Tom Freston once said that innovation is taking two things that already exist and putting them together in a new way. But what Freston refrained from saying is that sometimes the story doesn’t work out very well. Like for example a certain flying car, the Ave Mizar. The Mizar was proof that the sum of two bad things always results in something much worse. On the other hand, the result of bringing together two good things – by a creative mind, combining technique and knowledge – usually becomes greater than the sum of its parts. This is the case, for…

“I will keep trying to climb until I reach the top, even though no one knows where the top is.” The phrase is from the nonagenarian Jiro Ono, protagonist of a documentary I recently watched on Amazon: Jiro Dreams of Sushi. Jiro is the owner and chef of a restaurant that serves only sushi, called Sukiyasbashi Jiro. The space, with only ten seats, kept from 2007 to 2019 a three star rating by the Michelin Guide – the maximum award. In 2019 Sukiyasbashi Jiro lost its stars. But not by demerit. But because it became so famous that it does…

A couple of years ago, I went with my father to a sophisticated Chinese restaurant and ordered an improbable dish. Shark fin soup. We went there just for that, in the most innocent curiosity. Shark fin soup is a typical Chinese dish, usually served only on very special occasions. Weddings, for example. It was invented in the Song dynasty, and is still seen today by much of the population of China as a symbol of prestige two pounds of fin can cost well over four hundred reais. But the most curious thing, however, is not the stellar price of the…

If you like unusual whiskies, you may be interested in this small – but remarkable – bottle. The 33-year-old Caledonian The Boutique-y Whisky Company. There are a number of reasons that make it a certain unicorn in the world of Scotch Whisky. The first is its sheer type. It is a single grain scotch whisky. Which, in itself, corresponds to an almost insignificant fraction of scotch whiskies. Single grains are produced in a single distillery, using whichever grains – and a small fraction of malted barley. They are usually distilled in Coffey Stills (a kind of column still). Although production…

A thousand and one uses. Tasteful energy. The real mayonnaise. Everyone uses or uses and abuses. All of the above phrases are famous brand slogans in Brazil. It is impossible not to think about Pão de Açúcar when someone says “happy people place”, even though I’ve felt miserable visiting the supermarket in more than one occasion. Almost all slogans carry a common message. They are positive and cheerful, and convey values ​​such as authenticity or trust. Almost all, because there are a few really weird ones out there. For example, that of the independent bottler Murray McDavid. Their slogan, in…

My dearest to me at the drugstore. Aren’t you going to buy the Q-tips? Of course I will, look here. But these are not Q-Tips. I looked puzzled. They are not Q-Tips, they are generic cotton swabs, are they as good as the originals? I exhaled of dissatisfaction. Look, these are sticks with cotton on the end, I think my ear is not very discriminatory regarding the brand of things that I put in it. It may seem like a silly discussion, but it is not. Branding a product directly influences how we perceive it. Nielsen, a company that specializes…

Pigeon race. If you asked me which of the English royal family’s favorite sports, I would never say pigeon racing. But according to Vogue magazine, the activity has been appreciated by british royalty since 1886, when King Leopold II of Belgium presented them with some of these (not so) gallant and swift birds. What intrigues me is that such an interest is considered a sport. After all, the only one who makes any effort is the pigeon. But the English royal family also practices other sports, say, less sedentary. Such as Rugby, played by Princes William and Harry; and snow…

Having been born at a time that predated the indiscriminate use of the internet, I saw my childhood plagued by many very excruciating doubts. For example, one which puzzled me every time I had breakfast: who was the guy pictured in the Quaker outmeal box? And another question even more distressing, but of the same nature: who was the nice old man of the KFC logo? If I could reseach such things online, it would be easy. I would know that the distinguished gentleman of fried chicken is Colonel Sanders, an important character in American history. And that that the…

“The superfluous is an extremely necessary thing,” Voltaire once wrote. I, the author of a blog about one of the world’s most superfluous articles – whisky – have to modestly agree with Voltaire’s apparent paradox. Whisky is an unnecessary need- like sports cars, designer clothes, and that fancy kitchen tap, which has a coiled spring. My God, how I want a tap like that! There is an irremediable desire in the superfluous. After all, it is in our nature to crave what we have not yet achieved. Or rather, aim for a variation that we consider better than what we…

It may seem obvious what I am going to say next, coming from a monothematic blog like this. But I have a few small obsessions. And it’s not whisky, because whisky is such a big obsession that the Khan once found a bottle of whisky in the bathroom cabinet next to the mouthwash, because there was nowhere else to put it at home. No. They are small, almost imperceptible obsessions, but they overwhelm me completely when awaken. One is the number of underwear I put in my suitcase for travel. It has to be about three a day at the…