opinionated alchemist

You might know, that I am not the best person for smoke and mirrors (no pun intended)... personally I like the simpler presentations.  However I also understand the psychology when it comes to drinks. And using smoke, is pretty much the easiest wow factor if you do have the equipment. From a flavor standpoint it can be also tempting, but often it is just unnecessary. If you are anyway mixing with Mezcal or Scotch (at least the smokier ones), smoking is just falsifying the aroma of the distillate.  On the other side, I made the experience, that peat (of malts) usually don't work very well with other regular cocktail ingredients like citrus juices... however some smokes do much better in this department. Equipment Polyscience Smoking Gun I bought myself (for the use in the hotel...) a Polyscience Smoking Gun. It is made out of plastic, and it is very obvious, that the plastic body is taken from a cheap volume produced consumer product (*cough* mini table va...

I have never really made a secret out of it: I think that complicated cocktails, with loads of ingredients are simply unnecessary... even foolish at times. I do believe in classic (and new classic) drinks - made on the highest level possible. A lot of bartenders though don't really understand fully the concept - there is a lot of perception and much less real knowledge (and taste) in the bartending world. Take for example the humble horseneck. If you would ask a group of bartender to make a premium version of it, most would use a great bourbon, Angostura bitters & a commercial ginger ale and call it a day. There I do agree with those who say, that using premium spirits is a waste in mixed drinks. There are others which would use the premium spirit, would though use a premium mixer, Angostura (or fancier bitters), and also feel confident to have done good work. But here is the thing: often "premium" mixers are more or less the same as commercial mixers. Yes...

Since quite some time there are discussions, if technology is replacing bartenders.  And some people in the industry take a clear stance against other people, who like to implement further technology in the bar industry. If you have read some of my posts here, you will know, that I am not afraid of progress, I rather like to embrace it. However it has to be done right. I think, that technology should not lower the quality. And this is exactly the purpose of this post. Please check out the background of the Somarbar Robotic Bartender on Kickstarter. It seems that some "nerdy engineering guys", put it in their mind, to produce a cocktail making machine. They don't seem to really have sought any consultancy of a bar expert, nor do they seem to be at anyway affluent with this topic. Here are my complaints:  Calling it a Robotic Bartender is a far stretch.  The machine is solely measuring and "blending" ingredients together. There is no...