opinionated alchemist

I questioned in a post before, if versawhip is the answer, for most espumas without egg-white. Egg white is the perfect ingredient, resulting a stable but still pliable foam, it is accessible to all of us… the only problem is the often cited "wet dog smell" which always happens, when egg white is oxidising. Well I read a bit about versawhip [before I spend a lot of money in getting it by mail order here to the ME. Apparently a lot of people complaining about a sharp metallic aroma. So it is also not great for delicate foams for cocktails. Today it stroke me - I looked for a foam recipe and seen xanthan gum. Well, this ingredient I am already using, as thickener and stabilizer. However it is strange: I never had the idea to use it without anything else. So I opted to use it in a mixture of cranberry concentrate, fresh apple juice and sugar - in a concentration of 2%. The foam was very good; pliable, perfectly stable and floating. It is a bit less airy [but I used o...

I have mentioned it before- while using egg white in cocktails, you end up with oxidization of the egg white, which results: a wet dog directly in your nostrils. This smell is recognizable only of a small share of people - but I still think, that it is not an option to have, if 10-15% off guests would find a cocktail repulsive [it is not a matter of taste]. I would not use any powders etc. directly in a cocktail - rather I would accept the lack of the beautiful foamy head, which comes through egg white. However espumas [culinary foams] can be applied, with a little bit "chemical" magic. Before I tried to use different stabilizers with different results. I thought that Metil has the biggest resemblance to egg white. Unfortunately it has a quite strong artificial "powdery" smell and aroma. Agar-Agar and gelatine are also two options - problem is, that both are solidifying, when getting cold [and the surface of a cocktail is pretty cold] and the perfect me...

There are a lot of talking and myths about new products and new appliances, which happened to be appearing in the bar. Myths, because often they are overestimated. Here just a short review, what kind of new tech is available for the bar and how effective it is… Espuma maker [iSi creamer]: This is one of the first "molecular" cuisine appliances. And even now, it is one of the more sustained trends. Basically a liquid with a stabilizer is filled into the container and is then pressurized with nitrogen or carbon dioxide. The result is a rather dense foam. Due to the much bigger surface of foam compared to liquids, the taste is amplified. And the texture is also modified, which makes the play with foam interesting. As long as you keep it simple, drinks with foams are quite successful. Though: use egg white and a good share of guests will  reject the drink, due to a wet dog smell. Also be carefully if you are applying espumas to carbonated drinks, as the foam is expand...