opinionated alchemist

Today I have filmed a video. I hope, that I could become better in making videos about beverages - so I can spread the gospel of drinks... So I prepped (in front of the camera) a good bottle of cream soda. Cream soda, is basically vanilla soda. At times there are other spices or fruits also represented. However I intended to make a simple instruction video (so I can build upon) - and as I only had (real) vanilla essence, this was the easiest natural flavor I could think off. The recipe? 120g       white super fine sugar 1200g     water + ice 2.4g       citric acid 1 bs       vanilla essence Dissolve a sugar, vanilla essence & citric acid into a bit of room temperature water. When everything is dissolved add it to a carbonating bottle (Soda Plus in my case). Add the rest of the water and the ice. Charge it with 1 CO2 cartridge. Shake it. Let it rest for at least 1 minute. Release pressure and enjoy. That i...

It would be overstated that I have been on a quest to make watermelon juice. I think too much of variety of juices is... boring and unnecessary. And I have had the stance: who needs watermelon juice anyway? But here is the problem - even if watermelon is about the most horrible fruit based beverages you can put into your mouth (never tried it: but I guess that pruno cannot be much worse)  guests are still ordering it. And I do think: WTF??? Let’s first of all understand why watermelon isn’t that great: Ripeness: There was a “hack” which said, that you should get round watermelons (as they are apparently female and sweeter than elongated male ones), you should go for a brown and dried stem and not a greenish one (as the melon then was harvested ripe), and that you should use ones with big yellow spots (the watermelon lied in the sun - and the yellow spot supposed to be the place where it lied on the floor in the sun) and it should have some “spiderweb” like scars (I forgot th...

Hey Folks, I know, there haven’t been a lot of posts lately. I will more frequently post soon. But check out this excellent video from tastetequila.com about the differences (and preferences) of Los Altos and Tequila Valley Tequilas. Enjoy!

There are few mixed drinks, which I really appreciate as top notch - and even fewer in the category of highballs and long drinks. The El Diablo might be invented in the 1940's but the exact history remains unclear. There was actually a panel who discussed this drink for the New York Times . There the El Diablo didn't fared well with the taste of the panelists. Personally I have came across this drink more than a decade ago. And as soon as I tasted it, it became one of my favorite tequila drinks. Maybe poor products and poor measures can put this drink off - but produced properly, there is a lot of magic, which is created, when the sum is greater than the parts. El Diablo [the devil] 5 cl   100% agave tequila [blanco or reposado] 1.5 cl fresh lime 1.5 cl Crème de Cassis 12 cl  Ginger Ale Squeeze the lime juice into the ice cube filled highball glass. Add tequila and ginger ale. Float with crème de cassis and stir briefly. This is a very simple recipe. But fo...