Month: January 2012

  • Modern Day Pond and Lake Ice Harvests in America

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    Camper English
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    I got it into my head that I want to see a pond or lake ice harvest, despite my contempt for winter.  Commercial ice harvests changed the cocktail landscape in America in the early-mid 1800s, allowing for the creation of juleps and cobblers and the popularization of the drinking straw and the cocktail shaker.  Today…

  • How Machine Ice Is Made

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    Camper English
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    These are a few ways that ice was and is made, which I learned from the awesome book Ice: The Nature, the History, and the Uses of an Astonishing Substance by Mariana Gosnell. Slushie Method The first way is just like making ice cream the old-fashioned way: snow or cold water mixed with salt can become…

  • Carbonation Science

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    Camper English
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    I was lucky enough to get a sample of the Perlini cocktail carbonating system, but before I even got around to using it I was fascinated by carbonation information the instruction manual.  Note: Yes, I read the instruction manuals.  Pretty much always.  The Perlini is basically a cocktail shaker than you fill with carbon dioxide…

  • How Water Freezes

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    Camper English
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    This post is about how a lake freezes, but it should be more or less the same for how an insulated container freezes in a freezer. The information is from the excellent book, Ice: The Nature, the History, and the Uses of an Astonishing Substance by Mariana Gosnell.  Turnover As temperatures lower, the water in a lake…

  • 2011: My Year in Cocktail Writing

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    Camper English
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    Looking over the year (read: sending invoices) for 2011, it turns out that I managed to get a lot of work done in between all the trips. This year I contributed to: FineCooking.com as the weekly cocktail blogger Mixology Magazine in Germany The LA Times Magazine Caviar Affair Magazine SilverKris (Singapore Airlines) Penthouse Magazine The…

  • 2011: A Year of Spirituous Travel

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    Camper English
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    In 2011, I traveled to 12 foreign countries not counting repeats on 22 different trips, flying 156,000 miles to do so. I had a mere 80 nights in hotel rooms and one or two hangovers. My trips this year were:  Vino 2011 in NYC Jameson Irish Whiskey in Ireland Casa Noble Tequila in Mexico Angostura…