CHICAGO (AFP) - A jeweler turned drink designer has made a splash in the Chicago bar scene with a new cocktail that costs a whopping 950 dollars.
The Ruby Red is a tangy mix of vodka, champagne, cognac, pomegranate liqueur and orange juice.
And it comes complete with a one-carat, grade-A ruby.
"We kind of were playing with an idea that someone could come in and have something to celebrate and remember the night by," said Pete Gugni, a manager at the trendy Reserve club in downtown Chicago.
Gugni said the club wanted to come up with something more memorable than opening a bottle of champagne.
"That's where the stone comes in - at the end of the night they can take it home."
For $950 the girl had better come with the drink.
On a related note, who decided that rubies (which are, as far as I'm concerned, basically just pretty rocks) are worth so much money? Or any gem stone, for that matter?
My girl and I just got done shopping for her engagement/wedding rings. The price of this stuff never fails to amaze me. We didn't spend much, but we could have. Thousands and thousands of dollars for rare rocks.
I can understand the appeal of sparkly baubels to primitive cultures, but why on earth are we still spending our precious dollars on these things in the modern era? Symbolism, you'll say. Tradition. I say phooey. Better my devotion to my future wife be symbolized by the investment of the money spent on jewlery into a retirement fund for our future. Or into a home for our children. Or into a fund for our children's higher educaiton.
But then, I'm not much of a romantic I guess.