Jul17

TotC Thursday – Molecular Mixology – Live Blogging

12:24pm – I got a good bit of flack last year from Jamie for live blogging many of the events, so I thought it only appropriate to put him through the gauntlet this year.

12:31pm – Here are the cocktails for the session:

Ramos Marshmallows

  • 5oz G’Vine gin
  • 2 1/2oz lemon or lime juice
  • 3 egg whites
  • 11oz sugar
  • 1oz gelatin
  • 1t orange flower water
  • 4oz water

Create as one would marshmallows

La Bicyclette

  • 1 1/2oz Plymouth gin
  • 3/4oz sweet vermouth
  • 1/4oz St. Germain
  • 2 dashes peach bitters
  • lemon wedge, for garnish

Stir with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

12:37pm – Jamie takes the stand! He’s wearing his typical sexy bartender vest. The other panelist are Eben Freeman and Claire Smith. Jamie dives right in with some definitions of Molecular Mixology, but I’ll spare you.

12:40pm – Jamie put forth a good example of how mixing ingredients together with the proper technique really matters. His example was for the egg foam for a Ramos gin fizz. The one done for a short time but with acid (citrus juice) and sugar, as a stabilizer, fares significantly better than egg white whipped for without the additions but for a longer time.

12:44pm – Jamie is getting all mushy now talking about a very important ingredient of cocktails: love. On to technique, though… some options include:

  • Specific gravity
  • Gelatin
  • Eggs
  • Liqueurs / sugars – dusts and foams, floss
  • Infusions – fat washing, sous-vide, carbonation
  • Aromatics
  • Hydrocolloids – an ingredient when added to water will make a gel

12:47pm – Our first drink i arriving. I assume it’s the Chameleon, due to the blueberry purple color.

Chameleon

  • 1 1/2oz Blueberry-magnesium infused G’Vine Gin
  • 1/2oz St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur
  • 1 1/2oz Blubly Brut Cuvee
  • 1/4oz lime juice

Build in a glass. How easy.

12:50pm – After touching on foams and powders, he moves to fat-washing. Adding fat, ala bacon, will add more flavor, yet make it slick, so freezing the mix will allow the fat to separate and freeze, while leaving the alcohol liquid.

12:53pm – The row of bloggers and bartenders issued sighs of approval when Jamie mentions the use of fire to create aromatics for a cocktail.

12:55pm – Jamie is going through a lot of practical applications for the techniques… the rubicon, including burnt rosemary, the P.N.E. which uses several cups of candy floss that you pour your cocktail over. The candy floss disappears and only adds a touch of sweetness. The Mai Tai 3000 deconstructed: lime ship, orange cube, orgeat foam. Mary’s Fruit, where the inside of a cherry tomato is hollowed out, and the bloody mary is gelled and added back in, resulting in the same texture as a tomato, but the taste of the bloody mary. Finally he ends up with a Gin and Tonic Fog. A gallery filled the room with the fumes. Ridiculous.

1:01pm – He’s now discussing the magnesium-infused gin. Adding the magnesium changes the color of the Chameleon cocktail to green. He adds the acid, and the drink turns bright pink.

1:04pm – Eben takes the stand, garnished with a green bow tie, and begins his presentation. He starts out by suggesting we stop calling Molecular Mixology by its name and receives a few hoots of approval from the crowd.

1:08pm – He moves on to discuss a cocktail containing rum flavored with beets, Averna with orange, and topped with a Dark ‘n Stormy dust.

1:18pm – Claire steps up to the podium. She’s a representative of Belvedere vodka. It looks like some sort of cotton candy sticks are making their way around the room. … it’s a Red Bull candy floss. Some grapefruit marshmallows have also found their way around. So the way this works is you sip the orange vodka, suck on the candy floss and then eat the grapefruit marshmallow.

1:27pm – Eben #2 makes his way to the front. In turn, we are all gifted with a sazerac gummy bear in a plastic cup. He starts talking about sense memory. How cedar might remind you of your grandmother’s underwear drawer or the hamster that kept you up all night. oh my.

1:38pm – More candy! This might as well be called the candy session. The Ramos Marshmallow sprinkled with juniper powder is quite good; easily the most fun and tasty bit of the session.

1:43pm – Eben finishes with the following wisdom, “I don’t care if you made bad drinks. I don’t care if you steal my ideas. Just don’t talk shit about me on your blogs.”


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One Comments to “ TotC Thursday – Molecular Mixology – Live Blogging”
  1. I found your blog on Google and read a few of your other posts. I just added you to my Bacon News Reader. Keep up the good work. Look forward to reading more from you in the future.

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Kaiser Penguin is a cocktail blog featuring original recipes, homemade ingredients, classic cocktails, and tiki drinks.

Why on Earth did you name your blog “Kaiser Penguin?”

It is a well-known fact that penguins are members of high society and enjoy fine cocktails. Our very own kaiser penguin would like me to mention that he also enjoys various treats from the sea.

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