opinionated alchemist

  The good news:  Alcohol-free spirits have arrived. The bad news: The average quality is still very questionable - and supply is not yet globally consistent. Living in the Middle-East since 2005 made me pretty resourceful. It is not that alcohol is banned in the UAE - but it is limited. That means, you might not get your Ancho Reyes - or other stuff.  Things became much better - until the pandemic stroke. It isn't as bad as 2005 - but it is also not great with the alcohol supply here. As distillate connoisseur this might be an issue. Except that you could do an  ∞- whisky or (at least in a bar) could experiment with finished whiskies (have done all of it), you have got to keep your eyes open, when there are a bit more interesting spirits coming ashore for a rather short time (e.g. special imports etc.).  But for cocktails - you could do a lot. I would even say, that the limitations I have been exposed to  made  me a far  better bar...

 I am not sure if I am the only person who likes fresh watermelon (if it is nice, ripe and sweet) - but is usually disgusted by watermelon juice. It is a catastrophe - and it is independent if it is a pasteurized juice (there are few - maybe because of exactly this reason) - if it is purchased fresh - or homemade juice. A slow juicer makes it a bit better - but I would still rather drink any different juice. I believe, that it is a) the lack of acidity and b) the seeds, which introduce some "tannins" into the juice, which doesn't work with the overall fruity and refreshing aroma of watermelon. I tried basically everything possible (so I thought) to come up with a solution, which taste great. But basically by accident I found the solution: mix the watermelon with some hibiscus infusion. The idea originally was to make a watermelon aguafresca - blended with water and a bit sugar and strained. However I thought, it could not hurt to add a bit flavor. And as I needed anyway s...