A few weeks ago, as part of something called London Cocktail Week, Scotch whisky distiller Glenlivet rolled out what they’re calling their Capsule Collection. The Capsule Collection is a limited edition suite of “glass-less” cocktails, three seaweed (swallowable and/or biodegradable) pods each featuring a different Glenlivet-based mini-cocktail: citrus, wood, and spice.
They’re not meant to be a full down-the-hatch cocktail, but rather as an ‘amuse bouche’, a fun little taster. The application, as Glenlivet tells us, is pretty straightforward:
”Enjoying them is simple, the capsules are popped in the mouth for an instant burst of flavour, and the capsule is simply swallowed. There is no need for a glass, ice or cocktail stirrer.” (Source: The Scotsman)
Needless to say, the announcement was met with a burst of Twitter doing what Twitter does: a kabillion tweets making fun of what appeared to be ‘alcoholic Tide Pods.’ Only not poison.
That was from the snark brigade. Add the shocked reaction of Scotch purist aficionados who are just horrified by this innovative but highly unorthodox approach to enjoying a glass of Scotch. Which I believe is meant to be savored in front of a roaring fire while you’re wearing a smoking jacket and staring at the deer head mounted over the Balmoral fireplace, hoping that one of Queen Elizabeth’s corgis doesn’t nip your ankle. Or something like that.
It has been decades since I enjoyed a glass of Scotch. On that occasion – was it really the night before my grandmother’s funeral?(excuse: I was in my 20’s) – I enjoyed a few too many. And that was the end of Scotch for me. Forty-years on, the smell still makes my stomach churn.
Perhaps because of this, my first impulse on hearing about the Glenlivet Collection was to join in the make-fun of the snark brigade.
But then I thought a bit about it, and although I won’t be amusing my bouche with them, I came to the conclusion: why not? If I didn’t despise Scotch, if my days of drinking any brown whisky weren’t far behind me (except maybe for rum in a rum coke), slurping a couple of teensy-weensy cocktail-eens down actually sounds like a fun way to explore a new drink without making a full commitment. Kind of like the teensy-weensy little spoon-eens they give you in an ice cream shop so you can do your flavor sampling.
The biggest downside seems to be the same one that plagues Tide Pods and dishwasher pods: they look so pretty that toddlers are lured into swallowing them. Since Tide Pods were introduced, there have been a handful of deaths of children ingesting them. (And then there’s the conscious stupidity of teenagers who until YouTube removed the vids were answering the call of the Tide Pod Challenge and making themselves sick by gobbling them down. Probably better getting sick drunk on Scotch – without alcohol-poisoning level overdoing it. Just sayin’.)
Miriam Eceolaza, director of The Glenlivet, said the ‘Capsule Collection’ embodies The Glenlivet’s new global campaign – Original By Tradition, he added: “As a brand that celebrates originality, we are always looking to break the conventions that have determined how single malt Scotch has historically been enjoyed.
“The Glenlivet Capsule Collection does exactly that, and we’re excited to see how people react when they try our glassless cocktails. Our founder, George Smith, always went against the grain, bucking tradition and doing things differently. The Glenlivet Capsule Collection continues his pioneering spirit today.”
Booze pods may never become a thing – a thing like Jello shots, which they sort of bring to mind. Except that they’re a tad (hah: a lot) more sophisticated. But I think that, from a marketing point of view, it’s an interesting concept. Whether it will get folks to drink more Glenlivet is another story. (Include me out there, but still…)
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