Extreme Aperol and the No Baloney Negroni
April 23, 2012
As ongoing part of the Solid Liquids Project, I decided to make high-proof Aperol.
I haven't talked about this use of dehydrated liqueurs yet, which is making high-proof spirits with them. Simply add neutral grain spirits plus dehydrated liqueur, plus some of the original liqueur to keep taste consistency.
First I dehydrated some Aperol (I can't remember if I used the stovetop method or the oven method- they produce the same thing).
Then I made Extreme Aperol.
Extreme Aperol
2 ounces Aperol
2 ounces Everclear Grain Alcohol
1 ounce (by volume) Dehydrated Aperol
Combine ingredients and shake container until dehydrated Aperol is dissolved. (I had to break out the muddler as I had some big chunks.)
Everclear is 75.5 percent alcohol and Aperol is 11 percent alcohol, so by my rough calculations ((.4 x 75) + (.4 x 11)) this comes out to 34.4 percent alcohol.
And the stuff is flipping delicious, like Aperol on steroids.
Then I decided to make a Negroni with it. Many people new to Campari (a Negroni is equal parts Campari, gin, and sweet vermouth) find it too bitter and weird for their taste, so bartenders sometimes substitute the more orangey and less bitter Aperol.
The problem is that Campari is 24 percent alcohol, while Aperol is only 11 percent. I don't think Aperol holds up well in the Negroni. Thus, using Extreme Aperol should keep the same flavor of Aperol but have a higher proof.
To make Extreme Aperol the alcoholic strength as regular Campari I'd need to water it down to 70% Extreme Aperol to 30% water, so in this recipe I just used .75 ounces Aperol instead of the usual ounce.
No Baloney Negroni
.75 ounces Extreme Aperol
1 ounce Gin
1 ounce Sweet Vermouth
Stir all ingredients over ice and strain over new ice or serve up if you prefer. Consider garnishing with an orange peel.
This drink has the same syrupy texture as a Negroni, but the orange is more present than in the standard recipe. Awesome!
This post is part of the ongoing Solid Liquids Project. If you liked it, you may want to read Campari Fruit Roll-Ups, the non-alcoholic Campari & Soda, or the Missing Link Aviation.
At what temperature do you bake the Aperol at? This sounds amazing!
Posted by: Jeff | April 23, 2012 at 12:45 PM
awesome! try reconstituting the aperol with kirschwasser. reconstituting the non volatile fraction with various fruit eau-de-vies makes for some wild drinks.
i used a variation of the process to create "fernet 151". the proof is so high that some of the non volatile parts actually fall out of solution. i had to centrifuge them off.
solubility of non volatiles really drops off as the proof rises. sugar isn't that soluble at really high alcohol levels and my theory is that many of the sugar contents for 19th century liqueurs (which had very high alcohol contents) was the maximum of solubility.
cheers! -stephen
Posted by: Stephen | April 23, 2012 at 09:32 PM
The lowest temperature the oven goes to. Or there is a fast way. All the methodology is here: http://www.alcademics.com/solid-liquids-project-index.html
Posted by: Camper English | April 27, 2012 at 10:06 PM
Good ideas!
Posted by: Camper English | April 27, 2012 at 10:07 PM
Bobby and I made "Super Campari" at Anvil a few years back, using a dehydrator. Dehydrated Campari, rehydrated with more Campari... A liter's worth of Campari "dust" dissolved into another liter of still liquid stuff. I then made the "Super Negroni": 1oz Super Campari, 1oz Antica, 1oz Beefeater, 1/4 oz Lemon Juice, 1 Egg White, Garnish with Campari dust. I just used the scant 1/4 oz of lemon to help the proteins in the egg white stiffen up. It drank pretty well.
Posted by: BeardAndBitters | May 01, 2012 at 01:45 PM
I heard about Super Campari - Did it taste Camparier? Just more intense or something?
Posted by: Camper English | May 01, 2012 at 07:05 PM
so, how much further do we have to abstract super-campari to grow rock candy in it?
i grew rock candy swizzle sticks in green chartreuse by adding 300g of sugar to a liter, heating it in a bath to dissolve the extra sugar, then cooling. i picked chartreuse because the alcohol content was so high and i could easily do something with the byproduct. it picked up some aroma and a slight amount of the color, but i imagine campari might work better because it has gustatory-tastants that could be soaked up while chartreuse has none but the sugar (its all volatile aroma).
http://egullet.org/p1875376
a 25.34% alc. by volume solution can hold about 590 g/l of sucrose. so maybe super-campari + 100 grams can grow rock candy crystals. they take a week to grow.
Posted by: Stephen | May 02, 2012 at 09:02 AM
I did a simple rock candy swizzle stick a while back: http://www.alcademics.com/2009/03/rock-candy-swizzle.html
But I mine was mostly water-based after the alcohol evaporated.
Posted by: Camper English | May 02, 2012 at 10:05 AM
really cool. the alcohol actually makes it possible to produce the crystals with less sugar. each percentage point on alcohol decreases solubility of sucrose by 10g/l (my estimate based on a few data points).
my theory is that all the "grand cru" liquors of the 19th century were sugared to maximum of solubility. they ended up with tons of rock candy at the bottoms of their vats.
the reason you don't see this in books is because all the old books out there are about making cheap, adulterated, knock off products.
i've also found that what doesn't dissolve in very high alcohol, fully saturated solutions gets stuck together like sugar cubes which might be another method of forming them on the small scale.
rock candy made in a solution like super-campari with a ton of non volatile tastants may soak them up. i'll try and make a recipe.
most importantly the texture of the rock candy can converge or diverge from the character of drinks we dip them in. licking a drink with "angular" olfactory & gustatory attributes converges with the texture. while a "round" drink diverges. each can be pleasurable and each also has the potential to reveal the basis for our metaphors.
Posted by: Stephen | May 02, 2012 at 11:05 AM
i finally completed the rock candy grown in campari. it didn't really pan out. i made a big, gorgeous, slightly pink swizzle stick but it did not pick up enough bitterness to satisfy me.
my one thought is to try again using another sugar instead of sucrose like trehalose that will crystalize but has less perceived sweetness. another thought is to add wormwood to really amp up the bitterness.
back to the drawing board
Posted by: Stephen | May 30, 2012 at 09:56 AM