opinionated alchemist

First of all for all people who are confused about soda versus lemonade a simple bullet point characterization: Soda Quite sweet Can have basically any flavor Carbonated Usually clear The overall characterizing aroma comes from the original "flavor" which is augmented from the sugar and balanced by citric acid or another flavorless acid. Lemonade Medium sweetness - more on the tart side Basic flavor is... lemon (because of LEMONade) Normally not carbonated Cloudy The overall characteristic comes from the lemons (and sometimes other fruits) which are balanced with sugar. Acid comes part or mainly from the lemon. I quite enjoy both - more often soda, but lemonade is also refreshing. But then there are drinks like Pellegrino Limonata, which has the refreshing fizz of soda, but also includes lemon juice, which taste more natural. Off course, all commercial products taste a bit off, due to the fact, that most juices are degrading (that's why sod...

After long search I've finally found Meyer lemons in one Spinneys supermarket in Abu Dhabi. Who doesn't know: Meyer lemons enjoy a reputations in epic dimensions; hence I was more than just excited, to hunt these babies down. I also found a net of sweet limes on the same spot - obviously I also had to buy those. Today I tasted. The sweet limes first. And? They are horrible. They have a faint lime taste - with hints of mandarin - however with the lack of acidity. What makes citrus fruit stand out? Got it? I was more optimistic about the Meyer lemons. I have read so much praise about them - they cannot be bad?! And well - they aren't. They are quite sweet, with less acidity than normal lemons. The aromas are obviously lemony, but with a strong tangerine character and some blood orange bitterness. I tried it in a gin sour - and was slightly underwhelmed. The drink was smooth and balanced; however I prefer gin drinks to be edgy; wake ups. Next try - a Meyer lemo...

www.greenteajapan.com/teas.html For the moment I am working [still] on the new beverage program of Skylite [besides of all the other bits and pieces of a good relaunch of a rooftop bar]. Alcoholic mixed drinks, are rather finalized, but I am now working on the alcohol free drinks. While I was browsing, I found some more or less expiring mocktails on foodandwine.com  - one, the Emerald Palmer, looked quite intriguing. So I went on to our Japanese restaurant to get some macha tea. Unfortunately [or should I say fortunately] I haven't found macha tea there, they had only a fancy Sencha and Genmaicha. I have seen Genmaicha before - and but, to be honest, I am more intrigued by the sophistication of tea culture [tea ceremony and all] than by the taste of teas. So usually I am quite reserved to try a lot of teas [except of Earl Grey tea, which happen to pair fantastically with cigars - especially if you drink it with some sugar and a little bit milk] . Anyw...

Yeah - another old post. We carbonated today the first time at the Yas Viceroy hotel Abu Dhabi some grapefruit soda as well as peach soda; means we didn't only used carbonated club water, but used an iSi container with a CO2 cartridge. Due to the increased CO2, the sodas became a bit more sour. Overall they were more than fantastic - really tasty. And housemade sodas become one part of my beverage strategy for the hotel. Following the old post: Let me tell you a secret: I am addicted to sugar and addicted to sweet sodas; first of all Coca Cola. Unfortunately Coca Cola is really inexpensive [and mineral water quite expensive] in Dubai, so it is very hard to break through this bad habit! Though there are very few sweet sodas, which taste great - good Tonic is great [especially if it has a good companion like gin], or Ginger Beer is great [but not so much as protagonist - ginger beer is another drink, which greatly benefits of a companion, which is now dar...