Molecular Mixology? Balls to it.
Posted: May 29, 2013 Filed under: Cocktails, Molecular Mixology Leave a commentAll those who enjoy making or mixing up culinary masterpieces from time to time will know the feeling. You’re standing in the kitchen, head cocked to one side, a look of mild consternation on your face and a deep sense of frustration eating away at you, as you consider the bowl of gloop on the bench. It shouldn’t look like that. How did it get like that? Is it salvageable, or do I start again? What time do my friends get here, anyway?
The worst feeling of all is when you damn well know that you DID follow the recipe correctly and therefore is some unknown issue due to some unknown factor that might possibly be the recipe, but could equally be either your personal level of incompetence or – cherish the thought – one of the minor variations in the laws of physics that always seem to occur in my kitchen. I always assumed that as I learned to cook, I would experience this feeling less and less; if you’re thinking that now, boy, do I have news for you.
Well, this week I decided I finally wanted to try a recipe developed by Canadian bartender Jamie Boudreau. And as you can probably guess already, it turned into a horrible, horrible mess.
Jamie Boudreau is one of several bartenders that set me on the wrong track of hunting down obscure spirits and cocktails. Years before, when I was first researching a drink they were serving at Suite in Auckland, the only reference I could find for it came from his very excellent blog. Traversing through his list of cocktails and discovering ingredients such as coriander tinctures, lavender infusions and home-made beer liqueurs, I suddenly realized how much more complicated all of this could become. I began working my way through his creations, a number of which are still in regular rotation in my home – the superbly delicious Cubed Old Fashioned remains one of my all-time favorites. But of all the obscure, bizarre and outlandish recipes I came across, none fascinated me more than those featuring molecular mixology.
Molecular mixology is the process of using various food-related chemicals, such as sodium alginate, calcium chloride, agar, gelatine, xanthan gum etc, to change the molecular properties of food and drink. Think foams and caviars here; it’s showy, yes, a little pointless, certainly not something I’d want to see at every bar – but ultimately, this is very cool stuff. And so I purchased said chemicals via Amazon and picked out the easiest molecular mixology recipe that Mr Boudreau had to offer: Caipiroli. A Caipirinha in a sort of jellied solid form that looked delicious. And fortunately, the only key ingredients were the same as a real Caipirinha, with some added sodium alginate and a calcium chloride bath.
Well, after assembling everything, I carefully measured the ingredients, with the kind of precision usually reserved by physicists for finding lost particles, and set up my two bowls; in one, the caipiroli mixture, and in the other, the calcium chloride bath. It all looked so simple on the videos; I would simply scoop up a spoon of the caipiroli mixture, and drop it into the calcium chloride bath. But once my caipiroli mixture was, well, mixed, I realized that it had a similar consistancy to that of a real Caipirinha and was unlikely to bloody well be scooped up and dropped into a separate bath. Not that I didn’t try that, resulting in a horrible, cloudy mess, forcing me to set up another calcium chloride bath. This time I was more patient, and I felt sure that the added time would lead to success. But it was not to be.
Dammit, I tried everything with that mixture. I frantically searched up YouTube videos. I reasoned that I can’t have mixed it thoroughly enough, or I hadn’t added enough alginate, so both were tried in succession. In the end, despairingly, another 3 teaspoons of alginate was added to the mixture, turning it into a god-awful floury gloop. Even this didn’t fix it; this gloop could be dropped into the calcium chloride bath, and after five minutes all I had was a faint skin which dissolved when I tried to pick the blasted thing up. By this stage, it tasted pretty awful too. The calcium chloride bath was already much more concentrated than other sources recommended, so much so that it was cloudy rather than clear. In the end, I abandoned the project and sought a consolation drink with a friend.
Well, I’m damned if I know what I did wrong. For now the tubs of chemicals sit on top of my fridge, and I’m not quite ready to give it another shot. Jamie, sadly, has moved on from his blog. He now runs the excellent (well, I hear it’s excellent) Canon Whiskey Emporium in Seattle. I fully intend to pop up there and give it a shot at some stage soon; in the meantime, perhaps I’ll have to settle for another Cubed Old Fashioned.
The Ward 8 Cocktail.. in memory of a Prohabitionist
Posted: April 30, 2013 Filed under: Bourbon, Cocktails, Spirit 1 CommentA quiet Friday night at home always spurs my desire to try something new or unusual, and I was interested in trying a recipe I’d come across recently for a Ward 8 cocktail. More importantly I had all the ingredients sitting on my shelf, which tends to dictate my drinks somewhat these days.
The Ward 8 was named after Martin Lomasney, best known for being the political boss of Boston’s Ward 8. Originating in 1898 at the restaurant Locke-Ober, it was apparently created to honor Lomasney for his election win and the City’s Ward 8 that delivered it. Oddly enough, Lomasney was in fact a prohibitionist, so whether he ever actually drank one is another matter. If he didn’t, he certainly missed out. It’s a simple variant on a whiskey sour, which I’m not usually a huge fan of. However, the orange juice and grenadine add some balance to the mix, leaving you with a very approachable Friday-afternoon-in-the sun kind of cocktail.
Given that he was a prohibitionist, I wonder what he might have thought if he had known his lasting contribution to society was a delicious alcoholic beverage? Perhaps he’d be disappointed, but personally I’d think it would be a pretty singular honor to be named after something as delicious as a Ward 8.
Ward 8
2 ounces rye whiskey
1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice
1/2 ounce fresh orange juice
1 teaspoon real pomegranite grenadine
shake and strain into a Collins glass filled with ice. garnish with a cherry
Speakeasy? Well, if you insist..
Posted: April 23, 2013 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a commentContemplating a night out whilst at a friend’s place in West Hollywood, my friend hit upon an idea so appealing to a cocktail fanatic like myself that, frankly, I’m slightly appalled that it didn’t occur to me first.
“What about going to a speakeasy?”
For those of you who aren’t stateside, a speakeasy (also known, rather charmingly, as a “blind pig”) is a bar that sells illegal spirits. First described in a newspaper in 1889 they were “so called because of the practice of speaking quietly about such a place in public, or when inside it, so as not to alert the police or neighbors.” Of course, in this day & age that might seem all rather pointless, but it was really not all that long ago that the U.S. was in the thrall of Prohibition, widely considered by virtually everyone to be Not A Very Good Idea At All.
It began on January 17, 1920 when the Eighteenth Amendment came into effect, and lasted a full 13 years before anyone actually got round to repealing the damn thing. There are so many reasons that this was a bad idea I’m not even going to begin, and instead will point you to this rather interesting looking book. The worst I can say about it is that Winston Churchill himself described it as “an affront to the whole history of mankind”, a fairly damning statement given that the man then proceeded to go to war against the most appalling regime in history. Mind you, I feel the need to temper this by noting that we have it on record that he drank Martinis without vermouth, an act that, in my household at least, is punishable by flogging.
Anyway, the speakeasy idea was a fantastic success, and we enjoyed several cocktails, first off at the West Hollywood hangout The Roger Room. This was a simple and robust bar that reminded me of a British corner pub crossed with an American diner. Their drinks were simple yet effective too, and one of my friends was delighted with the Angostura-mist mustache on top of her egg-white foamed drink. This is by no means an original idea, but I like to see bars that actually take steps to personalize a cocktail some manner. Overall, I’d give this an 7 out of 10, mainly due to the fact that I’m putting it up against some serious competition..
Next up was the Lock and Key in Koreatown. This was an utterly fantastic speakeasy, and perfectly disguised in an old building with an untouched facade, opposite a supermarket carpark. From outside, the only clue that there could possibly be a bar hidden within was the well-dressed gentleman standing outside, who happened to be the bouncer. We had a short wait before being ushered into an anteroom, one wall of which was covered in hundreds of doorhandles and keyholes – the trick being to find the correct one. Once located, the other side was an astounding contrast – a nightclub packed with people and a frantically busy bar. The drinks were up a step from the previous location, and we retired to the outside space to enjoy them & shoot the breeze.
It adds a certain thrill to your night, having to hunt down the passcode (online – how times have changed!) or find the secret entrance. But neither of these, unfortunately, were original speakeasies – such things are rare indeed these days. One, called Del Monte, apparently still exists in Venice Beach (albeit operating legally). The story goes that the whiskey boats from Canada would anchor offshore and row whiskey barrels to utility tunnels and catacombs under the Venice Pier. There’s still legends of a tunnel running all the way from Venice to King Eddy’s Saloon in downtown LA. Wishful thinking, perhaps, but a reminder that speakeasies were a close parallel to modern-day drug running – which certainly gives you pause for thought. Regardless, they’re an essential part of American drinking culture, and well worth making the time for.
Applejack and the Jack Rose
Posted: April 16, 2013 Filed under: Applejack, Spirit Leave a commentHaving been based in New Zealand up until the beginning of the year, there have been a number of spirits that have until recently eluded me. One such spirit is Applejack – an apple brandy distilled from cider and made in the United States. And if you’re trying Applejack, the only producer worth looking at – indeed, the only producer left in the States (or so Wikipedia informs me) – is Laird’s.
Laird’s Applejack has been produced since 1698 (the distillery was licensed in 1780) in New Jersey, and is the oldest licensed distillery in the United States. The founder, Robert Laird, served in the Continental Army under George Washington, who apparently once asked Laird for his “cyder spirits” recipe prior to the revolution. That’s quite a history, and I was delighted to find that Laird & Company is still a family run business, run by 8th-generation descendent Larrie Laird. The product, too, is delicious. I enjoy Calvados, but Applejack is quite a different beast, sweeter and more approachable, with a clearer apple flavor. This is certainly a bottle worth having in your collection, if you haven’t already discovered it.
The name Applejack is apparently derived from “jacking”, which refers to the process of freeze distillation. This is where a traditionally fermented product (such as cider or even beer) is left outside during the winter months to freeze. Ice is removed each morning, thus concentrating the mixture. Of course, whilst in theory this is due to the higher freezing point of water, it’s a little more complicated than that – without getting into the thermodynamics of mixed phase solutions (a subject that I could cheerfully devote an entire post to), the best you can say is that the ice will have a lower percentage of alcohol and a higher percentage of water in it. Keep this up for a few days, or weeks, and you land up with a concentrated solution of closer to 30-40%.
In any case, freeze distillation is no longer the preferred method of distillation, and not just due to the somewhat agricultural methodology. This method has a tendency to concentrate methanol and fusel alcohol byproducts, both of which are toxic and not something you’d want to find in your glass of New Jersey’s finest.
The following is the classic cocktail which has to be the first go-to if you’re looking to mix with applejack – the Jack Rose.
Jack Rose
1½ ounces Laird’s Applejack
¾ ounces lemon juice
¼ ounce of real pomegranate grenadine
shake all with ice for 15 seconds. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass
California – Beer, Wine and Spirits (but firstly, beer)
Posted: March 26, 2013 Filed under: Beer Leave a commentI’ve been in the US for a few months now, and there are a few crucial differences between the Land of the Free and the Land of the Long White Bloody Cloud. Interestingly enough, these are not the ones that you might imagine (we will endeavor to avoid subjects such as politics at all costs).
First and foremost is range. Of everything. Food, drink, consumer products, houses, landscapes.. it’s overwhelming at first. This being primarily a blog on alcoholic beverages, I’m going to start on the range of alcohol. Key points being
- There’s a lot of it
- It’s pretty cheap
- Some of it is pretty awful (i.e. Bud Light)
- Most of it is pretty amazing
So far, I’ve been taking the opportunity to focus on the beer culture, and boy do they know how to brew over here. Although the states is most commonly known for beer such as Bud Light, there’s an extraordinary microbrew culture in California. Everywhere you go, you will find microbrews – every bar, every restaurant. Your average liquor store on the corner will have a wall stocked with singles and bombers of all forms. There are local breweries everywhere, and any beer-drinking Californian will happily debate with you the merits of the latest Stone imperial stout, and whether it compares to the 2011 version, and have you tried the Lagunitas yet? Put simply, there is no finer place to be a beer aficionado than SoCal.
In terms of beer styles, the IPA is king here, but unlike NZ I find that the IPA’s have a lot more balance – less of a tendency to be overwhelming on the hops. Stouts, or porters (I tend to hear the former used, rather than the latter) are a definite thing, which is fantastic – the Alesmith Speedway Coffee Stout is one of my all-time favorites already. Wheat beers have entered the popular domain long ago – Hoegaarden is very common (another local brand, Blue Moon, is typically served with a slice of orange). Other belgian beers such as Stella, Leffe and Chimay are also common – much more so, again, than NZ. I’ve tried few ales too, though I’ve yet to find one that I’ve been really impressed with (I suspect this comes down to lack of proper testing on my part). The one thing I haven’t come across at all is a proper English bitter, with twigs and beards in it – served warm, for preference. Such is life.
So far, I’ve barely scratched the surface of the alcohol culture here, but the research continues. As ever, watch this space.
beer, wine & spirit 