Omar Lopez Gamarra

"The idea first emerged when I invited an expert friend in Andean herbs to visit my town, where the locals have been harvesting obscure plants with the most unusual aromas for ages.

He contacted me with the vice-rector of the Faculty of Agriculture at Peru's most important public university, who helped me investigate, document, and legitimise the initiative in the following way: the university now grows the same ancestral plants in a small, dedicated, experimental space within their campus, and they involve their students to manage the fields and perform in-depth studies as part of their master's theses.

As I see it, we have originated two significant consequences in terms of the intended impact of my project. On the one hand, the university is about to sell these plants through a software platform, which directly connects the farmer with the industry professional, exhibiting a fair price, promoting organic farming, and granting a percentage of the profits to the locals, raising their living standards. On the other hand, the initiative fulfils an educational purpose in investigating unknown plants, even within Peru, let alone the world, and helps preserve centuries of knowledge and tradition to expand it among the newer generations.

As a conversation starter, we display the herbs at the entrance from the moment the guests enter the premises and convey the aromas through moist refreshment towels. We build rapport from there and offer the Ketel One cocktail as a meal starter since its low alcoholic content makes it an excellent aperitif."

TIMELESS TONIC

Glass: Highball (Riedel)
Garnish: Crispy herbal paper
Method: Direct / Built-in-glass
Ice: Clear cut ice spear

Ingredients:
45 ml Ketel One Family-Made Vodka
90 ml Homemade herbal tonic water
7.5 ml Fresh lime juice

To make Homemade herbal tonic:
1. Harvest the ancestral herbal trinity separately: "remilla" (Andean stinging nettles), "Palma real" (no translation available), and "verbena de Indias" (Andean lemon verbena). 2. Make infusions of all herbs individually at 90°C for three minutes.
3. Blend the three liquids at different ratios: 50% "remilla", 30% "palma real", 20% Andean lemon verbena.
4. Add 1 ml of natural quinine flavour concentrate for every litre of the infusion.
5. Add 2g of Stevia for every litre of the infusion.
6. Carbonate the drink using a CO2 cylinder at 1.5 bar specifically.
7. Can, seal, and refrigerate the liquid before use.

To make Crispy herbal paper
1. Make a premix of the three herbs (previously dehydrated), salt, and mandioca starch, and refrigerate the purée for one hour.
2. Fry it over high heat, and it will expand until reaching the desired shape.
3. Dry it and let it rest for 10 minutes before use.