The Vesper Cocktail

How to use citric acid - and why you might not want to use it anyway!

To be honest, I shied away of this topic, because I think, people can misinterpret this - big time. I don't want to be part of the problem - I want to be part of the solution! But when Chris, over at A Bar Above discussed this subject- I literally could not resist to join into "the discussion". Here is the video: I - however take a bit slower approach than Chris. What is citric acid? Chemical Compound Citric acid is a weak organic acid with the formula C6H8O7. It is a natural preservative/conservative and is also used to add an acidic or sour taste to foods and drinks. Wikipedia Formula: C6H8O7 Molar Mass: 192.124 g/mol Melting Point: 153C Density: 1.66 g/cm3 Boiling point: 175C Soluble in: Water Why is it controversial? In my "mixology world" it is controversial, as citric acid is the stuff, which makes the nightmarish sour mix [ preferably in powder form ] sour. Yeah - citric acid is the main ingredient in one of the most ...

Agar-Agar Clarification

Not often, I am posting here things, which are clearly not my ideas... However Dave Arnold is clearly a mad scientist [no, he really is!] - and he posted amazing stuff on his website www.cookingissues.com - no - don't click now - just follow the link later. One of the most impressive posts about mixology, besides of demystifying the mechanics of shaking, were clarification techniques. Look, after him, you could use a centrifuge [which would set you back a couple thousand bucks] and a chemical compound, which solidifies sediments. I am not a fan of that. Then there is gelatine clarification; this works quite well [I tried it several times my self] - you gelatinize a liquid [with little gelatine only], freeze it, thaw it [in the fridge] over a colander and a muslin cloth. Thats it. Unfortunately this has several problems: Gelatine is made out of animal bones - hence it is neither vegetarian nor vegan, which you won't usually expect of a beverage. You have to freez...

Fanta Pineapple

After the agave nectar scandal , nothing seems to be big enough to post about. At it seems odd, that I am coming here to review a commercial and mass produced product. But hey- I do admit, that I love coke and really like some other commercial sodas. I only try to stay away of artificial ingredients. This said, Fanta Pineapple doesn't start a nice relationship with me. While the front states "Pineapple flavored soda with other natural flavors" - the ingredient list looks like a witches brew: carbonated water, HFCS, citric acid, natural flavors, modified food starch, potassium sorbate and sodium benzoate [to protect taste], sodium citrate, coconut oil, salt, sucrose acetate isobutyrate, yellow 5, yellow 6 Well - that doesn't really look like my homemade sodas. Yes citric acid, sodium citrate [a simple product, when you let citric acid and bicarbonate of soda react], carbonated water… this is understandable. HFCS is obviously far cheaper than sugar - this is...

opinionated alchemist

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