After three years of close collaboration with space design agency Spade, the French champagne maker Maison Mumm Champagne is finally set to launch Mumm Grand Cordon Stellar, the world’s first ever champagne designed for zero-gravity consumption.
The champagne was created specifically to address beverage consumption limits imposed by space travel conditions. With Mumm Grand Cordon Stellar, astronauts and other space travelers can enjoy a good bottle of bubbly mid-space.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
The fact that the product works—that it’s something that can actually be drank in outer space—mostly had to do with Spade’s approach, which was to treat zero gravity as a design possibility rather than a problem to be solved. Spade founder Octave de Gaulle says that the biggest challenge was getting the liquid out of the bottle.
The solution was to fit the end of the bottle with a kind of nozzle that relies on the champagne’s gas in order to spurt out into the air little mousse-like globes of champagne. These shot-out bits of the drink float around for a bit and are then caught in specialized concave glasses, which are designed in a way that prevents the champagne from floating around in the air.
ON TASTE AND COMMERCIAL SPACE TRAVEL
And what does champagne consumed mid-space taste like? According to Mumm’s cellar master Didier Mariotti, because of zero-gravity conditions, Mumm Grand Cordon Stellar makes for a creamier and more complex and intense drinking experience. “It’s a very surprising feeling,” he says. “Because of zero gravity, the liquid instantly coats the entire inside of the mouth, magnifying the taste sensations. There’s less fizziness and more roundness and generosity, enabling the wine to express itself fully.”
But not everyone can enjoy the drink come September. At the time of writing, it’s believed that the Mumm Grand Cordon Stellar will only be served aboard zero-gravity flights operated by Air Zero.
Nonetheless, it’s worth noting that with space travel slowly becoming more commercialized (there may be as many as five million tourists heading into orbit by 2030), even mainstream beverage producers are now dabbling with the idea of zero-gravity drinks. Last year, Budweiser sent out barley seeds into space as part of an effort to create the first zero-gravity friendly beer.
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