Everyone knows you can pair cocktails with food. Some have tried to mix drinks and fashion. But cocktails and furniture? For real?

Yes. Local midcentury design advocates Docomomo Hawaii hosted Classic Chairs &Cocktails at Inspiration Interiors’ Honolulu Design Center location on June 9 with special guest Kirsten Moller of Denmark-based J.L. Mollers Mobelfabrik, offering guests a chance to meet with Moller and mingle while sampling four cocktails created by one of its members.

Moller’s grandfather, Niels Otto Moller, started J.L. Mollers in 1944 when he opened the family’s first factory. In 1961, he moved the company into its current 64,500-square-foot home in Hojbjerg. While he only manufactured a dozen chair designs during 40-plus years of running the business before his death in 1982, they all remain in production today. Brand new furniture from the company often sells for $700 to $1,000 — or even more — depending on the chair.

Kirsten Moller worked at the Honolulu Design Center store before moving back to Europe a few years ago. In honor of her return visit, local architect Jason Takeuchi was asked to create a lineup of craft cocktails to pair with different pieces of Moller furniture.

“Docomomo Hawaii is the local chapter of a national organization that is dedicated to the preservation of design from the 1940s to 1970s,” explained Takeuchi, 29. “When I looked at all the events that Docomomo Hawaii does, a lot of them are architecture-related, but we don’t really have any events to do with furniture design, and that’s a big part of the period.

“Cocktails seemed like a natural pairing,” added Takeuchi, who does not have a formal background as a bartender but enjoys concocting drinks for friends. “The drinks were designed as vessels to understand and represent the unique design elements of the furniture pieces for both educational and creative purposes.”

Focusing on the themes of “Legacy,” “Strength,” “Textiles” and “Wood,” Takeuchi came up with drink recipes that are riffs on classic cocktails. While the links between drink and theme were a little tenuous, they were all tasty enough to stand on their own.

My favorite drink of the evening was Takeuchi’s take on a Moscow Mule. His Moller Mule replaced vodka with Aquavit, a Scandinavian spirit first produced in the 1400s. Different herbs and spices used in the distilling process add a unique flavor profile similar to fennel or anise; by mixing it with mint, lime and ginger beer, Takeuchi produced a Mule with more complexity than the traditional recipe and successfully connected it to its “Legacy” theme. I found myself reaching the bottom of this glass faster than the others.

That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy The Dovetail, Takeuchi’s creative twist on a Manhattan made with rye whiskey and Angostura bitters. It veered off the beaten path with the addition of Islay Scotch, Amaro, yuzu and barrel-aged maple syrup to help sweeten things up, but I liked how the Scotch helped balance its flavor and provided the smokiness necessary to associate this drink with the “Wood” theme.

With a nod toward the simplicity and strength of Moller furniture, the Charred Imu incorporated kiawe-smoked vodka and chili pepper water to create a martini with just three ingredients that still packed quite a punch. Unfortunately, it was that third ingredient— simple syrup — that tripped this one up; the smoke and spice from the drink paired with a pipikaula and serrano pepper garnish looked and smelled amazing, but the sugar created a slightly unpleasant mouthfeel and left a lingering sweetness that made this one hard to finish.

And while I appreciated the attempt to create a Flip cocktail, which dates back to Colonial times and was based on the limited ingredients available to early Americans, the Silk Apple was again just too sweet for my taste. The key components in this drink were eggs and sugar; Takeuchi went a step further and added Calvados, fresh-pressed apple juice, cream, maple syrup, organic apple bitters and a cinnamon-sugar rim.

“The thick texture of a Flip … relates really well to textiles,” he said.

This may be so, but I wasn’t a fan of the amount of cream and maple used in this one. I kept thinking I was drinking horchata. Combining the Calvados, a style of apple brandy, with apple juice and apple bitters only made this one even sweeter.

Takeuchi said Docomomo Hawaii plans to host additional installments of Classic Chairs &Cocktails at other stores; follow the local chapter of the national organization on Facebook (facebook.com/docomomohawaii) and Instagram (@docomomohi) for the inside scoop on upcoming events.

Jason Genegabus has written about Honolulu bars since 2001. Contact him at jason@staradvertiser.com with suggestions of places to visit and drinks to try; read his blog at inthemix.staradvertiserblogs.com.