News RSS

'Alchemy Rocks' is the re-emergence, 40 years after the inception of it's forerunner, Poker (and later, Poker Rox), of Alchemy's official, licensed promo and tour merch collection for bands and artists in the rock genre.  In 1977, before the existence of even the concept of 'officially licensed' merchandise, 'Poker' came into being as a small range of 'solid lead' punk anti-jewellery, including one or two pieces extolling the new revolutionaries, the Sex Pistols. This was soon followed by other iconic figureheads such as Motorhead, Iron Maiden, Whitesnake and Rainbow. Impressed by these pieces, several band's agents went on to commission Poker, (which was later to become Alchemy), to make 'official' pins and pendants for their tours and record releases. These...

Absinthe originated in Switzerland in the late 18th century, but became popular in the late 19th century and it was banned by 1915, mainly for the fact it was portrayed as a ‘dangerously addictive psychoactive drug’. Although Absinthe was vilified, it has not been demonstrated to be any more dangerous than ordinary spirits. Any psychoactive properties attributed to absinthe, apart from that of the alcohol, have been much exaggerated. It was not until the 1990's when the European Union finally decided and removed the barriers to its production and sale, it then boomed again and there were nearly 200 brands of Absinthe around. There is a specific technique to preparing absinthe before you drink it, traditionally you would place a...