opinionated alchemist

Chivas.com I have sitting on this post since quite a while. About 6 weeks ago, I have had the opportunity to attend an impressive introduction of Chivas Ultis. Maximilian Warner, the global brand ambassador for Chivas presented a multi-sensual experience. There was music involved (with wireless ear phones, the participants had to put on and off), there were different colors of lights involved, scents in form of mister bottles, then there was taste in form of the 5 different malts (ahem 3 - we were told to only smell the last 2) and chocolate truffles. And trust me, when I say, that Pernod-Ricard (owning company of Chivas) did a very good job in the design of the bottle as well as the bespoke POS for the product (glasses, decanters etc.). This is the current highlight; blended whisky producer are very keen on the premiumisation of their products - as malt whisky is growing, and the blended market seems rather stagnant. Truth has to be told: Chivas Ultis is not a "norma...

Since quite a few years, I have had a quite unique idea, which popped up in my mind now and then - but particularly in the holiday season. Why not barrel age mulled wine?! I have been growing up with German Gl ühwein and since I am working in the beverage service industry, I have been following a lot of recipes with increasing results. I have been quite bold a couple of weeks ago, in a  Chaîne des Rôtisseurs  event, when I have paired barrel aged mulled wine with "quatre-epice foie gras". The real surprise however were the raving reviews and comments about the pairing as well as my mulled wine. Even more surprising was, that there were a lot of German members (here in the UAE chapter of this club), which know their mulled wine, and elevated it to the "best  Gl ühwein they ever had". Carried by this success, I'd like to share with you my "secrets", of making a pretty much kick ass mulled wine. I don't give here some specific measurem...

Lads, I have changed domains... just a bit... What was before www . opinionated-alchemist.com  is now www.opinionatedalchemist.com . If you anyway went with the original source URL opinionated-alchemist.blogspot.com , it stays the same (and it probably is faster and more responsive). Second: I changed the template. I thought it is quite pretty, to use this dynamic view - but all what it did was confusing and delayed the loading period. Hope you like the new “dark” design - and the faster page loads. Please comment, if you have any suggestions - I would very much look forward to read your comments.

First learning: I originally wanted to use the headline: what my coke addiction taught me... then I rephrased due to obvious reasons... Jokes aside - I know, how unhealthy soft drinks are. Having this in mind, I have been for the look for an alternative. There is for example Coke Life - Coca Cola which is partly sweetened with normal sweeteners and partly with stevia, Coke light or Coke Zero which is sweetened with Aspartam (or other artificial sweeteners). But also Diet Dr. Pepper Cherry, Diet Mountain Dew Cherry Zero and so on. What I learned is, that sugar (and high fructose corn syrup) doesn't only changes the mouth-feel. It heavily effects the taste perception. I am calling this here taste perception, as taste and aroma are far more scientific and "constraint". But anyway - on a personal, subjective note, these products "taste" different than their "fatty" counterparts - and this is kind of a big deal. That means in reality not only...

Screw caps on wine More and more wines are sold in bottles with screw caps - and since wine is sold with screw cas, there is a lot of controversy about this topic. If you are pragmatic, you would know, that a screw cap is far more advantageous. It is easy to use and opens without an additional tool. It closes the bottle air tight. It is has less impact in the environment – and the wine will less likely have a cork taint (the wine could still has contact with TCA, while it is produced – but most of the time, the cork is the offender). Cork is more romantic. More natural. Some people argue, that wine in cork ages better (it has at least a long history of being “ok” in aged wines). I have had a quite interesting conversation with Thibaut of Mouton Rothschild – as they are also changing some of their lower wines to screw caps. And this discussion just fueled my imagination. read on

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!

Well - we all know that Jeffrey Morgenthaler has at times some controversial ideas. Yet he gets the major support by most bartenders - I am not sure if it is his popularity, his “connection to zeitgeist” or a combination of the two. It is funny to read his ranting about spirit fetishists (just follow the link after  you have read my piece)... and it is quite humorous. Even though I am opinionated, my position is by far not as extreme. Maybe one reason is, that I don’t live in the US, which has probably the most trend-following crowd. But I think a far more important point is, that he really missed an opportunity to showcase some real issues (except of his feelings...). About 15 years ago, I built the then quite impressive liquor selection of the Schaelsick - the hotel bar at the Hyatt Regency Cologne. A couple of moons later, we were quite proud, on the selection... we had tequilas, rums, vodka (by then there was no “issue” with vodka) and especially whiskies, which were rath...