Alcademics.com

Getting Sticky with Ginger Syrup

In my latest post on the Fine Cooking website, I introduce the cocktail format of the Buck, and describe how to make ginger syrup. It's not hard- even I can do it without too many cuts and bruises. Check it out. 

The Fading Beauty Cocktail

I created a drink last night that is simple and tasty. 

 

The occasion was Thursday Drink Night (TDN), over at the Mixoloseum chat room. On Thursdays starting at 7PM EST all the folks in the chat room makes drinks according to the theme of the week. One person will suggest a recipe then everyone who has the ingredients will go make the drink and critique it. We do this for several hours until people fade out or pass out in their own homes. 

Last Thursday was one of our sponsored TDNs, where we make all drinks with a product sponsor. Last night was Zaya, so I made this cocktail with the rum as the base. 

Fading Beauty
by Camper English

1.5 ounces Zaya rum
.5 ounces Small Hand Foods Raspberry Syrup
.75 ounce fresh lime juice (the drink can take an ounce of it if you want it more tart)
1 barspoon absinthe

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a lime wheel.  

The rusty red of the drink and the green lime wheel reminded me of an empty landscape of red soil and the full moon above. For some reason I felt it was a sad moment so I called the drink Fading Beauty for the feeling it gave me. 

Maybe I should go write a poem or something.

The New Sweet

The story on cocktail sweeteners I wrote for the April/May issue of Fine Cooking magazine is now online. 

You can read it here. 

Fine Cocktails in Fine Cooking Magazine

I have a story in the new March/April issue of Fine Cooking magazine. It's about the variety of ways to sweeten cocktails with raw sugars, maple syrup, agave, honey, etc.

Pick up a copy to find a Mamie Taylor variation with evaporated organic cane sugar by Thad Vogler of Bar Agricole in San Francisco, an agave-sweetened refresher from Ted Kilgore of Taste by Niche in St. Louis, and a honey champagne bittered mojito variation from yours truly.  

I hope to blog some more information on various types of raw sugars I learned about while researching the story, as it might be useful. I was on the phone to sugar scientists conducting interviews for a couple hours and it turns out it's pretty hard to describe exact differences in any meaningful way. But I'll try when I get the chance.

In the meantime, run screaming to your local newsstand to pick up the new copy of Fine Cooking!

The Science of Sweet in the San Francisco Chronicle

Here is my latest story in the San Francisco Chronicle.

(A Gin-to-the-fire cocktail was photographed in the SF Chronicle studio on Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2009 in San Francisco, Calf. Photo: Mike Kepka / The Chronicle)

Sweetening drinks can be a science

Camper English, Special to The Chronicle

Friday, January 8, 2010

Gin that bruises, 500-year-old secret recipes and miracle hangover cures. The world of cocktails is rife with myths and misinformation. As we slowly move out of the Dark Ages and into the cocktail Enlightenment, bartenders are starting to use scientific methodology to disprove hearsay and improve drinks.

Some of that science will be explained Jan. 20 at the Exploratorium. A one-night event (sold out, though the Web site promises to share details for home experiments) will include exhibits on the science behind layering a pousse-café, why absinthe turns white when water is added and how cocktails are affected by the shape of ice.

Having experimented with ice in recent years, many bartenders have moved on to studying sugar. Simple syrup is used to balance acid in many cocktails, so several curious bar types have purchased refractometers and pH meters to measure exact levels of each.

Read the whole story on the science of sweetening drinks here.

Glossy Booze: Mid-August Edition

Glossy Booze is a regular Alcademics feature in which I note the coverage of alcohol in glossy magazines.

Fine Cooking (August/September) has a story on beer cocktails written by Lew Bryson.

Sherman's Travel (summer 2009) lists which Napa wines to buy now.

In Gourmet (August) David Wondrich writes a story about (wait for it, wait for it, wait for it...) punch!

Mutineer (August/September) has a multi-bartender feature shot at Edison in LA, wine date ideas, breakfast drinks, and minimalist cocktails by blogging's own Rick Stutz. 

 Sunset (August) has a story on Canada's Okanagan Valley wine region and another on summery wine cocktails. 

Men's Journal (September) has a story on San Francisco's breweries and distilleries, and another on better cocktail mixers like Fever Tree bitter lemon and Q Tonic.

Details (September) also gets into mixers with a story on craft sodas including Maine Root and Dry Soda.

Food & Wine mentions SF's Rye on the Road, Portland's Beaker & Flask, top California wine for $15 and less, and Red Hook Winery. 

Every Day with Rachael Ray (August) has recipes for a citrusy beer cocktail, a Caipirinha, a Tomate (water, pastis, grenadine), Pineapple Shave Ice, Almond Float, and four other shave ice flavors.

Bon Appetit has a very, very long recipe for a Bloody Mary with 16 ingredients- plus garnish.

In Readymade (August/September) Alex Day makes drinks with cinnamon, honey ginger, and lavender syrups.

Simple Syrup: It's Good to be Rich

This post lists the spoilage times for different simple syrups. You can use it to determine how long until simple syrup will spoil. 

Simple syrup is never just that simple. Some people make it 1:1 sugar to water. Others make it 2:1, and call it "rich simple syrup."

One-to-one simple syrup is easy to make- put equal amounts sugar and water in a bottle and shake it up. No heat is necessary. For rich simple syrup if you shake and wait and shake and wait you can get it into solution without heat, but most people heat up the water first on the stove and the sugar dissolves almost instantly (but then you have to wait for it to cool before using). Either way, you need to plan for it.

So why would anyone bother with rich simple syrup? Because you can use less of it in a drink to get the same amount of sweetening, but more importantly it lasts longer before spoiling in your refrigerator.

To test this, I made up four syrups and decided to wait to see how long it was until they spoiled. For each ratio, I added a tablespoon of vodka, as this is another method of making syrup last longer before spoiling.

• 1:1 simple syrup
• 1:1 simple syrup plus one tablespoon vodka 
• 2:1 rich simple syrup
• 2:1 rich simple syrup plus one tablespoon vodka

Then I put them all in the refrigerator and waited. Eventually, the syrup would become cloudy then that cloudiness would start to mold. I stopped the experiment when the cloudiness appeared.

Results:

• 1:1 simple syrup lasted One Month
• 1:1 simple syrup plus one tablespoon vodka lasted Three Months
• 2:1 rich simple syrup lasted Six Months
• 2:1 rich simple syrup plus one tablespoon vodka lasted more than six months

So depending on how fast you go through simple syrup you may want to adjust the syrup that you make. Of course, you'll have to go back and adjust all your drink recipes too.