An invitation to an upcycling old bottles workshop with Kraken Rum might have just answered all my empty bottle-hoarding woes!
Soon I’ll have a hoard of terrariums instead.
It’s good to recycle, but some bottles are too nice-looking. It feels like a waste just chucking them in the glass bin. They get “saved”. They multiply. On shelves. At the backs of cupboards. Gathering dust atop the kitchen cabinets like I’m living in student halls.
Perhaps I’ll get around to infusing some spirit with foraged berries? Make an infinity bottle, pre-batch cocktails, or add some pretty fairy lights? Turns out terrariums are the answer.
Getting schooled on terrariums
A how-to on upcycling old bottles
The Rhum Tavern is anchored just off Oxford Street, a rum bar (did you guess?), kitted out to look like a full-on pirate ship! Kraken-infested waters, if ever I saw them, and a good spot to host a terrarium-making workshop (unless you’re the person who had to hoover the floor that day). To be clear, after an hour or so session (which also included drinking), I am no expert. Step-by-step guide, this is not. Just an account of my terrarium-making experience, and my new love of terrariums. You should look at places like London Terrariums for all the top tips, they were our expert guides on this green-fingered voyage.
We were told that due to their narrow openings, bottles aren’t usually terrarium beginner-level, but that didn’t stop us! Maybe that makes me an expert now after all? With a pair of very long tweezers in one hand, and Kraken cocktails in the other, we set to work.
The drinks were all Highball style over plenty of ice – the Black Wake, made with The Kraken Roast Coffee Black Spiced Rum, cold brew coffee, banoffee, and warm foam. Ruby Depths, built around The Kraken Black Cherry & Madagascan Vanilla and cola cordial, and Cocoa Tempest, featuring chocolate fat-washed Kraken Black Spiced Rum and carbonated orange soda. Refreshing, though I allowed my ice to melt while the terrarium stole all my attention.
Voilà: a Kraken terrarium
It’s terrarium time
Making a terrarium is a great way to upcycle a nice bottle. It’s not as simple as pinching a pocketful of soil and moss from the park, though. You need the right soil, the right layers of stones for drainage, the right plants that’ll thrive in their own tiny climate.
A terrarium is a kind of closed ecosystem, so there’s a lot of humidity. A layer of stones at the bottom aids drainage of excess moisture. Special blends of soil that are super water-retentive and fertile provide the fuel for the terrarium. The types of plant you use make a difference. It’s a mini rainforest essentially (interestingly, giant terrariums were traditionally used by explorers returning on long voyages with plant specimens from far-off lands). Ground-level rainforest plants, which might not need too much light, and can absorb moisture through leaves, not just roots, are ideal, and it’s important to allow room for them to grow. Don’t overcrowd things. At the planting stage, less is more, then it’s time for patience while everything takes root and settles in.
Patience is required throughout this game, but I found it oddly meditative and satisfying. Mostly. There were a couple of moments that my peace and tranquility was disrupted by frustration, but they soon faded with waves of smug satisfaction at successfully positioning a plant in my new tiny world, a slurp of my Cocoa Tempest, and dreams of all those empty bottles, transformed into a coffee table centrepiece.
