opinionated alchemist

Did you know, that Campari Bitter mainly taste like Grand Wormwood (Artimisia Absinthium)? While re-opening the Italian restaurant in my workplace, I intended to recreate Campari Bitter without alcohol - Fauxpari Bitter if you like. As I am not into artificial coloring, but as "bug-juice"  is also not really available here, I used hibiscus to color the drink in a deep red. And then I infused all type of herbs and spices into water (used my immersion circulator to steep the mixture for 3 hours at 65C). The spices I used: Dried orange peel Coriander Thyme (dry) Rosemary (dry) Oregano (dry) Black pepper Szechuan pepper Sage (fresh) Cinnamon Allspice Juniper Bay leaf Toasted cassia bark Caraway Vanilla Fenugreek Celery seeds Fennel seeds Star anise Anise seeds Green cardamom Well I made two batches - one, with less ingredients (and less hibiscus) and one with all ingredients and more. When I did the first batch, I didn't used water for the...

Interesting new spirits are unfortunately not often seen in the Middle East. That's why I was pretty excited, when Carlos, the brand ambassador of Gin Mare told me, that his product has landed and was already in use in a couple of bars. He sent me a bottle over [that took quite a while, as the respective supplier wasn't really aware of this new small volume product. But when I had it in my hands, I was quite happy. The bottle is really beautiful. It definitely looks distinctively different than any other gin [or vodka] - modern, but not futuristic - just strikingly beautiful. This is, what Gin Mare offers as marketing message: Mediterranean botanicals - like rosemary, thyme and olives? Interesting. Individual distillation of the specific infused neutral spirit? Controversial - but still intriguing. But how are my impressions? Eye: I know - gin is translucent, but the viscosity is appealing- there are directly very thin and fast legs running do...