New arrivals for your perusal

We've received a great infusion of new products at Pomegranate over the last few weeks. It's been an interesting ride this summer, trying to buy the right things, in the right amounts, at the right time. When our orders come in (or we find some vintage stuff we love), we're so happy with the new things that we feel like doing a little dance (or maybe the heat is making us delirious). Here's a small sample of new arrivals:

Tea Forté iced teas. So delicious, with a clever glass pot/pitcher to brew it up fresh.

Aprons. Funky and fun. Some are locally made, some imports. They're bright and happy, and make a great gift.

School of Fish glassware. We are now fully stocked! Those of you who saw them at Wine by the River can now come in and get whatever you want (even that very popular large wine glass that we kept telling people wouldn't be here for another three weeks). We also got in shipments of our dragonfly bistro glasses (3 sizes), bee glasses, bowls, and carafes, and those cute cute cute little "vin" and "eau" bodega glasses.

Books. Cookbooks. Dog books. Style books. Baby books. Wine books.

Wine barrel top lazy susans -- people were practically fighting over these at Wine by the River. A few more came in, and we have more on the way.

Linens. Tea towels. All over the place. Vintage linens. All over the place. Tablecloths (a few) and placemats, napkins.

Bella Notte bedding. Oh. My. New fabrics, new color (cypress; a very soft, sagey green). Already ordered for ourselves the totally cozy and beautiful new "Adele" shams in white. Kind of a chenille jacquard that you just want to bury your face in. Just found out "chenille" means "caterpillar" in French. How cute is that?

Wine accoutrements: Robert's favorite corkscrew (Coutale); cocktail napkins (can't have too many of those on hand); little tasting guides (at $3, what a great stocking stuffer, and yes, it's time to start thinking about all that); and the cutest candles that look like corks (just stick them into your favorite empty wine bottle for instant ambiance, only $2 each).

Archipelago Pomegranate lotions; our favorite, back in stock. Also new Archipelago candles, selling quickly.

Vintage clocks. Mostly 1920s or so through mid-century. We bought a bunch from a collector.

Hotel silver: a nice little selection right now, although it probably won't last long.

Earrings made by a Portland artist, all really fun, all just $18 each.

French salts (crunchy grey sea salt and a delicious new crystalline fleur de sel) and bags of fresh Herbes de Provence, shipped over by one of our French companies. We use ours every day, on just about everything.

There's more. You just have to come in and see it all.

Cocktail Infusions: way cheaper than Bottle Service

I have a hard time justifying going out and spending $8 or more on a cocktail. Mainly because I happen to have a husband who is a very creative and discerning mixmeister. If I'm in the mood for a cocktail, I'd rather have one of his most excellent concoctions than drop $20 (or more, in a fancy pants city bar) for the two of us on what is sometimes a disappointment.

I thought having cocktails out was kind of splurgy, and then heard about this thing called Bottle Service. You go to a swanky club and reserve a VIP table, with the requirement that you pay upwards of $300-$500 (plus tax & tip) for one bottle of booze plus mixers (but really, you're paying for your real estate location within the club). That may or may not include a personal bartender (if not, it means you're just pouring unknown quantities of vodka and fruit juice into glasses - yech). Sometimes the tables have a two-bottle minimum. And the patrons don't want to appear cheap (after all, you're the show at these places), so they order nothing less than Gray Goose. Or, (insert spit-take here), Cristal champagne at $1,000 or so per bottle. I kid you not. If you do a Google search it's all there (including articles from 2006/2007 chronicling the excesses). Maybe the craze has died down a bit, now that so many Wall Streeters no longer have access to the company AmEx card.

But I digress. You can make a lovely, exotic cocktail yourself, at home, with our new Tea Forté cocktail infusers. The infusers are pyramid-shaped with a little leaf at the top, just like their wonderful tea infusers. Filled with natural herbs and teas, the infusers come in three flavors: lavender citrus, lemongrass mint, and silkroad chai. You simply pour out whatever spirits you choose over the infuser and let it sit for 5 minutes or so, then add ice and your other ingredients, shake, and serve. We used the lemongrass mint with gin, added a squeeze of lemon and just a tiny bit of triple sec (or simple syrup). Delicious. The infusers come 8 in a box for $12 (one infuser is fine for two people), and they make a great gift. The other day one of our customers bought a few boxes and had us put each in a gift bag with enough room for a nice bottle of something -- a great birthday present (and we're happy to gift bag it for you).

By the way, we often print out and have available at the store Robert's drink recipes, from the sangria we used to serve at First Friday events downtown, to his infamous Pometini, which we serve at our holiday open house/fund raiser.