A Brilliant Idea That Didn’t Quite Work

SolidLiquidsProjectSquareLogoYou'll remember I spent a few months figuring out the best way to dehydrate liqueurs into flavored sugars.

Now I'm finding new ways to use those liqueur-flavored sugars.

Typically bartenders who use these dehydrated liqueurs sprinkle some on top of an egg white foam or use them as a rimming sugar on a cocktail glass. But I had the idea to use them as an optional flavor enhancer to cocktails – give the customer a drink and some powdered liqueur and let them add it if desired. (Some bars do this with bitters and tinctures.)

So I bought some vegetarian capsules and filled them with dehydrated liqueurs.

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They look awesome, right? 

But unfortunately, they didn't perform as expected. When adding them to a cocktail the capsules didn't dissolve. I tried a boozy cocktail, a fizzy cocktail, and an acidic cocktail in the hopes that these would help speed up the process. I even tried a hot cocktail to see if that worked. 

In all forms, the capsules dissolved eventually, but if you want to wait 20+ minutes for that to happen you're a more patient drinker than I. 

Ah well, it was a cool idea that didn't work out. 

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But in tomorrow's post, I'll talk about a technique that actually worked…

Read more about the Solid Liquids Project and how to deyhydrate liqueurs here.

Comments

14 responses to “A Brilliant Idea That Didn’t Quite Work”

  1. Stephen Avatar

    hi camper.
    try my dehydrator technique:
    https://egullet.org/p1872403
    this second version of the technique can also easily be adapted for the food dehydrator.
    https://bostonapothecary.com/?p=304
    these can even be scaled down to two ounce sizes for affordable experimentation.
    cheers! -stephen

  2. Ram Avatar

    I see the next generation of astronaut cuisine forming in those capsules. You just need a gizmo that injects water and alcohol after you pop in the right cocktail ingredients in various capsules. A couple blasts of gama rays later and an ice cube and it is party time!
    Poor astronauts… The future scares me…

  3. Angus Avatar
    Angus

    Dario Comini does an awesome drink using gelatine capsules.
    They dissolve in less than ten seconds in the mouth…try them?
    I have used them myself and know they start melting even under stage lighting… I know this to my cost…
    It’s a cool idea tho… The other thing to do with the dehydrated liqueurs of course is make cotton candy with them… Bastian Heuser and I did that a few years back and it’s much fun.
    Aw

  4. Camper English Avatar

    You are fancy. I’m surprised to learn that spirits without sugar can be dehydrated at all!
    C

  5. Camper English Avatar

    You know, I never even tried putting these capsules in my mouth as I was so focused on the drink!I wanted to keep things vegetarian rather than use gelatin, as that’s just how I roll.
    I used the powder to make Campari fruit roll-ups. I do have some more fun things coming up in subsequent posts though, that don’t use gel caps.

  6. DJ HawaiianShirt Avatar

    I guess these capsules are meant only for dissolution via stomach acid?

  7. Hibiscus Flower Avatar

    If it was me, guess, 20 minutes or so would be just fine. Coz I’m not good at drinking, anyway. 😛

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