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Studying Sugar: A Resource List

In the Sugar Spirit Project, I've had to use several sources to research material, so I figured I'd list them on this page should you want to read them yourself or check my work.

I'll add to the list as I use more resources.  

• Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern History By Sidney W. Mintz (1985). This book traces the history of sugar but is primarily a sociological study of sugar consumption in England. It traces how sugar became so popular so fast. 
• Sugar: A Bittersweet History By Elizabeth Abbott (2008). In-depth sugar history, spread of sugar, lasting effects of sugar production, finals notes on environmental concerns. Contains a lot of information on sugar and the slave trade. 
• Sugar.org, the website of the Sugar Association. Some brief but good information in the Downloads section.
• The Wikipedia entry for Sugar is surprisingly good. 
• The sugarcane Wikipedia entry is not bad either. 
• The USDA plants database entry is pretty cool. 

 

The Sugar Spirit Project is sponsored by Bacardi Rum. Content created and owned by Camper English for Alcademics. For the project index, click on the logo above or follow this link. 

 

 

Global Cocktail Trends at World Class 2011

A month ago I attended the Diageo World Class Global Finals (Facebook group here) in New Delhi India. (Most of my posts on the matter can be found by following the India tag.) But I'm not done talking about it - just getting caught up now. 

There were six challenges in the contest and I sat in on two of them. Peter Dorelli judged the Cocktail Theater and Stars challenge, in which bartenders had to create a drink inspired by a woman; and then perform a fancy version of a bottle service serve. Gaz Regan judged the Gentlemen's Drinks & Fancy Tipples challenge, in which bartenders had to create one of each of those style of drinks. It was these two sessions I observed. 

(Tea service as bottle service.)

I noticed several trends in ingredients among the 32 competing bartenders (and two cocktails each). I found it pretty interesting that despite wide differences in product/ingredient availability in different parts of the world that there would be any patterns at all. Yet there were many commonalities among the cocktails I saw.

Top Flavor Trends at World Class Global Finals 2011

•  Chamomile. I saw chamomile tea, chamomile flower garnish, chamomile syrup, and chamomile-infused vermouth. This flower was everywhere at World Class.
• Tea. Chamomile, of course, but also Indian tea, breakfast blend tea, and other flavors. Also, tea service: tea pots, cups, and tea time rituals.
• Infused Vermouth. Again, chamomile-infused vermouth but also cardamon and other flavors. 
• Dry Ice. I'm not sure if this is a real trend - that all these bartenders planned to use dry ice in their drinks from the beginning (close to half of bartenders did, but keep in mind I was sitting in the theatrical judging) or if they just decided to use it because it was available in the supply room at World Class. 
• Chocolate. Many bartenders used chocolate syrup, liqueur, bitters, or gave the judges a side of solid chocolate (all high-cacao content chocolate; none of the milk chocolate stuff) to accompany their drinks. 
• Smoke. Several bartenders used the Polyscience Smoking Gun to smoke cocktails. They smoked the mixing glass, smoked the cocktail glass, and smoked a bell jar to put over the cocktail. Other bartenders burned herbs or wood chips directly. A couple of drinks were made with a rinse of smoky Lagavulin scotch. No mezcal was in sight, but that may very well have been a supply issue. 
• Sherry. I'm delighted to see that sherry is a global bartending trend. At World Class they had only oloroso/cream sherry available to use, but I think someone made an approximation of Pedro Ximenez with it as well.
• Yuzu. Not a ton of it was used, but enough to be noticeable. 
• Coriander and Cardamon. These spices were muddled, infused into spirits, or toasted fresh into several drinks. I almost want to call it a 'gin spice' trend.
• Coffee. There was a bit of coffee liqueur used, but more often coffee tinctures or grated coffee beans used in and on cocktails. 

(Jamie Mac uses dry ice for a smoke effect.)

How NOT to Dehydrate Campari

I figure, why not try the method that looks easiest first, even if it seems doomed to fail? 

That's what I decided to do as an experiment in dehydrating liqueurs down to sugar: to see what happens when you cook Campari the fastest way possible to get all the liquid out. 

I put two ounces of Campari in a silicone cupcake cup and tossed it in the microwave. After 30 seconds it boiled over. First it came to a rapid boil, then turned to a real frothy boil. 

After the liquid evaporated more, the boil turned more gentle; around three and a half minutes in. But soon enough, at four minutes, came the smell of caramelizing/burning sugar. 

At five minutes most of the liquid was gone, and then the sugar started blackening. The Campari turned black, puffed up, and started smoking. I had to open all the windows in my apartment to keep the fire alarm from going off. 

A black crust formed where the red sugar was. After removing it from the microwave, it cooled quickly then I tried it. Surprisingly, it tastes just like a burnt marshmallow; just a little more molasses-y. There was no Campari taste to it at all. 

In conclusion: That Didn't Work. 

The Solid Liquids Project is sponsored by Skyy Spirits. Content created and owned by Camper English for Alcademics. For the project index, click on the logo above or follow this link. 

An Oral History of Liqueur Dust

In studying the methods bartenders have used to dehydrate liqueurs into flavored powders, I mentioned that I didn't know the complete origin story of the practice. 

Luckily, Jacob Briars, currently the global brand director for Leblon cachaca (and formerly with 42Below vodka), sent me an email with the full story as he remembers it. 

You are right, like so many great bartending tricks it has its genesis south of the equator, in early 2006 as I recall, maybe even earlier. As far as I understand it, here is the potted history of 'dust':

Many bartenders will have noticed that spirits that are high in sugar will often crystallize around the mouth of the bottle - Campari, Frangelico and Chartreuse are particularly prone. (Campari's dirty secret is that its inherent bitterness masks an insane amount of sugar that would shame most liqueurs)

The first person I know of who thought of a cocktail application for this was Mick Formosa, who used to run the bar at Ginger in Melbourne, 2005-2007. Previous alumni of this place include Sam Ross, Sebastian Reaburn and Jason Williams, and in the mid 00s it could have made a good claim to be one  of the best bars on earth. Sadly the recession saw the end of Ginger and it closed 2 1/2 years ago.

Anyway, I digress. As I understand, Mick was cleaning the bottles as per usual one Sunday night and noticed the Campari crystals, and tried tasting them. He immediately thought of the possibility of using these in a drink, and texted a similarly adventurous bartender, Sydney-based Ben Walsh, who was running the superb Victoria Room. Ben set about trying to produce Campari dust on a bigger scale, using a roasting pan in a barely heated oven (from memory he used the pilot light in a commercial gas oven, which was more than enough heat) until dehydrated, then grinding the dried Campari into a powder using a mortar and pestle. Between two great bartenders in two great bartending cities, this technique caught on quickly.

Later that year (2006) it saw its first major public outing when flavored 'dust' was used by the Australian team at the 42BELOW Cocktail World Cup as a sugar to make a flavored candy floss (called fairy floss in Aust, and I think it's called Cotton Candy in the US?) This application - using various dusts to create powerfully flavored 'boozy cotton candy' also swept across both Australia and New Zealand, but it always seemed to work best with the bittersweet Campari. Floss made with things like Cointreau just ended up tasting like orange.

In 2007, again at the 42BELOW World Cup, another Australian team made a 'dust' out of Chartreuse, and used it to rim the glass for their cocktail and also as a garnish. In that year, the judges included Dale DeGroff, Angus Winchester, and Colin Field (Ritz, Paris) and all took this technique back with them, where it eventually started to be talked about in the US, Europe and the UK.

I've had lots of dusts in NZ and Australia and made many more myself, but none is ever as good as that Chartreuse dust (55% abv Green, btw) that I saw in that comp. Possibly the only use of a 'spirit gimmick' that tastes better than the spirit itself.

I think for this to work, the base flavor needs to be both powerful and memorable. So flavors that can be mistaken for something else in a cocktail, e.g. orange liqueur dust just tastes like orange peel, don't seem to be effective. But liqueurs that are high in sugar, with a striking visual appearance and taste profile, are perfect for this technique. Hence, Campari, Chartreuse, Fernet Branca, are about the best bets. And tho the taste isn't all that unique, color-wise Cheery Heering and blue curaçao will also work well.

Anyway, great piece and I look forward to seeing this develop.

Thanks Jacob!

 

The Solid Liquids Project is sponsored by Skyy Spirits. Content created and owned by Camper English for Alcademics. For the project index, click on the logo above or follow this link. 

Negronis on Tap in San Francisco

It had to happen eventually. Jasper's Corner Tap & Kitchen in San Francisco has put a Negroni on tap.

(Kevin Deidrich pours a draft Negroni at Jasper's Corner Tap)

(Mmm, fresh Negroni.)

The kegs were pretty large, so as Kevin Deidrich explains in the video below, they used two bottles cases each of Plymouth Gin, Campari, and sweet vermouth to fill the keg. Then it's pushed through the line by an inert gas (that doesn't carbonate it but does prevent oxidization) and out of the tap.

 

 

They serve it on the rocks with a slice of orange. I had one last night and it tasted just like a Negroni, but, you know, more fun.

(Negroni at Jasper's Corner Tap)

The Negroni will be on draft at Jasper's for a couple months. Get 'em while they're hot!

Sugar Spirit: What is Sugarcane?

In the Sugar Spirit project, we're going to look at sugar's history and production, but first we should establish what sugar and sugarcane are. 

Sugar and Sucrose

When we talk about sugar, we mean table sugar, or sucrose. 

To chemists, sugar refers to a class of 'edible crystalline carbohydrates' that also includes fructose and lactose. But most of us aren't chemists so we won't use the word 'sucrose' so much as just 'sugar.'

Except for now: Sucrose occurs in all green plants. It is a plant food manufactured photosynthetically from carbon dioxide and water.

For table sugar, the plants harvested to make it are sugarcane and sugar beets. We'll get to sugar beets later.

(Sugarcane harvest demo in Guatemala.)

Sugarcane

Sugarcane is a large grass of the family Gramineae. There are six known species. 

The most widely grown is saccharum officinarum, which depending on your source is called “noble cane” or “sugar of the apothecaries.” Its stalks that grow as thick as two inches, and 12-15 feet high.

Sugarcane is a subtropical and tropical crop requiring large amount of water and labor. In farming, it is propagated asexually from cuttings of the stem. It becomes ripe in the dry season after anywhere from 6 to 18 months depending on the climate. 

In the next post, we'll begin to look at the spread of sugarcane from the Indian Subcontinent to the rest of the world. 

 

The Sugar Spirit Project is sponsored by Bacardi Rum. Content created and owned by Camper English for Alcademics. For the project index, click on the logo above or follow this link. 

 

Announcing the Sugar Spirit Project

Today marks the launch of the second Sponsored Project on Alcademics: The Sugar Spirit. The Sugar Spirit Project is sponsored by Bacardi Rum. 

Rum is made from any sugarcane derivative and is the real sugar spirit, but in this research project I'll primarily be studying sugar itself.

In writing about cocktails, we often come across recipes calling for different forms of sugar: demerara, muscovado, evaporated organic cane, superfine, etc. I've wanted to study the differences in those sugars for quite a while now so I'm thankful to Bacardi Rum for giving me the support to do so. 

Along the way, I'll be looking at the history of sugarcane, its byproducts (including molasses, of course), modern and historical production methods, forms and uses, and much more. 

I've put up an outline of future topics for discussion and experimentation. The outline is on the project index page, which can be reached by following this link or clicking the Sugar Spirit project logo above from any blog page you see it on. 

This is going to get pretty nerdy, and I know that's how you like it. 

 

The Sugar Spirit Project is sponsored by Bacardi Rum. Content created and owned by Camper English for Alcademics. For the project index, click on the logo above or follow this link. 

Contest: The Auchentoshan Switch

I've just learned that I'll be helping judge the finals of The Auchentoshan Switch contest in Las Vegas this October. I am already jealous of the person who wins. 

We'll pick a winner out of 20(!) finalists in Vegas to fly to London for a two-week job at  69 Colebrooke Row, one of the world's best molecular mixology bars. A UK winner in London will also land a job at an American bar (not allowed to say which but I think it's in New York). 

I am trying to convince Auchentoshan that they need a journalist to 'switch' and report from 69 Colebrooke Row also but that might take some doing... 

The contest is open through August 31. Bartenders must make two drinks in a video for a chance to be flown to Vegas for the finals. The full contest announcement is below. (If you see a link, click it to keep reading.)