Custom cocktails come at hefty price

Here's something from the "why didn't I think of that?" department: a Singaporean consulting company will create custom cocktails for you, based on your personality or some other original set of criteria, and will only charge you "1800 Singapore dollars ($NZ1633) for a recipe for an individual event and 5400 dollars ($NZ4900) for corporate events". Gee, is that all?

"Taste is such a personal experience," said Sim, who prefers being called a "flavor Impressionist". "We create recipes that reflect the personality of the client and which aim to answer the question: what would your story taste like?"....

Sim, who studied psychology and the cultural connotations attached to foods, says he can take months to research an individual or a product and decide on the right combination of ingredients that best reflect their nature.

For example, his "Candle in the Wind" cocktail, dedicated to Marilyn Monroe, includes vanilla because it's the base note in her favorite perfume and grapefruit juice, which is bittersweet, to reflect her life.

"It's easier with companies, because they provide you with the type of image they want to portray and their target clients. It takes longer for individuals. It's very difficult too to create a cocktail for someone who's close to you," he said.

Of course, for some people - like me - coming up with an original cocktail would be as easy as finding out which brand of drain cleaner is on sale at the grocery store, but I guess I never really have fit into the definition of "high end clientele."