opinionated alchemist

This is a pretty neat trick. I thought before, you have to use liquid nitrogen to make effectively hollow ice sphere. But here they just use dry ice and isopropanol. The actual problem of liquid nitrogen is the storage. You need to have ridiculous expensive containers to have it... While dry ice [frozen CO2] doesn't last very long, you don't need necessary a special container for it. And the isopropanol could be used over and over again. Thanks for this amazing idea...

“Everything in moderation, and that includes moderation itself.”  ―  Tadahiko Nagao Honestly - in hospitality [and especially bars] we should study this quote often - maybe daily. Bartenders are so prone to overdoing it with details at times - and then [or others] neglecting other details.  One of the first totally neglected point - but nowadays vastly overdone topic is ice. Until the "ice-craze" ice for drinks came out of a ice-machine. Usually a crappy one, which was not able to produce proper cubes - nor consistent and adequate quality of and shape of ice. These ice machines are still standing in a lot of hotels - a lot of restaurants and a lot of bars. Maybe half a decade ago, there was a rather healthy  shift to better machines - ]lets mention here the only two brands, which are until now able to produce proper cubes: Hoshizaki and Kolddraft] - and everything could be so good. But this was not enough for some. Japanese bartenders are chiselling i

You might already know [otherwise just read my last post ], that Fentiman's Botanical Tonic Water taste great. And I mentioned, that I am not totally convinced of the other flavours... Let me now and here explain why. First to the great ones: Rose Lemonade is really nice... however I have to come across one rose drink, which doesn't taste really good. A couple of years I have reviewed [and tried] Sence - also a drink which is based on Bulgarian roses - and it was lovely. Fentiman's Rose Lemonade is not different - maybe slightly too acidic. Anyway - it is just great [however also very simple to replicate - citric acid, sugar syrup, carbonated water and rose water is all what you need...]. The Curiousity Cola is also nice - it is a bit more standalone and unique as other cola sodas- but hit the right spots. Only problem still is: the original just taste better and - well like the original. Cherrybark Cola - is another good soda. While I've expected it to taste

I came across quite a lot of products. Many of those have a good reputation, however you should maybe not watch too closely. When it comes to tonic water, it seems that this game is at its best. There are the traditional products- 'traditionally' using a lot of artificial and highly processed stuff. Yes I look at you, Schweppes and Canadian Dry!  And there is the 'artisan stuff' like Fevertree and Q-tonic. There are also the wannabes like Thomas Henry - which is really very much like the traditional stuff dressed in new cloths. And.... there is Fentiman's. Let's make not a secret out of it: the traditional stuff is not as bad (in taste) as most craft bartenders would like to see them. And the artisan stuff is not as good as everyone hopes. And the wannabes are... well not as good as the disappointing artisan stuff but definitely as good as the traditional stuff (but more expensive).  But what is about Fentiman's? You can't make a joke about- The guys of

This is a bit more technical. A discussion for those who feel quite confident in spirits [well, you might be also a bit geeky]: If you are reading articles about Bourbon you will earlier or later stumble upon one "golden rule": Straight Bourbons with high rye contents in their mash bill are said to be spicier. And traditional Straight Bourbons supposed to be more balanced [and wheated Bourbons supposed to be a bit softer and sweeter]. Well - I do agree about the softer character of wheated bourbons. Most of us will have wheated bourbons in mind, which are exactly like it: Maker's Mark, Larcency or Pappy van Winkle (...). However - I am confused about the others. Lets list some of them: Bourbons with high rye content: Four Roses Basil Hayden Old Grand Dad Bulleit Old Forrester Bourbons with traditional [rather high corn content] mashbill: Jim Beam Jack Daniel's (yeah, I know, it is Tennessee, however still is covered by the Straight Bourbon admini