When people started trying to steal designer Martin Kastner's Porthole infuser from the cocktail bar he made it for, he decided it was time to make it available to consumers.
Already the subject of media attention and a focal point at the Aviary in Chicago, Kastner's impression was correct — The Porthole has garnered thousands of backers and hundreds of thousands of dollars through his Kickstarter campaign.
The Porthole takes an easy, DIY kitchen project — infusion — and makes it art. Drop any ingredients in the right liquid, and the soluble parts will start to infuse their flavor and color. That's how you make citrus vodka, garlic-rosemary olive oil, and even plain old tea. The design of the Porthole lets you arrange the ingredients while it's laid flat, before you add the liquid. The result is a standing canteen-shaped vessel with your arrangement pressed between two panes of glass.
Originally conceived on commission for the Aviary, Kastner modeled the infuser after the undersea viewer as a way to see the process, and make it transparent. Now Kickstarter is a way for Kastner and his design studio, Crucial Detail, to scale production for consumers. Instead of individually crafted carafes, backers get manufactured ones at a discount of hundreds of dollars.
If you buy it, though, keep an eye on it. At $95, you wouldn't want it to go the way of the Aviary's, "liberated" by one of your guests.
