6 minute read
in focus
Getting digi with it
Promoting cocktail menus in a digital space
Just when you thought bartenders had explored every possible way to embrace art in the drinking experience, along comes another medium to blow your mind. Enter the world of NFT. NF what now? We’re still not sure we fully understand it either. But very loosely explained, it goes something like this.
NFT is shorthand for non-fungible token. The easiest way to think of it is as a certificate housed in a digital ledger – the Ethereum blockchain – which proves you own a one-of-a-kind asset that lives, well, in the ether. It could be an original artwork, a music file, video game or GIF, for example, but essentially it’s something that doesn’t exist in a physical space.
How does that even work and perhaps even more poignantly, why would you want to own such a thing? That’s not for us to say, but while it may seem a little gimmicky, precarious even – it’s not like you can touch it – know this: NFTs are incredibly serious and the number of crypto collectors are growing every day.
To get shopping, all you have to do is wait for the latest ‘drop’ of cryptocurrency Ether, or ETH, load up your crypto wallets, sign up to one of the NFT marketplaces and you’re good to go. Even the big guns like luxury giant LVMH, Nike and the major banks are getting in on the action. They’re increasingly being used in the drinks world too, particularly during lockdown when quick, clever and creative bars, brands and bartenders took to the fast-growing space to sell everything from whisky and wine bottles to cocktail recipes. Heck, there’s even an NFT Crypto Bar.
But at Oslo’s Himkok bar and craft distillery, Flavour Developer Paul Aguilar Voza and Head Bartender Maroš Dzurus have taken things up another level. Instead of merely focusing on the drinks, in July this year they became the first bar in the world to connect their cocktail menu launch with covetable, original artworks and money-can’t-buy brand experiences.
The idea came to Paul in December last year. “I’d been speaking to a friend who has a hedge fund that has been investing heavily in cryptocurrency and blockchain technology,” he begins. “He was explaining the way NFTs work (his company was later involved in the sale of the Sophia artwork, a self-portrait by an AI robot that sold for the equivalent of $688,888 earlier this year). Listening to him talking about this technology got me wondering how we could do something with our menu.”
After discussing his vision and its viability with his hedge fund friend a little later, “I called him at 1am, really excitedly, and asked him if he thought it would be cool to launch a cocktail menu in an NFT format,” Paul confirms. The answer was yes. Buoyed on by the fact that it hadn’t been done before, Paul then teamed up with Maroš to put the wheels in motion. The first thing they had to do was find an artist to partner up with. “We needed someone who was open to working on a cool, new project, but they also had to have a good profile and distinctive style for the collaboration to attract enough interest,” Paul admits. He was directed to Esra Røise, a freelance illustrator based in Norway whose bold, yet delicate line drawings incorporating dramatic use of inks and watercolour have been sought out by fashion icons including Vogue, Stella McCartney, Burberry and Elie Saab. “I couldn’t believe it when I looked through her portfolio,” he says enthused. “She was the artist who had worked on our new snake logo! I pitched her the project and within 30 minutes, she was on board.” The rest is now NFT history.
“We worked day and night on this for six months,” Paul says. During this time, not only were he and Maroš working on the alcoholic and non-alcoholic readyto-drinks for Himkok and developing a strawberry wine, they were creating the cocktails for the new menu too, as well as genning up on the inner workings of NFT and getting drinks brands on board to add even more clout to the offering.
“The art was the most important part because it was the key to unlocking the entire experience,” Paul says. “We wanted to offer an exciting, one-off package consisting of three things: something nontangible [the digital artwork]; something
TOP: Esra with the Himkok snake logo and finished NFT artwork; ABOVE RIGHT: Maroš Dzurus, BELOW: Paul Aguilar Voza
tangible [a signed copy of the art for the owner to have on their wall]; and a moneycan’t-buy experience including distillery visits, accommodation or a session with a master blender, which would be made possible by the participating brands.”
There were 14 artworks on offer – 13 of the drinks and one of the Himkok snake logo – all animated and uploaded to one of the largest NFT auction platforms, Foundation. “It usually takes one and a half years to get accepted on Foundation but they loved the fact that we were offering something completely different,” Maroš says proudly. One artwork was uploaded every day, with interested parties having 24 hours to place their bids. Each sold for on average 0.50 ETH ($1,090.66), with 30% of sales going to help rebuild the bar after lockdown, 25% to Esra, 30% divided between Paul, Maroš and their hedge fund friend, 10% to a local mental health charity and 5% to a global charity.
All of this tech and new way of doing things should take nothing away from the drinks. True to Himkok form, they’ve collaborated with local, independent producers to support them while creating cocktails with an authentic Nordic taste and sustainable production methods. There are no fancy names; instead each drink heroes a single ingredient – walnuts, sea buckthorn, cloudberries and rhubarb, for example – and it’s that simplicity that allowed Esra’s illustrations to be even more powerful. From static black-and-white line drawings, the artworks come to life as washes of colour seep into frame. “Esra has also included subtle references to the participating brand in the picture,” says Paul, mindful of the fact that due to the state-governed Vinmonopolet system, overt promotion of drinks in Norway is strictly verboten.
“NFTs are coming to our industry no matter what. They’re already accepted on the Hong Kong bar scene and we’re super-proud that we’re the first to use them in this way,” Maroš concludes. Paul agrees: “We want to evolve our industry and showcase how you can use this technology in a different way. We’re at the very beginning. It’s so exciting to have an idea like this – to be pioneering instead of being mainstream. It’s a oneoff for Himkok but Maroš and I have ideas for future projects. Watch this space!”
himkok.no
foundation.app/@esraxhimkok
