The Presidential Pop

At next Wednesday’s Presidential Inaugural events, the Champagne served will come, as at the ’84 and ’88 inaugurals, from Korbel Champagne Cellars in Napa. A limited number of bottles of the Korbel Natural Inaugural Cuvee, complete with the inaugural seal on the label, will be available in selected markets for those who wish to drink along at home.

Bring Your Own Forklift

Another supplier for the inaugural festivities is Eli’s Chicago’s Finest Cheesecake, which will provide a one-ton you-know-what for the party at the Washington Mall on the 17th. The 10 layers of the giant cheesecake will be assembled by forklifts.

Do You Have Decaf Cold Espresso?

Japan is crazy for vending machines--you can buy clothes, computer games, fresh flowers and even raw beefsteak from them. And beverages, of course. The vending machines usually sell canned drinks both hot and cold, since in Japan tea, espresso and lemonade are drunk both ways.

For Noisy Eaters

You’ll see agar, a substance derived from seaweed, on a lot of ingredient labels, particularly as a thickener of ice creams. Now a researcher at the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory in Northern California has developed an agar-based foam suitable for sound absorption and biodegradable packaging. Among its advantages: It’s extremely light and technically, of course, edible.

Let’s Have a Melnik and Just Forget the Past

Talk about uphill battles: The Bulgarian wine industry, which in the first place has to convince people to drink wines with names like Dimyat, Gumza and Broad Melnik Vine, is recovering from an anti-alcohol drive that caused Bulgarian vineyard acreage to shrink by 22% in the 1980s.