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Little Black Book Events

Days of Malabar Secrets and Water Cocktails at the DAG

Barbara Tiffany, Bina Ramani and Robin Roche

Heard of India in a Bottle? And spiced dark artisanal chocolates? Fashion designer and tireless entrepreneur Bina Ramani, who was a New Yorker for over two decades, was back in the city to introduce friends to her latest flight of fancy at a fun launch event hosted by Robin Roche, Director of the DAG Gallery.

Bina whipped up water cocktails with her creation Malabar Secrets elixirs – and ditched the calories. Just a few drops of Elixir 9, 10 or 11 mixed in a pitcher of water or soda can give you a healthy cocktail with no guilt and pure taste. Elixir 9 has ingredients like saffron, turmeric and cinnamon while Elixir 10 has nutmeg, rose and black pepper. Elixir 11 has cayenne pepper, cumin and peach. Talk about getting drunk on good heath!

As Bina said, “I’ve always been a passionate person and my new passion is discovering the spice legends of India.” She came across a fabulous spice lab in the South and became a big believer in the power of ayurveda and India’s authentic spices. She has enjoyed translating this into the vocabulary of modern day lifestyle. As she says, “I was a cancer patient and was always told about the importance of drinking lots of water. It was usually boring to down several bottles of water but then I turned to flowers, fruits, spices and all sorts of aromatic flavors and this was my moment to put my idea to work.” Voila – water cocktails!

The guests shared for the first time unheard of water cocktails and tasted chocolates with exotic names like Madhubala (dark chocolate, coriander, nutmeg, turmeric rose, black and cayenne pepper, sea salt) and Espresso Assault (dark chocolate, espresso coffee beans, roasted almond bits, black pepper, cinnamon and sea salt). Both products are not yet available in the US so it was just a sneak peek at what you can already enjoy in India. Yes, there’s also spiced ambrosia honey too with 11 spices. For Bina, it all began in Malabar, hence Malabar Secrets.

Add to these offerings, lots of conversation with a bonus of catching the fabulous art exhibition ‘India’s French Connection’ before it closes at the end of next month – and it was indeed a spicy evening.