opinionated alchemist

Have a look on this documentary. Yeah - I know, it is very long. However it really explains, the gigantomanic madness, of creating Bacardi rum. And yes - I am still not a huge fan for Bacardi. However I just understood now, how Mr. Facundo understood [and adapted] to the alcohol industry and I am pretty impressed: Yeast management:  Beers as well as wines and other alcoholic beverages used already cultured yeasts to Facundo times [Bacardi was founded 1862] - however rum just used wild yeast. Mr. Bacardi-Masso adapted cultured yeast for his rum. Barrel management: Every barrel is different. Facundo understood that, and not only implemented a consistent blending process, but also implemented standards, how to use and process the oak [bourbon] barrels. Distillate blending [and this I really understood just now]: Bacardi is produced by two different distillates - the only one column distillation [you cannot say one time distilled, as column distillation is not batc...

There is one statement, which I directly have to do, when it comes to this topic: I hate if bartenders consistently tasting all their drinks! And even worse is, when the rest of the staff is also tasting. I believe that this is not professional. And why tasting? You do have verified recipes, which makes pretty much tasting superfluous. Some could argue, that fresh juices, especially lemon and lime juice aren't consistent. But I found, that lemon and lime is quite consistent, if you are selecting the same genus. But yes, other juices might be not as consistent- if you are pressing fresh orange juice, the oranges might widely vary- from sweet, to zesty and sometimes just not so great (that is why you have to try all fresh ingredients all the time before the shift and even mid-shift. For a 20 ml pour, the difference might not be that great - however if you are using such juice as filler, it makes a major difference! The perfect method would be a refractometer... But I guess that ...

So Jack Daniels want to make us believe, that it is not a bourbon - but it meets all standards of a bourbon - only it is better?! Half of it is true: Jack Daniels meets all qualification points for a bourbon. And yes it is true, that they add one more step - the charcoal mellowing. However this doesn't make it not  a bourbon. Well - point is, that the question is not really adequate. The answers to the rather vague question: "Is Jack Daniels a Bourbon?" is driven by semantics and interpretations. What you could ask is: Can Jack Daniels rightly be called bourbon? And the answer is: yes, it can. It meets all points to be even a Straight Bourbon [however please note the differentiation to Kentucky Straight Bourbon - as this is again a regional denomination, which Jack Daniels obviously doesn't meet]. The video is explaining exactly the laws. Before Jack Daniels also stated very proud, that they are sour mash. This was a bit... misleading, as most American S...

Lately I am visiting more bars again. This definitely has something to do, that nobody waits anymore at home for me [respectively comes at the same time home]. In a bar, cocktails can be great. However it depends on the recipes of the bar and even on the bartender. Unfortunately in Dubai, there is a rather big chance, that you won't get a great cocktail. Another point is, that it takes time. And if you know the bartender, you don't want to be a dick, to order a cocktail, while he is busy. Whiskey and respectively whisky is also great. But usually it works much better in a real cozy bar, where you are sitting down and maybe have a cigar, than a bar, where you are socialising and walking around [at least, it is the case for me]. Rum falls into the same category. Longdrinks and highballs are usually boring [when done the "popular" way] - or cannot be found [made the artisan way, with house-crafted ingredients etc]. And vodka? C'mon - you should know me bette...

My friend Felix, just sent me a link, with the very short note: "finally..." Here is the link . To be honest- I haven't tried any of these rums. While these products are definitely something to look forward to, I anticipated something different from Bacardi. And while the presentation of the rums is great, I think it would be nicer, to "premiumize" and/or update existing or historic bottle designs. Especially for the Neo - it seems to be more obvious to go for the original design of the "Carta Blanca" [only in a better quality]. Or to put it into the 8 anos bottle. And I would love to see the Facundo bottle coming back. I still have the original bottle [and it is almost full] - and it is just different... and beautiful! Another point - the line seems not really cohesive - especially when it comes to the design [well I didn't tried it, so I cannot say]. But most importantly are the prices. These products are plainly too e...

So we tried to do the barrel aged Mai Tai in an 1l barrel - and the taste was really good. The only problem was, that the leftovers, of "diverse angel shares" were... not worth the effort. What angel share you ask? Well, first the barrel was leaking out of the spigot. It was leaking slow and sticky - but anyway. Another serious reason for the angel share was the tasting [sorry!].  This cocktail really has to be seriously tasted. This is ok for a large barrel, but for one liter barrel, it is a real problem... Anyway - batch no.2 is on its way. I did some amendments: I was always curious, why "Trader Vic" called for a dollop of French g arnier o rgeat in his original Mai Tai recipe. Almond syrup and dollop doesn't really properly align in my sense. But then it stroke me: what is orgeat: a syrup made from almonds, sugar and often a hydrosol [usually orange flower water]and water... guess which ingredient has all ingredients except of the water? Yes - marz...

We talked about the current trends, which will be definitely see a widespread adaption in a lot of bars in the next months and years. But there is one "next thing" which will be definitely interesting, as it is unique. And this time, no Jeffrey Morgenthaler comes up with it before me. I am for the moment fascinated of fermentation. No - not necessary the alcoholic fermentation [via yeast]. But fermentations via more complex microbiological cultures. This is definitely nothing new. We are talking about sauerkraut, kimchi, fermented pickles - and we are talking about kombucha and kefir and well - the original ginger beer. Instead of relying on the mono-culture yeast [I know - there are thousand of different yeast varieties - but usually only one - or maximum very few are used in one brew], these ferments are relying on a symbiosis of yeast, probiotic bacterias [like lacto-bacterias], sometimes even fungus. And it is not a "accidental" process - but these microo...