Six Summer Drinks

by Ami Kealoha

On a hot NYC day at this year's Fancy Food show Evan and I sampled several new drinks that were delicious, refreshing and met our "not-too-sweet" standards. Maybe it was the effect of the heat or proof of a thriving industry, but among the cheap Vitamin Water knock-offs and pretentious imported bottled waters we found some superior ways to stay hydrated and healthy.

Purity.Organic Functional Drinks
Purity.Organic's line of Functional Drinks brings organic, all natural and preservative-free ingredients to the "enhanced drink" category. Each of the four flavors (Pomegranate Blueberry, Acerola Cherry, Pomegranate Raspberry and Orange, mango, Tangerine) boasts supplements to support the usual departments: memory, immune, energy and restore, respectively and come in a 16 oz. size. Look for them in your local health food store or pick up select flavors available online from Diamond Organics for a little over $2 each.

Honest Tea Sublime Mate and Pomegranate Red Tea with Goji Berry and Honest Kids
Honest Tea's unique and delicious taste balanced with just the right amount of organic cane sugar are always crowd-pleasers. Their two new flavors, Mate and Pomegranate, give us more to love, as does their children's line, Honest Kids, which packages three low sugar, kid-friendly flavors in portable Capri Sun-style pouches. Check their site to find retailers.

Urban Accents Jalapeño Lemonade
This reinvented lemonade has a pleasing lemony flavor, a subtle spicy kick and, surprisingly, comes as a mix. Simply add water for a new take on the summer classic. Eight ounces runs under $5 and makes two quarts. Get it from Urban Accents.

Dr. Andrew Weil for Tea
Ito En's bottled unsweetened iced teas are another CH staple and their collaboration with Dr. Weil doesn't disappoint. While all the subtle blends are as appealing for their flavor as they are for their health benefits, we particularly liked the spice of the antioxidant-rich Turmeric Powder tea ($48 for a case of 30 from Ito En).

Organic essn Energy
Essn's yet another company that can count CH as fans and their unique approach to an energy drink is another winner in their line and the first USDA certified organic energy drink. The sparkling beverage mixes Green Tea, Mate and Guarana with Pomegranate Limeflower flavor for a natural, more lo-fi and more antioxidant heavy experience than others.

The Republic of Tea Iced Tea on Tap
Using boxed wine packaging, The Republic of Tea's new taps hold 12 cups (96 ozs.) of their unsweetened organic iced teas for easy fridge storage or outdoor dining with a lot less waste. Pick up a box for $13 from The Republic of Tea.

Ronnybrook Milk Bar

by Ami Kealoha

The latest addition to NYC's Chelsea Market is the Ronnybrook Milk Bar featuring Ronnybrook Farm's line of milk, yogurt, cheese and ice cream incorporated into seasonal breakfast and lunch menus. Team CH stopped by this morning for some Moocachinos and Eggs-in-a-hole, and spoke to purveyor Mark Sarosi about his foray into brand extension, the possibility of bringing Ronnybrook to the airport and lactose intolerance.

The Ronnybrook Milk Bar seems like a unique example of brand extension. Can you tell us a little bit about the idea and how you came to it?
My family has known the Osofsky family, the family that owns Ronnybrook Dairy, for about 15 years. We would visit the farm a lot in the summertime. I'd sometimes go work at their stand at the Greenmarket in Union Square and also in their old Chelsea Market store. I always had an attraction to the brand and realized how accepted it was in the city. People really responded to it.

My background is in architecture and design, and I live and work in New York City. I'd say (to the Osofsky's) "you should get an ice cream truck" or "open a bar that only serves milk and cookies." I went to work for (Rafael) Viñoly Architects, and then for the Rockwell Group, but for years I was obsessed with the idea of doing something with Ronnybrook.

Last September I said, "you really should redesign the space in the Chelsea Market," and they said, "why don't you do it, raise the money, design it and it will be your store." Now we are thinking about opening up other Milk Bars. In fact, I spoke with someone today about putting one in a NYC airport.

How did your thinking influence the design of the space?
Chelsea Market itself is an environment where transparency is key. It's a marketplace wthout walls where you can watch purveyors practice their trade. Our transparency is kind of minimal, but you can watch drinks and sandwiches being made and ice cream being dipped. It's a nod to old Americana, the milk shop and the North Eastern kitchen.

We teamed up with Studio A+I, a small Brooklyn design firm. We had the idea of the [circular island] counter from the beginning. And we had this stock of old antique wooden milk boxes and we were dying to find a way to use them. It just so happens that two crates are the exact width of the fridges, which I had already decided I wanted to have along the walls. I thought wouldn't it be cool to make it feel like you're back at the farm?

As far as brand extension, we were like, why not? Why can't we create an environment where people can sit down and enjoy a simple meal or a milkshake? In places like England, Wales, Poland and Russia there's a history of milk bars. And now there area lot of articles being written about how the problem some people have is not the fat content of milk; it's with the kind of milk they're drinking. A lot of people confuse lactose intolerance with milk allergies. Most people who get gas and stomach aches from drinking milk have an allergy which is often the result of homogenization and ultra pasteurization which destroyes the bacteria that tells you how to digest the milk. Our milk isn't ultra pasteurized, so fewer people have that problem.

And the response so far?
I never thought it would be this busy!

Ronnybrook Milk Bar
Chelsea Market
75 9th Avenue (between 15th and 16th Streets)
New York, NY 10011
+1 212.741.6455

Emma Hope

by SummerSeventySix

I've been wearing a pair of Emma Hope's luxurious signature sneakers since last year, loving what I saw as a neat twist on the Smith aesthetic. Only after a bit of digging did I discover that she previously designed for Paul Smith anyway. With an elongated, yet low-profile shape, the shoes are taken to the next level by the materials used. Calf, pony and python come in eye-catching colors and prints like leopard skin and silver, easily trumping the much-vaunted Lanvin sneakers that have recently caused much over-excitement. Available at Hope's London stores or online.

Only Watch Auction 2007

by Watchismo

The first Only Watch auction in 2005 was so wildly successful—raising €1.9 million Euros for charity (Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy)—there was little doubt they'd try to follow it up. Two years later, it's back with more rare machines from today's most desirable brands. The event, commissioned by Prince Albert II of Monaco, will offer 35 limited edition and one-of-a-kind prototype watches, or as the horologically correct say "Piéce Unique." The watches will be auctioned at the upcoming 2007 Monaco Yacht Show by Antiquorum. Last year's largest fundraiser was the €285,000 collaboration by Richard Mille and Philippe Starck. They teamed up again for the ultra-futuristic model titled, “An integral interpretation in titanium" (pictured right). See my other highlights (and info on those pictured below) here.

Furni Meet BigChief

by Ami Kealoha

The “Furni Meet BigChief” is a freely downloadable cardboard cutout that you can “glue, cut and paste” into a 3-D little toy guaranteed to make you the freshest kid in the office/world. Conceived as a way for two emerging design companies to give a little back to the community that supports them, this collaboration between Milan design company Bigchief Design and Montreal-based Furni is definitely going to help you kill some time in your cubicle. Launched a few short days ago and limited to 5,000 downloads, the BigChief has already been sighted around the internet so stop chatting around the water cooler and go get yours here.

Desktop Defence Tower

by Lost At E Minor

Need another way to procrastinate? You know you're in trouble when Techcrunch, the oracle of all things online, suggests that one play of the Desktop Defence Tower game—one harmless little dabble—and you can kiss your productivity for the day goodbye. Apparently the game, which was created by Paul Preece, has been played 15 million times since launching in March 2007.

Os Gemeos: Drawing

by Phuong-Cac Nguyen

Twin brothers Otavio and Gustavo Pandolfo of Os Gemeos are perhaps the most prominent graffiti artists from the Brazilian talent pool of which they belong. Their "Drawings" exhibit, which just opened in their hometown of São Paulo at the heavy-hitting Galeria Fortes Vilaça, is a collection of concept drawings and general doodles pulled from the artists' own archives. These simple pen-and-ink compositions seemingly done off the cuff allow us short glimpses into the brothers' ingenuity when they sit down to prepare and conceive ideas and designs for their street artwork. As the drawings show, this can range from the absurd to the referential. (Click images for detail and go here more.)

There is no main thread connecting each of the 30 images to the next; in fact, if hard-pressed to find one, you could say it's an exemplary self-curated proof of the duo's limitless imagination. One drawing depicts a clown in various solitary moments, another puts a boy sleeping on a bed atop a giant fish and, in another, a man and a woman are shown embracing with the phrase "Lost virginity at 25 years old to Aunt" written below. Both the surreal and ordinary can co-exist in the Os Gemeos world, especially if there's a spray can around to help anchor it. Their most recognizable street art—figures with wide faces, thin appendages and yellow skin—are secondary here.

Os Gemeos' most recent commission took them to Scotland to work on The Graffiti Project, where they painted on a historic castle.

Os Gemeos: Drawing
30 June-27 July 2007
Galeria Fortes Vilaça
Rua Fradique Coutinho 1500
São Paulo, 05416-001 Brazil
tel. +55 11 3032 7066

Lucy Miller Beaded Chain-Link Necklace

by Ami Kealoha

Made by English knitwear designer Lucy Miller, we found these hand-tied beaded necklaces at The Rise + Fall store. (Miller's line is among the small collection of goods there that's not from their house label.) We love the way Miller simultaneously reinvents both traditional beadwork and chains for a necklace that's neither too hippie nor too fake bling. (Click image for detail.) "They're really beautiful and must take a long time to make," Rise and Fall's co-founder, Joshua Cohen, told CH.

Though as far as we know they're exclusively available at the Williamsburg store, they're also being shipped around the globe. Since they're imported, Cohen said he's charging "a little extra" for them: $60 bucks. It's not a bad score for a handmade accessory that's just the thing to casually dress up summer's laid back styles. Call The Rise + Fall (+1 718 388 3108) to order.