opinionated alchemist

This is an amazing documentary about the historic backgrounds of Irish whiskey! I have seen with interest, that Midleton - launched a product portfolio, which brings back Irish Pot Still whiskey, which I think is more than smart. It just separates and gives a real authenticity to the whiskies. These brands [all Pernod-Ricard]: Midleton Barry Crockett Legacy [yeah - normal Midelton is a blended - but the Legacy is a Pure Pot Still] Green Spot Power's John Lane release and off course the venerable Red Breast [also with 'new' premium releases of 15, 12 cask strength and 21 years old]. The call it Single Pot Still whiskies, which I find a bit... confusing - maybe even disturbing [they are not "single" as "single malts" - as they are not made by individual distilleries]. But overall I am very happy, that Irish whiskey gets back on its authentic feet! Looking forward to try a lot!

Yeah - I know - just another tonic water review??? Yes- but the friendly guys from TopShelf Beverages met me in the hotel, and left me a couple of samples - one was 1724 [which was basically why we met]. Anyway... previously I have reviewed the Fentiman's here and here  - the outcome was, that it was different - lemongrass'y.  Then I have reviewed East Imperial here . Oh wow - this was even more different. The friendly guys at East Imperial also contacted me, and informed me, that a bold, but more conservative [speak sweet-sour] variant is coming soon. Looking forward to it! But again - East imperial was different - root'y and very unique, indeed. And now we have got 1724. I spare you again the story. I am not working for the marketing department of any soft drink firm - and I guess, they can do best, to explain the origin, story and other marketing b.s. [no offence!]. You can find it here . And again - 1724 is since a quite short time available in Dubai - whoop...

A nice video about pre-batching... let's call it cocktail essentials. Great job Chris.

To be honest, I shied away of this topic, because I think, people can misinterpret this - big time. I don't want to be part of the problem - I want to be part of the solution!  But when Chris, over at A Bar Above  discussed this subject- I literally could not resist to join into "the discussion". Here is the video: I - however take a bit slower approach than Chris. What is citric acid? Chemical Compound Citric acid is a weak organic acid with the formula C6H8O7. It is a natural preservative/conservative and is also used to add an acidic or sour taste to foods and drinks. Wikipedia Formula: C6H8O7 Molar Mass: 192.124 g/mol Melting Point: 153C Density: 1.66 g/cm3 Boiling point: 175C Soluble in: Water Why is it controversial? In my "mixology world" it is controversial, as citric acid is the stuff, which makes the nightmarish sour mix [ preferably in powder form ] sour. Yeah - citric acid is the main ingredient in one of the most ...

This might be the tonic water you might not find directly. To be honest, I haven't heard of it before. When Florence from our supplier Classic Fine Foods asked me for a meeting, she made quite a mystery about the product, she wanted to let me try. We sat down and I tried - first of all neat - and than with gin [and ice]. I will spare, to bombard you with another story [which might or might not be created in a marketing department ]. But you want to know how it fares? The Presentation: This is just wow. The label coloured in a purple with silver fonts, is just beautiful. The funny thing is, that it comes also in very small bottles - 150 ml. But while the 125 ml of Fentiman's is really too short, the 150 ml seems really to work much better! Kudos to them - they really might have thought about it! However I still would prefer a bottle which is around 180 ml - I love my G&T double - and for a double, 150 ml might just be not enough! Neat: This tonic water seems dir...