Project Overview

The AROMAetum is a sensory-immersive aromatic drinks experience. Inspired by nature and a walk through the great British outdoors the AROMAetum seamlessly blends and pairs aroma, taste, music and colour.

Taking place in a traditional marquee, the AROMAetum is a 45-minute experience in three, 15 minute sections: Forest, Campfire and Ocean. Each section delivers a unique sensory profile featuring an aroma delivered by scent cannons that forms the ‘base flavour note’ to which a specially designed cocktail is designed. The aroma and taste pairing for each profile is further enhanced by especially composed music and a colour lighting design reflecting the flavour frequency of each profile.

Sensory immersive drinks event pioneers The House of Gastrophonic designed the AROMAetum as a cocktail party with distinct a difference and licensed it as a 2014 summer festival exclusive to the Wilderness festival. The AROMAetum at Wilderness was a ticketed event within the festival itself and completely sold out of the 960 tickets available prior to the festival opening.

The audience was invited to “sip and savour and explore the connections between the senses”.

Three aromas : three drinks : three soundtracks : three colours

Organisation

The House of Gastrophonic

Team

The House of Gastrophonic
- Event concept & design
- Event management
- Costume design
- Sound & Lighting design
- Music production and supervision
Scent Air
- Aromatic consultancy & production
The Mixology Group
- Drinks design
Smoking Gun Event Design
- Sound and Light Production
The Wilderness Festival
- Promoter

Project Brief

FOREST

Aromas of green citrus, apple, wood and moss pair with a cocktail of English silver birch vermouth, apple juice, elderflower, lemon juice, blackcurrant bud topped with soda and garnished with a sprig of lavender. The music is composed to mid-range frequency of 512 hertz - a natural resonant frequency of the human body. The colour profile is set to 512 nanometres - a perfect Forest green.

CAMPFIRE
Smoky aromas are the base for a deep and rich sipping cocktail of malt whisky and red vermouth topped with maple foam served with a toasted whisky marshmallow. The music drops to deep electronic dub laden with sub-bass, rich brass and wooden marimba. The colour palette of deep reds and burnt oranges veers into the lowest points of the visible spectrum to match the deep tones of Campfire’s profile.

OCEAN
Fresh air and salty marine notes, crisp, clean ozonic aromas match the accompanying refreshing cocktail of English dry gin, maraschino, parfait amour liqueur and lemon juice. High, bright musical notes and cascading drum and tabla patterns enhance the flavour profiles as the colour frequencies move to their highest point with shimmering blues and emerald ocean greens.

Project Innovation/Need

Recent studies into cross-modal perception are increasingly demonstrating that the connections between the senses are stronger than we ever thought. Brands are beginning to explore this world more and more. In recent years sonic logos (eg Intel) have been developed and brands are now moving into the creation of aromatic signatures / logos.

The House of Gastrophonic takes this phenomena and learning out of the science lab and into the event space creating event experiences that draw connections between the senses that are both fun and educational for the audience.

The AROMAetum at Wilderness was a world exclusive and was the first time that aroma, taste, colour and sound have been paired together in an event environment. It demonstrated the connections between the senses via beautifully crafted drinks, soundscapes and lighting and takes the audience on a unique experiential inter-connected journey through a sensory landscape.

User Experience

User experience encapsulated in this review of the AROMAetum from Clash magazine:

“Over our weekend at Wilderness three distinct experiences stood out. The first up was The AROMAetum: a multi-sensory wander into themed boozing. The House of Gastrophonic runs a 45-minute session where aroma, taste, sound and colour combine to create a rave for your senses. Three lovingly concocted drinks and a slick DJ mix blended with aroma canons and a massive lighting rig help a crowd of 100 revellers become even more at one with their tipples. We traversed from juicy forest themes of elderflowers and trance, across smoky, dubbed-out whisky vibes towards a cleansing ocean finale where gin was found dancing with a drum and bass soundtrack somewhere near the metaphysical surf. A perfect party primer.”

At the end of each session the audience erupted in spontaneous applause - something quite unique for a drinks party.

Sustainability

In keeping with our principles, our drink's ingredients are sourced to be as local as possible from the south of England. The vermouth and gin from an award winning small batch distillery in Sussex and the whisky from a small batch distillery in Scotland. All juices and mixers are organic and sustainably sourced.
Waitress costumes were handmade from recycled materials.