to positives; as found in this herbal, fruity, smoky punch!

Ketel One, pisco, kiwi ketchup, sauvignon blanc, mace, olive leaf and boldo soda

Chilean schoolteacher Giovanna Grandon’s Pokemon-obsessed son stole the family credit card to buy $800 of Detective Pikachu merch in 2019 and accidentally turned his mother into a revolutionary icon. Unable to return it all, she kept an inflatable Pikachu costume, planning to wear it for Halloween. She instead wore it to conceal her identity at the Estallido Social protests that erupted throughout Chile that year, where a video of her dancing in the suit went viral. Known on social media as “Tía Pikachu,” Grandon became a face of the protests, going through 7 costumes in a year due to how often they were maced and torn. Her efforts marked her out to her community as someone who cared for Chile’s future, and in 2021 she was elected to Chile’s Constitutional Convention to help draft a new constitution for the nation. A shockingly bright, zesty spritz inspired by protest, pop culture, and democracy.

Cherry Hendrick’s, cucumber, concrete, woodruff whip, stardust: frozen

East German bureaucrat Gunter Schabowski was supposed to go on television and announce that travel restrictions between East and West Berlin would be easing in coming weeks. Unfortunately for him, he was tired and running late, and never got around to reading the document he’d been provided with the official information. As a result, when asked when the restrictions would lift, he responded “right away.” His mistake spread like wildfire, and the wave of East Germans trying to travel West effectively took the wall down overnight - with a little apocryphal help from Davids Bowie and Hasselhoff. All reflected in a fittingly uplifting frozen banger.

Grey Goose, mulberry leaf, burdock soda, Riesling ink, mint

Johannes Gutenberg, inventor of the printing press, was legally barred from following in the family business at the royal mint because his father had fallen in love outside the aristocracy and married his mother, a shopkeeper’s daughter. As a result, Gutenberg became an entrepreneur, resulting eventually in his invention of the printing press. This kicked off a chain reaction, as increased access to books resulted in increased demand for reading glasses, leading to innovations in lens-making that made possible the microscope and telescope – the essential tools of the scientific revolution that resulted in our modern world. A herbal yet zesty highball with a float of German aromatics.

Oban 14, mugwort baiju, toasted millet, pomegranate sherbet, maple longan tea

Born a peasant, Chinese constable Liu Bang overcame a troubled youth to become a government official. A mistake on the job allowed bandits he was transporting to a work site to escape, and instead of facing death for his screwup he embraced the junction presented – freeing his remaining prisoners and joining their rebellion. Rising to rebel leader, he eventually took over the whole of China, after which he was renamed Emperor Gaozu – marking the beginning of the Han Dynasty and a high-point in the history of failing up as celebrated in this rich yet fruity whisky sipper. Among many achievements including the invention of modern paper and gunpowder, the Han Dynasty oversaw the beginning of the trade network that would come to be known as the Silk Road, one of the world’s most influential veins of cultural exchange.

Monkey Shoulder, miyeok mukchim cordial, turbo persimmon, lemon, antler

At a time when coral reefs are in danger worldwide, an unexpected boon for marine life has been sunken warships, which have been so effective as habitats in which coral reefs can grow that the U.S. Navy now sinks decommissioned warships in collaboration with marine biologists to create artificial reefs. This pattern of the aftereffects of human conflict creating space for the natural world isn’t just limited to the ocean; the DMZ between North and South Korea has become one of the most biodiverse places on the peninsula due to being almost completely untouched by humans for over 70 years and is now a home for many endangered species of deer and herons. A celebration of unexpected contrasts in a killer whisky sour.

Available boozeless for 14

Bacardí Carta Blanca, fruit scrap garum, cherry blossom, hefeweizen vinegar, flowers

World War II left both Germany and Japan overrun with raccoons for completely different reasons. Prior to the war, German businessmen imported raccoons for fur farms with no plans of releasing them into the wild; they weren’t able to predict the bombing of a factory outside of Berlin during the war releasing dozens of raccoons into the area, where they thrive to this day with a reputation as beer thieves. Japan didn’t have any raccoons right after the war, but they did have American military bases with American comic books, which inspired the first manga and anime. In the 1970s, an anime called “Rascal” about an American boy with a pet raccoon became a phenomenon, leading to the importation of baby raccoons to Japan as pets – and the inevitable release of said raccoons into the wild once it became clear they weren’t actually domesticated. A riotously bright cobbler with cooling, uplifting aromatics.

Available boozeless for 14

Maker’s Mark, pumpkin seed, gunpowder tea, cloudberry blasting cap

Alfred Nobel, inventor of dynamite and blasting caps, got the real-life “A Christmas Carol”treatment when a French newspaper mistakenly published his obituary while he was still alive in lieu of the appropriate one for his brother Ludwig. Nobel originally invented dynamite to aid in excavation but had no problem selling it for military use when its destructive potential as a weapon became clear; the 1888 obituary called him “the merchant of death” due to the body count of his inventions on the battlefield. Horrified by what his legacy had become, Nobel left his entire fortune in his will to found the Nobel Prize, with the goal of promoting and supporting advancements in science and culture that would make the world a better place. A rich Old Fashioned with fruit and smoke, in hope of a better tomorrow!

Ocho reposado, woolly calvados, mesquite carrot vermouth, garden peas, secret bitters

Science fiction writer Kerry Thornley and Playboy editor Robert Wilson had no plans to actually resurrect the conspiracy theory around the Bavarian Illuminati when they started making jokes about it. Thornley, under suspicion of having participated in the assassination of JFK due to having written about his old army colleague Lee Harvey Oswald in a novel the year before the president’s death, took his new-found notoriety as an opportunity for culture jamming. He and Wilson used their platforms to blame everything on the Illuminati, an organisation that existed for 9 years in the late 1700s. Thornley and Wilson hoped their prank would encourage people to second-guess what they were reading in the media, maybe not expecting some would think they weren’t kidding. An elegant, yet bright end-of-evening drink with garden fresh notes balancing out a boozy sipper.