Silicon Beach: New Times Tweetup at KMP

By Maria De Los Angeles Mon., Oct. 5 2009 at 10:00 AM

Categories: Silicon Beach

Photo by Anthony Jordon

New Times' Scenestress (@newtimesstreet) holding a so-called calorie-free cocktail.

The Miami New Times' Street Team joined KMP Furniture this past Friday evening for a face-to-face tweetup at the store on 6444 Biscayne Blvd. The event was more like a casual cocktail party, because few folks bothered to slap on name tags, much less sport their @usernames.

But we did see faces, about 60 or so, in the spacious store filled with brightly colored and comfy contemporary furnishings, which looked like somebody's living room gone retro. Everybody wanted to sit on a hanging, ball-shaped, translucent chair that was straight out of an Austin Powers movie set.

DJ Leeor spun some groovy tunes, and Sonnema VodkaHerb provided its version of mojitos.

The beverage hotties were nice gals, but the so-called mojitos would've made any rum purist cringe. Nevertheless, it seemed like the booze had some miraculous properties: Apparently it had been blessed by Jesus for the fashion-conscious set. "It's made from herbs," said the lovely server. "It has no calories, no carbs, and no sugar."

Sonnema is not actually made from herbs, as they wanted us to believe. It's herb-infused vodka distilled from grain, based on a proprietary Dutch recipe dating back to the 1700s.

I hate to burst anyone's bubble, but all alcohol features some empty calories, which is why our bellies get pudgy if we indulge too much. But who cares about biochemistry? Thanks to charcoal filtering, the vodka is tasty on the rocks -- a very mellow, slightly herbal flavor glides smoothly on the palate.

Stay on top of future tweetups -- and possibly some funky cocktails -- by following @miaminewtimes and @newtimesstreet on Twitter, or join the Facebook fan page.

Coming up: What's your favorite New Times cover? Don't miss the "22 Years of Art" exhibit at Miami Art Space this Saturday.