Rose & Pink

Rose and Pink, from apple blossom to fuchsia pop

Rose and Pink brings together everything that comes in dusty rose, powder pink, magenta, and fuchsia: Prisecco Rosenzauber, rose balsamic from Modena, licorice in a pink sugar coating, and linen cloths from Hamburg. Pink gifts and rose-colored delicacies, delicate or loud, selected by us.

Rose & Pink is the color world by "nur Gutes" for everything that wears rose or pink, from the label to the product: drinks, sweets, salt and vinegar, soap, mugs, and dish towels, sorted by color instead of product category. Rose stands for the delicate, pink for the loud.

Rose is the little red, pink the carnation with serrated edges

On our shelf, dusty rose stands next to magenta, and anyone standing in front of it sees immediately that these are two colors, not one. Rose takes its name from the rose; as early as the eighteenth century, the light color was already being named in German after the Latin flower. It refers to a lot of white with a little red – the "little red," as it was long called.

Up until the 1920s, this little red is said to have been a color for boys, says social scientist Eva Heller, and only boil-proof textile dyes turned it into the color for girls.

Pink came later – and from English, where "pink" refers to the carnation with its serrated edges. Since about 1980, it has been used here too, referring to the bold, blue-toned rose that Elsa Schiaparelli gave to the box of her perfume "Shocking" in 1937.

In the kitchen, the color comes from the fruit and from the peel. The Rosa dei Venti from Guerrieri derives its salmon pink just briefly from the skins of the Sangiovese grape; in the glass, it is an evening sky over the Adriatic. The Lyserød from Copenhagen gets its color from the hibiscus blossom, the Cidre Rosé from Sassy from red-fleshed apples that carry their color right to the core. The raspberry colors the spread from Alpe Pragas all on its own.

Where nature remains silent, the manufacturers lend a hand. Fesey wraps its chocolate figures in fuchsia-colored foil, Fossier adds a little carmine to its biscuits, and Lakrids by Bülow coats pineapple and licorice in a layer of pink sugar. This creates a color world where a balsamic can stand next to a soap because both wear the same rose.

Rose-colored delicacies from the Vendée to Bornholm

Those who open up this color world will find bottles next to tins and mugs next to bars. The color holds together what would otherwise be scattered throughout the entire shop.

Our customers most frequently reach for the non-alcoholic Prisecco with rose scent from Schlat, closely followed by Lyserød, the driest Sparkling Tea from the Copenhagen Sparkling Tea Company. The Teasecco Rosé from the same house as the Prisecco follows close behind. The Pink Agrumes lemonade from the Rième family in the Haut-Doubs stands pale pink in the glass, and blood orange and grapefruit keep their sweetness short.

France provides the pink ladyfingers from Maison Fossier in Reims, which soften when dipped without falling apart, and the raspberry biscuits from Biscuiterie La Sablésienne. Added to this are the Cidre Rosé from Normandy and the vintage sardines "Lulu," which La Perle des Dieux cans in the Vendée, in tins designed by two female artists.

The Acetaia Malpighi in Modena bottles the rosé balsamic with a rose note, Puro in Sorbara the light Condimento Rosé, the mild balsamic seasoning. Galvanina in Rimini bottles the Pink Grapefruit lemonade, Lusvardi in Emilia the Rosé Lambrusco, and from the Marche region comes the Rosa dei Venti from Guerrieri.

The Cava Hola Brut Rosé comes from Penedès, the soap Rosé Blush from Castelbel in Porto, the mugs from Costa Nova in rose from a fishing village on the Atlantic coast. Denmark is present with the knitted dishcloths from Solwang in three shades of rose and with the chocolate licorice with pineapple from Lakrids by Bülow.

In addition to the Prisecco, Germany contributes the Rosé from Philipp Kuhn, the chocolate figures from Fesey in rose and pink, and the rosé salt flakes from Pfeffersack und Söhne in a Westerwald ceramic jar. Hamburg sends the cloths from Frohstoff and 17;30—the one with lobsters in coral on linen, the other with bunnies in neon pink on cotton.

The occasion decides between rose and pink

A gift in rose is a quiet gift; one in pink is a loud one. Anyone who knows the occasion has already made the choice between the two. This is how "nur Gutes" sorts its Rosa & Pink color world; the rule is quickly learned. For a housewarming, recovery, as a thank you, and for the coffee table, wear the delicate rose; for a birthday, bachelorette party, and for anyone who likes to stand out, the loud pink.

The second question is whether it should be with or without alcohol. In this color world, there is pink fizz in both versions: Cava and Palatinate Rosé on one side, Prisecco, Teasecco, and Sparkling Tea on the other. The third question is about the number: three things are better than ten—a drink, something sweet, a piece for the home.

The piece for the home remains when the bottle is empty—a mug from Portugal, a linen cloth from Hamburg, a soap from Porto—and that is why it belongs in every pink box intended to be remembered longer than a single evening.

The scale of the gesture then determines the rest of the box. For a small greeting, the Biscuits Roses or the raspberry biscuits are enough; for a hostess gift, a bottle of Prisecco or the Pink Pineapple tin. For a gift meant to last, choose the Mini Cocotte in Shell Pink from Le Creuset or the room fragrance Rosé Blush from Castelbel.

Those who don't want to pack the box themselves can take the ready-made gourmet gift "Rosa Dolce Vita" with Rosé Lambrusco, almond cantucci, and hazelnuts in white chocolate. Pink pairs best with natural colors—the brown of linen, the gray of cardboard, and the white of a card. In this company, it loses any suspicion of kitsch, and that applies to magenta just as much as it does to fuchsia.

Manufacturers who choose their color on purpose

Jörg Geiger presses his Priseccos in Schlat below the Swabian Alb from apples and pears of old varieties that grow in meadow orchards. For the Rosenzauber, Boskoop and rose scent alone weren't enough for him—it was too unbalanced, so chocolate mint was added. He gets the rose petals for the scent from the Sonnenhof in Bad Boll. At the manufactory from Schlat, the Teasecco Rosé stands right next to it, also without alcohol.

In Laumersheim, Philipp Kuhn took over his family's winery at the age of twenty because his father fell seriously ill; his family has lived in the village since the seventeenth century. He chose the more demanding path, the dry vinification, and his rosé made from five red wine varieties has since become one of the classics of the winery in the Palatinate, with the scent of wild strawberries.

The Malpighi family has been guarding its barrels in Modena since 1850, now in the fifth generation, and they know that patience is the real ingredient. For the Prelibato Rosé, they boil down the must from Trebbiano and Ancellotta and let it mature for five years in ash wood. The Ancellotta gives the light balsamic its delicate rose color; the rose essence is added last to provide the scent. At the Acetaia Malpighi, it stands next to the dark Aceto.

At Fesey in Riemerling, since 1933, the hand that wraps the foil around the figure determines the color: no printing, no label, only embossing and foil. The Seybold family casts chocolate into nostalgic shapes made of two halves, and out comes a Santa Claus in magenta with a sheen, or a bunny in rose like almond blossoms.

In Reims, Maison Fossier has been baking Biscuits Roses according to a 1690 recipe—egg, sugar, and sifted flour—in-house since 1756. When Louis XVI was crowned in 1775, Fossier supplied the biscuits, and the house has remained a purveyor to the court ever since.

Johan Bülow was twenty-three when he started cooking his own licorice on Bornholm in 2007. The first shop in Svaneke, opened on 07/07/07, was cleared out after two hours. Today, near Copenhagen, he coats the licorice in chocolate, the pineapple variety in rose.

Anna Upleger made her decision one afternoon in the summer of 2010, at exactly half past five, hence the name 17;30. Today, Quinn Upleger runs the house, and the team continues to design motifs for the cotton cloths, the bunny included. Frohstoff, in the same city, has been printing its linen cloths by hand since 2002, the lobster in coral on delicate rose.

Pink gifts for women who find red too serious

You give gifts in pink to your friend for her birthday: the Pink Pineapple tin, the dry Rosé Cava, and the cloth with the bunny. The box is ready before the cake comes out of the oven.

Rose-colored gifts belong to your mom for Mother's Day: a Prisecco Rosenzauber, plus the ladyfingers for dipping and the Green Tea Rose from Kusmi, rolled in rose petals, for the afternoon after. For your sister's wedding, pack the Mini Cocotte in Shell Pink, which loves quiche and dessert in equal measure. A jar of Guérande salt with pepper and pink berries is added as a kitchen greeting.

For a colleague's housewarming, place the soap Rosé Blush, which smells of mandarin, red fruits, and jasmine, next to a mug from Costa Nova in rose. For the hostess on a Saturday evening, the Rosé Balsamic from Malpighi is enough, because it triggers more questions on the table than any bottle of wine.

At home, the rose comes to the table without anyone needing to give it away. The Cava and the Biscuits Roses open the evening; the Pink Agrumes lemonade fills the carafe with ice and mint. For dessert, the Prelibato Rosé drifts over a scoop of raspberry ice cream, topped with a few rosé salt flakes, and suddenly the sweetness has its edge.

The Rosé from Philipp Kuhn accompanies fish and grilled food, the Rosa dei Venti the mild evening on the terrace. The Pink Grapefruit lemonade from Galvanina becomes a Paloma with tequila and lime. We will put the box together for you upon request, in the shop in Nordhorn or for shipping.

Rose bunnies in spring, pink Santa Clauses in Advent

In spring, the chocolate bunnies from Fesey in rose foil prick up their ears. In May, as Mother's Day approaches, the chocolate heart in fuchsia lies next to the Prisecco. Summer belongs to the Rosé, the Cidre Rosé from Sassy, and the lemonade in the carafe. Pink Pineapple is available at Lakrids by Bülow only in summer.

In autumn, the Green Tea Rose warms the afternoons, and the mug from Portugal is already waiting. In the Advent season, Fesey arrives with Santa Claus, the Christmas tree, and the star in magenta—louder than anything else in the house, a counter-voice to all that red and gold. On New Year's Eve, then, the Lyserød for those who toast without alcohol, and the Cava Hola for the others.

Rose can be quiet without becoming dull, and pink loud without screaming. Both have neighbors in our color worlds ranging from white to gold. Delicate or loud, the shelf is ready.