Van Gogh Gin is a premium gin in a beautiful bottle showing the canals of Amsterdam. Just the bottle alone takes four countries to produce. First the bottle is made in Germany, then it is etched in France, silk screened in Belgium, and the corks are Portuguese. Then the gin is made and bottled in Holland. It is distilled twice in a column still to remove any bad congeners (bad by products if distillation) and then a third time in a pot still to 47%abv / 94 proof. Made in small batches the botanicals are distilled separately, mixed carefully, and then aged to bring all the flavors together. The ten botanicals used are angelica, coriander, grains of paradise, almonds, lemon, liquorice, juniper, cassia, orris, and cubeb berries.

The aroma is deep and complex, with a quick dark and spicy hit buoyed up by fruit and citrus, with a juniper finish. Very pleasing with unusual notes that keep me going back to sniff repeatedly. The taste starts off with a sudden, strong, tangy and spicy note, sort of like a spiced fruit that then turns citrusy. Then there is the long finish with a whole mélange of spices coming along one after another, so fast it's hard to name them. Finally it settles down to juniper, lemon zest, and faint hints of cassia and liquorice. The finish was very long and minutes later I can still taste the lingering botanicals on my tongue. Straight up in a snifter or on the rocks are my thoughts for enjoying Van Gogh. I am not so sure about in a Martini or GnT, since I never got that far, but it has the potential to mix very well if it doesn't get overpowered. This is an elegant and refreshing gin that keeps me pouring excitedly.

It looks like Amsterdam will be getting a new theme park, one based on the Roald Dahl's book, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The park will be called De Chocolade Fabriek and will be primarily located underground in an unused railway tunnel, which means that the builders will have an easier time creating the fictionaly world, since they won't have to block out the sights and sounds of the city. Attractions will include a glass elevator and a chocolate fountain, as well as a production facility that will make a small amount of chocolate. The park will cost about €20 million (approx. $25 million) and is expected to take 2-3 years to completion.

Since it's based on the book, not the movie, you can't expect to see the likeness of Johnny Depp popping up anywhere - unlike at the revamped Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland - but considering that they made Willy Wonka slightly more disturbed in the updated film, it's probably just as well. The park is, after all, supposed to appeal to kids.

[Images from http://www.dechocoladefabriek.nl/]

God bless Professor Thomas Weber of Holland's Technical University of Darmstadt and his class of budding scientists. At last, someone is doing some work in robotics that will have an applicable real world benefit to mankind.

The good professor challenged his class to create a robot that pours a pint at precisely the right angle. It looks someone might have to add a fourth law of robotics to Asimov's: "A robot may not drink a human's beer."  And get this: the good professor is considering mass marketing his beer-pouring automaton.

Will wonders never cease?