opinionated alchemist

Some might know about my specific but deep aversion against egg white cocktails.  Maybe it originates to the fact that I am (apparently) a super taster (nothing to be proud of- it is not a superpower... you are just a super taster or you are not).  But when somebody serves me a cocktail made with egg whites, I can drink it in minute 1 - latest after minute 3 - it is literally disgusting for me: think about wet dog, molded carpet, or someone who didn’t dried properly his laundry - and everything together. Long story short: I cannot drink it anymore.  Now there has been some replacements: I came across aquafaba years ago - I guess I was one of the first bar-people who discovered it for cocktails (it has been already an established thing for vegans). Very soon I discovered that the advice to use the aquafaba in chickpea cans are a dead end. Sure- if. you are using “canned lemon juice” and/or sweet-sour mix, you might find it also ok. But for a high quality bar - drinks taste...

I read today an article on VinePair: Ask Adam: Why is it safe to drink eg white in cocktails . This article isn't very deep though. Adam Teeter could have gone into the controversy between EU regulations and the US regulations: that the EU prohibit to wash egg shelves, as it weakens the barrier of the shell, so salmonella and other bacteria can get into the egg. While the US gets into vaccinate every chicken against salmonella (which likely creates super-bugs - bacteria which is resistant). By the way, it really shows politically, how different the thinking of both regions are: EU is cautious and tries not to change the whole game, as nobody knows, how these big decisions turn out - the US goes just full into it... and probably finds out decades later, that they did a big mistake... I don't really underline the safety problem. I think, it is not smart, to challenge something, which is very controversial for a lot of guests - just for the sake of it. On the other side, t...

I know, that a lot of people in the industry are rolling their eyes, if you are using the moniker mixology or mixologist. However I totally see, that a lot of modern cocktail creation and especially the ingredients manipulation goes far beyond the classic methodology of a bartender. I believe, one of the most clever new introduction in bartending in the last years has been the use of aquafaba as egg white substitute in the bar. What is aquafaba? Aquafaba is the cooking liquid of pulses - and in most cases it is based on chickpeas. What to do with aquafaba? Instead of using egg white in foams or as cocktail ingredient (as foaming agent and for a smoother mouth feeling), you can use aquafaba (1:1 ratio). What are the advantages of aquafaba? There is one significant advantage: aquafaba is vegetarian / vegan. More and more people are avoiding animal protein - hence it fits perfectly into these times Aquafaba is a byproduct - and if "your kitchen" is...