opinionated alchemist

picture by Mother Earth Living   Again reflecting on Darcy O'Neil's visit to Dubai (and to Library Bar), he used natural aromas and essential oils (...), to produce house-made syrups for his drinks. This is pretty smart, because: ...there are far more natural aromas than syrup flavors. ...it is probably less expensive to use 1 ml of natural aromas per liter of simple syrup, than buying one of the syrup brands. ...you know what goes into the syrup (let's be honest here - most syrups are anyway using the same aromas and often even artificial aromas for their own products). Especially impressive were an aroma made out of tobacco leaves, which was bright, intense - really mindblowing - and a "lactone" made out of oak, which had strong vanilla notes and a complex coconut character (without tasting like Malibu). These are not your run-of-the-mill syrups. This is all very new and very cool to me. But the question remains, is this the right direction fo

I am a "rich syrup guy"... not a "simple syrup guy". This is, because it is better to be able to control dilution by yourself - not by he setup you have got. I had also a pretty straight forward method: adding 1 kg sugar into 1/2 liter of cold water and blend until dissolved (be carefully, not to blend too long with a high-performance blender, because it would heat up). The issue here: it takes some time - because sugar doesn't "like" to dissolve in cold liquid. A lot of bartenders are adding sugar into hot liquid. This isn't a good idea either: due to hydrolysis the sucrose is converting into fructose and glucose. This makes the sugar thicker and sweeter - but also makes the result less consistent (as you don't meticulously monitor all details (time, temperature, pH, etc.). Further the thickness of the glucose worsen the ability of the syrup to mix in cold liquid (speak a cocktail). Darcy, of artofdrink.com has a profound chemistry

Picture via burlesquebaker.com It is not necessary to mix different spirits in cocktails. Or let's be a bit more pragmatic - you should not mix different spirits in cocktails. Some people would argue, that there are vintage recipes, which suggest to use 2 or sometimes even 3 and more different spirits (think about punches). And this is what this post is all about. Spirits in the past, were very different as spirits today. Most rum, whiskey, gin (...) were far rougher, less refined than today. In this case, mixing two spirits together came handy- a rum, which tasted quite "rummy", but was also quite rough, really benefit out of a brandy with more refined notes. Fortunately nowadays the picture has changed. Rums often have a finish, which can be described as "cognac-like". And most bars also have sufficient products to chose from. Hence the question is no more: how to make the drink palatable, but: which brand/product do I use, to accomplish t

Darcy did a great job, in hosting this event and we had quite a lot of guests who could try the different G&T. Unfortunately I didn't made pictures... Cucumber & Coriander G&T with Strawberry Darcy: Strawberry & coriander share similar aroma compounds; coriander is further very common in gin. Darcy emulsified coriander essential oil in simple syrup, he was using for the drink. That we quite a slam-dunk - most guest liked it. It was very refreshing and very cool - we used Plymouth for it, which was definitely a great company with the drink. Cardamon & Mint G&T Darcy used the popularity of the Mojito, to "capture" guests - the cardamom syrup (again made with essential oils and emulsification) was giving it a more unique and Middle Eastern flair - basically there was only cardamom syrup, gin, mint, lemon and tonic water involved. Again very refreshing, with a distinctive oriental note. We used partly Plymouth and Bombay Sapphire for it a

We have had a talk with the guys of muddle-me  and they asked Darcy, what kind of title he would like to choose: bartender, mixologist, "cocktail-whisperer. Always very down to earth, Darcy replied that he likes to see himself just as bartender. That bartenders should be accessible to everyone - and that nobody should think, that they are something special, or "above" of the rest. I really like this approach - and absolutely believe as well, that everybody has the same value. However I just have the feeling, that causality of one, does not imply correlation to the other. I can be absolutely approachable and down to earth, if people call me mixologist. If you look at the "grand masters" in Bushido, you will find, that most of these exceptional individuals are extremely understated and "normal". It even seems, the "higher" these masters rank, the lesser ego they have. Now you could argue, that they are awarded as masters and g

Folks, I have to admit, that I am not the biggest fan of Dirty Martinis. The usual combination between vodka and olive brine seems odd - and I am often more reminded on dirty dish water, than on a good drink. Olive brine itself isn't really that bad - even commercial olives just contain water, salt, vinegar or lactic acid. But it depends, how the olives are cured - one industrial process is, curing the olives in lye - which isn't that great (but on the other hand still perfectly save). The issue is, that "olive brine" doesn't taste that great. Fast forward, I have discovered an Iranian shop, with a lot of unique products - they are particularly strong in "flower waters" which are hydrosols. Hydrosols are basically the byproduct, you will get, if you are steam-distilling produce to get essential oils - there will be only very little essential oil - but quite a lot of water, on which the essential oil "floats". This water has strong arom

Marketing - marketing - marketing... This is what I have in mind, if I am reading the websites of some brands. This time I landed on the website of Vizcaya, which claims to make rum out of "the freshest sugarcane" which is pressed and the juice is directly fermented. Usually rum is not made this way. Usually (and this is probably the original method), sugarcane is pressed, the juice then is cooked until it becomes molasses and until the sugar crystallizes. The solid sugar is taken out until the mixture becomes too thick, to extract more sugar. This is then the molasses you would use for cooking, or to ferment to create a rum. While I definitely admit, that making rum out of fresh sugarcane is slightly more expensive, than using a byproduct of the sugar production (sugarcane is anyway not very expensive), I am arguing about the claim of this producer, that it (necessarily) leads to a better rum. The issue here is the concept: sugarcane juice is a whole different thin

So Adam Teeter on Vinepair.com made a case, that Tennessee whisky isn’t Bourbon - due to the charcoal mellowing process. I have already debunked it before:  Is Jack Daniel's a Bourbon Whiskey? However since then, there is more circumstantial evidence, why Tennessee whisky isn’t an unique “denomination of origin (or simply a official style on its own): As mentioned: It is listed under NAFTA as Bourbon There is no specifications under the TTB Other (official)) Bourbons are using also a similar charcoal mellowing process (e.g. Evan Williams black label). Now these points are not mentioned in the previous article: At least Prichard’s, one more boutique Tennessee brand, is not using The Lincoln County Process (charcoal mellowing) - yet are officially considered Tennessee whiskey! That takes eradicates the argument, that Tennessee whiskey is a style! Jack Daniel’s also offers now a (Single Barrel) Rye Whiskey. Yeah - they are calling it Tennessee Rye Whiskey - but as

These days I am toying quite a lot with the ideas of advanced hydroponics in bars. Well... let us first of all understand, what does the word hydroponics mean? hydroponics ˌhʌɪdrə(ʊ)ˈpɒnɪks/ noun noun:  hydroponics the process of growing plants in sand, gravel, or liquid, with added nutrients but without soil. Origin 1930s: from  hydro-  ‘of water’ + Greek  ponos  ‘labour’ +  -ics . Plants are growing in a growth medium (other than water) - either way in normal sunlight or even under artificial growth light. Some people might argue, that soil is the best medium to grow mint (as it contains sufficient and natural nutrition). So why would it be so beneficial in the bar? Here are the top 10 - why hydroponically grown mint, is better than your delivery of mint: Availability If you are growing mint yourself, it is not wilting. You have far lower wastage of mint. Health benefits Commercial produce (inclusive mint) is grown with the help of pesticides and herbicides, to

These days it seems, that your schedule is filled with a triangle of fake news, opposition of fake news and political correctness. One big part is contemporary marketing, which really takes the mouth full. Another trend are millennials which seem to fake it until they (never) make it - they are confusing their own perception with facts. The big loser on this war of information is good ol' culture. Not contemporary arts, galleries and artists, which seem to do just fine (and probably also fake it until they make it)... it is more the culture of being a grown up - a lady or a gentleman.  It is about drinking culture (I am cringing, when people are ordering a Bloody Mary in the evening - well this is still better, than people ordering drinks, which I don't want even to remember...), it is about cigar culture, table etiquette, dress code - and so on. The question is - should you go with the flow and with the trends and join - or should you stand up actively and try