Don't mess with "classics" and great drinks

Don't mess with "classics" and great drinks - unless...

There are great drinks, there are also good drinks and then there are drinks, which are ok - and yes - there are drinks which are pretty awful.

I am usually don't care for awful drinks. These are drinks, which have a screwed up concept - which have in the core an unredeemable quality (or better - lack of quality).
Ok drinks - are pretty good to fix. You first of all try to exchange all parts with quality ingredients. A bit more TLC around technique and presentation, and you end up at least with a good drink - maybe it could be even a great drink.
Good drinks - are difficult to "improve upon". But often these drinks "on the street" are made with mediocre products, which can be replaced by better products.
The most difficult part is to try to improve a great drink. What can be better than great? Greater? But sometimes you got an epiphany.

The Gin Basil Smash is a pretty awesome cocktail. Jörg Meyer from Le Lion in Hamburg did an incredible job, in creating a modern classic. It is still underrepresented in my eyes. Still it is great.

It contains: Gin, Basil, fresh lemon juice and rich syrup.

Yes - a very reduced drink - even a tougher challenge.

However I found a small problem: often even after a lot of basil and a lot of muddling, the basil doesn't really stain the drink green. So I tried my secret bar tool out: the immersion blender.
Yes - I think, the stick blender is one of the coolest (simple) bar tools. It is totally inexpensive, and can help you to do a lot of amazing drinks. A Piña Colada with a stick blender is cool - your shakers are not becoming all smeary and fatty, and you don't have to disturb your guests with a loud normal blender (plus latter is far more difficult to clean up).

I used 10 big basil leaves (and I realized after making the drink that this is too much for this method) - measured all ingredients, blended everything - through everything into a shaker - shook it wild and fine strained it.

The result is an emerald drink, far darker as your usual Gin Basil Smash - it had also an intense basil taste - probably it would be better to half your basil leaves (and lets face it - it might be a good thing to save basil - in bars, you have less cost as well as less "gunk" - and at home you can do more Basil Smashs with the same amount of basil).

I had the feeling that the drink was slightly lacking something. Ever so slightly. I added just a pinch of salt - and this gave this drink the specific je ne sais quoi.

So here you have got it. A Gin Basil Smash, which might be just a tad better than the incredible great drink, Jörg Meyer created. Please Jörg, don't kill me for this...

The only problem is... can you call it really Gin Basil Smash? It is rather a Gin Basil Blitz... but then, a smash is original with mint... it is a slippery slope...

How to use citric acid - and why you might not want to use it anyway!

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 ...

Agar-Agar Clarification

Not often, I am posting here things, which are clearly not my ideas... However Dave Arnold is clearly a mad scientist [no, he really is!] - and he posted amazing stuff on his website www.cookingissues.com - no - don't click now - just follow the link later. One of the most impressive posts about mixology, besides of demystifying the mechanics of shaking, were clarification techniques. Look, after him, you could use a centrifuge [which would set you back a couple thousand bucks] and a chemical compound, which solidifies sediments. I am not a fan of that. Then there is gelatine clarification; this works quite well [I tried it several times my self] - you gelatinize a liquid [with little gelatine only], freeze it, thaw it [in the fridge] over a colander and a muslin cloth. Thats it. Unfortunately this has several problems: Gelatine is made out of animal bones - hence it is neither vegetarian nor vegan, which you won't usually expect of a beverage. You have to freez...

King Robert II Vodka

Who would knew, that I am reviewing a budget vodka here - on the opinionatedalchemist.com. But this isn't a normal review. I skip the marketing perception and use this product to cut directly to the case: Vodka is a "rather" neutral, colorless, "rather" flavorless and odorless distilled beverage from any agricultural source - and depending on the country, it has a minimum of 37.5% and 40% abv. As I said time and time again before: at times it is absolutely nonsense to talk about premium and luxury, when the original product doesn't really "hold this promise". Luxury water can have luxurious marketing, luxurious packaging, can be even rare and slightly more expensive "to produce". However really it is just water. Maybe it has some nuances to normal water - however those nuances (in a blind-test) are pretty small. Vodka is extremely similar - and the chain of evidence (despite a lot of people trying to proof otherwise) makes it re...

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