And now for something completely different …
It seems apropos to be channeling Monty Python for this
change of pace. The creators are British, after all, and I suspect they may
know a thing or two about the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow. So without
further ado may I present the first ever episode of “Burrs and Booze”.
The burr, for the uninitiated, is an ancient mechanical
puzzle likely dating back centuries. There is correlation with the classic six
piece interlocked burr, a fusion of six sticks with internal notches that fit together in a specific way, and Chinese joinery techniques from
the fourth century B.C.E. The first known depiction of a burr is from the 1698
engraving “L'Académie des sciences et des beaux-arts” by Sébastien Leclerc, one
of the most famous French engravers of the seventeenth century. See if you can find it. Since then the
world has seen innumerable modifications and expansions to this puzzle. For a
comprehensive history of the burr see this excerpt from “The Puzzling World of Polyhedral Dissections” by Stewart Coffin, courtesy of John Rausch.
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| Brass Monkey 1 & 2 by Two Brass Monkeys |
The story of these two burrs, however, takes us into much
more modern times. Ali Morris and Steve
Nicholls, fresh off their success with the brilliant HoKey CoKey lock (which
starred in its own sweet edition of “Locks and Libations”), decided that what
the world really needed was more high quality, incredibly heavy brass puzzles.
They set out to form a little business venture, and had a few ideas about the
classic six piece burr. These would be
cylindrical, with a nice shine. They made the first as a standard interlocking
cylinder burr. It is beautifully crafted, nicely puzzling, and can be
disassembled and put back together within a few minutes. Even a novice can
manage it fairly well. It’s the ultimate executive desk toy.
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| Looks can be deceiving |
But I think the real reason they created the first, was to
properly lull people into picking up the second. The second cylinder burr is
not so simple. In fact, most people (at least, with no prior exposure to Ali
and Steve’s devious ways) who pick it up, put it down in disgust after twenty
minutes of getting absolutely nowhere. Many people can’t seem to get it to come
apart at all. It’s the perfect compliment to the ultimate executive desk toy,
ready to wipe the smug look off of someone's face at a moment's notice. It’s another very
clever achievement from this devilish pair of tricksters.
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| Blue Ball prototype courtesy of Ali Morris |
A little detail about these puzzles which may not be known
is the story of how they got their name (which subsequently became the name of
the joint business endeavor as well). When the first brass prototype of puzzle
1 was complete, Ali and Steve noted something which obviously stood out and was
less than desirable. To keep the puzzle all together once assembled, there is a
little sprung ball bearing on the final key piece. The casing around this
initial bearing was bright blue. Naturally (Disturbingly?) Steve immediately
thought of the Vervet Monkey (see here, if you dare). Ali and Steve realized
they would need to rid themselves of their "blue balls". They felt that calling their puzzles "blue monkey balls" might not be the best idea. And again, naturally
(doubly disturbing?), the idea of removing these blue balls from the brass eventually led
them to the expression, “To freeze the balls off a brass monkey”. Viola,
both the puzzles and the business had a name. From such auspicious beginnings
comes the stuff of legends, or so I’ve been told.
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| The Diki-Diki Cocktail by Robert Vermiere |
Right then. On to the cocktail. My first effort was not as
well received by the critics as I had hoped. They said, ““Have you got anything
without spam?” “Well, spam, egg, sausage, and spam – that’s not got much spam
in it,” I replied. Or perhaps that was from the Flying Circus. No matter, I’ve
got something even better to pair with a pair of Blue Balled Brass Monkeys. It’s
the Diki-Diki cocktail, of course. No, that’s not a typo. It’s a real, and
quite classic cocktail created sometime prior to 1922 by Robert Vermiere, who then
set it down for posterity in his book “Cocktails: How to Make Them”. Vermiere
was a Dutch bartender plying his trade in London, and is considered one of the
most influential cocktail personalities of the twentieth century. His book has
the first known record of the classic “sidecar”, among many others, and
includes a wealth of knowledge about the inventors of each drink.
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| A marvelous marriage of unusual flavors |
He is credited with inventing the Diki-Diki, which is
actually a delicious and simple drink (albeit with a few unusual ingredients) featuring French apple brandy (Calvados), fresh grapefruit juice, and the wonderfully weird Swedish
Punsch. This was a ubiquitous spirit in the 1920’s but only more recently
resurfaced in modern times and became readily available again. Swedish Punsch
is like a funky spiced herbal liqueur. It dates to 1733 when the Swedish East
India Company imported a red rice and sugarcane spirit known as arrack from
Southeast Asia. This would be mixed with sugar and rum to make a punch.
Eventually the punch was bottled and sold on its own merit. It works remarkably
well in the Diki-Diki. Vermiere claims that the drink was named after the impressively diminutive
chief monarch of the Ubian Islands in the Philippines. Reports suggest that
Diki-Diki was a real person, a datu chief from Zamboanga, who was indeed only
32-33 inches tall. I could find no mention of a brass monkey, however. All good things must come to a close. So ends this
silly offering. You have my apologies if you have found it to be burr-densome. Cheers!
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| Two Brass Monkeys and a Diki-Diki. Best caption ever? |
Diki-Diki Cockail by Robert Vermiere c. 1922
¼ gill (1 oz) Calvados
⅛ gill (½ oz) Caloric Punch (Kronan Swedish Punsch)
⅛ gill (½ oz) Grapefruit juice
Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a favorite glass. Garnish with a grapefruit peel, or give it the royal treatment.
For more from the Two Brass Monkeys:
Two Brass Monkeys - Etsy Shop
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