Alcademics

Author: Camper English

  • All About Ice in the Washington Post

    I guess M Carrie Allan is becoming my personal biographer, because in addition to the story I posted yesterday on dangerous drink ingredients in Imbibe Magazine, her story with quotes from me about ice also went live in the Washington Post.

    The story is called, You’ve made a good drink. It deserves the perfect ice.

     

    Wapo

    It's an examination of different types of ice and my Directional Freezing technique that makes ice clear. It's good stuff. 

    Maybe in the future Carrie will write about tonic water history, and then all my pet projects will be covered 🙂

     

  • Bad-Idea Cocktail Ingredients in the New Issue of Imbibe

    In the new issue of Imbibe (US), M Carrie Allan has a story about dangerous cocktail ingredients in which I'm quoted. 

    Screen Shot 2017-05-01 at 8.59.22 AM

     

    She covers things like tobacco, homemade tonic water, and marijuana; and has a sidebar of other potentially-dangerous ingredients worth knowing about.

    As you may know, that's  been something I've been writing about for a few years. Here's the original post about the potential danger of homemade tonic water dating back to 2014, and here is Darcy O'Neil's post about the dangers of tobacco infusions from 2011.

    Last summer, Avery Glasser of Bittermens Bitters and I gave a talk about dangerous cocktail ingredients. Avery is also quoted extensively in this story. For that talk Avery and I wrote up a Danger Guide that we're considering publishing in some form (probably an ebook) to have more information out there. 

    Though Avery and I have been talking about this extensively, I didn't realize how many people have not heard about these issues, so I'm very grateful to Carrie and Imbibe for putting dangerous cocktail ingredients front and center in front of a new and larger audience. The reaction I've been seeing has been great. 

    Give it a read, please!

     

    Unnamed

     

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  • Fun with Limes Inside Clear Ice Balls

    Photo Apr 04 11 41 43 AMUsing this method of directional freezing (developed here on Alcademics) with thermos containers and ice ball molds to maximize the clarity of ice balls, I have been playing around with putting objects inside ice spheres. 

    I first did a spiralized lime that you can see here – it came out pretty awesomely. 

    Then the other day I made some lime wedges and lime slices and put them in my ice ball molds. 

    When you freeze limes, it squeezes out some of the juice so the ice ball isn't crystal-clear as it is using this method with solid objects, but it still looks great and inside a cocktail you'd probably not notice. 

    Photo Apr 01 12 07 47 PM (1)

    Photo Apr 04 11 43 09 AM (1)

    Photo Apr 04 11 43 41 AM

    Photo Apr 04 11 50 04 AM

    To keep up on my ongoing icesperiments, follow along on my Instagram page. 

     

     

  • Summer Cooler Cocktails to Enjoy in 1967

    My friend gifted me a 1967 "Friendly Host" calendar from a liquor store in upstate New York. On the backs of the calendar months are helpful advice for cocktailing and hosting.

    The dates from 1967 align with this year, though the drinks are a little bit different to what we enjoy now…. or are they? (Yeah, for the most part they are.)

    This page is for Summer Coolers. I'm not sure I would categorize a Jack Rose or this "Five-Legged Mule" as summer drinks, but hey I'm just a guy living in 2017. 

     

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    Plus as a bonus, here's the calendar's Party Preparation Guide. The Tips for "Good Mixing" start out well and then…. you'll see. 

     

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    Popular Scotch Cocktails of 1967 – Alcademics.com

  • How to Freeze a Spiralized Lime Inside a Clear Ice Ball Sphere

    Lime Spiral Inside Clear Ice Sphere (18)
    You can freeze pretty much anything inside a clear ice sphere using Directional Freezing, the technique I pioneered here on Alcademics.

     

    As I've written previously, to make clear ice spheres you can use directional freezing with an ice ball mold on top of a thermos-style insulated container.

    Specifically, I use a Thermos Funtainer and this 2.5" ice ball mold as they work perfectly together. 

    Fill both the ice ball mold and the container with water (I use filtered water; no need to distilled or anything). Place the ice ball upside-down atop the thermos. It takes 20 or so hours to freeze in my freezer. 

     

    Photo Mar 27 8 05 06 PM (1) Photo Mar 27 8 02 21 PM

     

     

    Once you understand the basics, you can simply add objects inside the ice ball mold with the water to freeze. Make sure to shake them to get any air bubbles out and fill them to the top. 

    To make this lime spiral, I used this little tool called the Chef'n Lemon-Aid Citrus Spiralizer. I was trying it out and couldn't think of what to do with the spiralized lime once I'd made it. So I popped it into my ice ball mold, froze it overnight, and BEHOLD!

     

    lime spiral inside clear ice ball

    Photo Mar 29 8 29 56 AM

    lime spiral inside clear ice ball

     

    So, that came out pretty awesome. 

     

     

  • Resources for Cocktail Events: Edible Flowers, Dry Ice, and More

    As I do more and more cocktail events in the Bay Area, I find myself turning to Facebook for advice on where to procure bulk items for them. It would be rude of me not to share! 

    Edible Flowers

    Edible-Pansies-Orchids-Sampler_FreshEdiblePansies&OrchidsSampler_1I was looking for edible flowers for an event. One cannot just stick regular flowers into drinks as they contain pesticides and other nasty stuff, so you need to be sure they're appropriately designated as food-safe. 

    You can often find edible flowers in small packs at places like Whole Foods and even Safeway, but should one be looking for a few hundred flowers you need to go bulk. 

    Ultimately I'll probably just end up going in on an order of one of my local bars, but here is what my research turned up: 

     

    Dry Ice

    3F72BA0F-3024-44D3-B220-FF8049C76C11Dry ice is a great party effect, and it turns out it's a lot easier to find than I would have thought. Note that like any ingredient that might go into food, you need to sure you're purchasing food-grade dry ice. I have not fact-checked these except for the first four. 

    • Cash & Carry
    • Molllie Stone's (Castro location for sure – you need to ask at the register)
    • SF Ice
    • Ben's Dry Ice
    • Michaelis Wine & Spirits
    • Bait and Tackle shops
    • Air gas
    • Praxair
    • Smart & Final on 7th Ave in the Richmond
    • Lucky's st Fulton & Masonic

     

    Juices

    I've had a real problem making same-day lime, lemon, and other fresh juices not available in stores (or even juice shops). In one instance I was able to source some from a local bar, but generally speaking for squeezing fresh juices I seem to be on my own.

    I have in the past used a manual juice press to make up to 3-4 liters of juice, but this takes a long time and a lot of effort. Bartenders in the know have recommended that for bulk juicing in the future I purchase a Sunkist juicer. 

     

     

     

    Are there any other bulk event supplies you'd like to know where to source in San Francisco? Please let me know and I'll try to help.

     

     

     

     

  • Popular Scotch Cocktails of 1967

    This year my pal Mike gave me a 1967 calendar from a liquor store. The dates from 1967 align with 2017, and it turns out the liquor store is from my hometown, so as far as gift-giving goes, Mike knocked it out of the park. 

    On the backs of the calendar months are helpful advice for cocktailing and hosting.

    Here is the page for Scotch Drinks to Please Your Fancy. I haven't heard of most of these.

     

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    Here is the calendar front.

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  • San Francisco’s Second-Oldest Drinking Spot

    The bar Elixir was recognized this weekend as being the second oldest (known) drinking location in San Francisco by the wacky historical/drinking club E. Clampus Vitus (aka The Clampers).

    Elixir Plaquing ceremony

    The oldest is the Old Ship Saloon, which was literally a ship dry-docked in what is now the Financial District that was turned into a bar. 

    Elixir dates back to at least 1858 and it has been continually operated as a drinking establishment since then (we know this thanks to the thorough research by The Clampers) - with the exception of the 1906 earthquake and fire when it burned down and was rebuilt, and during Prohibition when it was a soda fountain. 

    Elixi Plaque

    The Mission seems pretty far out for an old drinking establishment, but keep in mind that Mission Dolores nearby is the oldest surviving building still standing in SF dating back to 1791. 

    I attended the event and took a couple of snaps. It was fun because The Clampers are ridiculous and also because the bar's owner, H. Joseph Ehrmann, has been a long-time Clamper himself. Also, there were two-dollar shots of whisky so I didn't get much else done that day.

    H and Ruby at Elixir Plaquing

  • Iceberg Animal Ice Molds Let you Experience Local Cooling in your Glass

    Forgive me, I struggled with that headline. 

    Hey, I found these new kind of ice cube trays (on my regular search of new ice cube trays) that are pretty fun, if not totally clear. (I tried to hack them to make them come out clear, not very hard, but it didn't work.)

    They're animals on top of ice cubes so that they float above the surface of your drink. It's like they're stranded on the rapidly-dissapearing polar ice caps- ADORABLY! 

    As your friendly neighborhood ice reviewer, I felt it my duty to purchase and test these trays. I bought two of them – a larger one and a bargain model. First, that latter. 

    The Fivebop Silicone Polar Ice Cube Molds come in Penguin and Polar Bear shapes. They only cost 13 dollars on Amazon (follow that link). They are smaller than the Monos brand ones – so if you put them in a warm drink they might not last long. I suspect that they're not quite as sturdy as the other ones but they worked well enough!

    Penguins with tray
    Penguins with tray
    Penguins with tray
    Penguins with tray

     

    The monos 3D Ice Cube Mold Savanna comes in two versions: Lion & Hippopotamus Set and the Elephant & Gorilla Set. (They also have a Penguin and Polar Bear set that looks exactly like the Fivebop one but it's not available – not sure what's up with that.) I bought the Lion and Hippo one, as you can see from the below. 

    Hippo outside1
    Hippo outside1
    Hippo outside1
    Hippo outside1
    Hippo outside1

     

     Good times with ice! 

    For all of the ice experiments on Alcademics, including how to make perfectly clear ice with Directional Freezing, see the Index of Ice Experiments Page.

     

     

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  • Oxymel: The Other Vinegar Drink

    I've reported on shrubs (vinegar-based fruit syrups) for years, and only a couple years ago learned about switchels. Now I've just learned about Oxymel.

    A while back I posted on the difference between a shrub and a switchel, thanks to Brandon Wise of Imperial in Portland, OR.

    Recently, Humberto Marques, Owner/manager of Curfew Cocktail Bar in Copenhagen, sent me a recipe with oxymel in it. I needed to know more.

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    51g9Iz9dbKLA quick internet search reveals this definition from Emily Han, author of the book Wild Drinks & Cocktails: Handcrafted Squashes, Shrubs, Switchels, Tonics, and Infusions to Mix at Home:

    DRINKING VINEGARS AT A GLANCE:

    • SHRUB = VINEGAR + SWEETENER + FRUIT … AND SOMETIMES HERBS AND SPICES

    • SWITCHEL = VINEGAR + SWEETENER + GINGER … AND SOMETIMES RUM

    • OXYMEL = VINEGAR + HONEY + HERBS

     

    Darcy O'Neil also has a good post about oxymel and other vinegar drinks.

     

     

    Marques repeated some info he posted at Liquor.com here, plus shared a recipe.

    Here is is:

    Scarborough Fair by Simon & Garfunkel (by Humberto Marques of Curfew Cocktail Bar)

    3cl Parsley, sage , rosemary and thyme Oxymel
    5cl Tanqueray gin
    3cl apple& rosehip marmalade
    4cl lemon juice
    1,5cl frangelico

    Shake all the ingredients and strain into a cocktail glass
    Garnish: hazelnut powder floating

    Herbs oxymel- 1 liter
    in a blender:
    2- sprig of parsley, sage , rosemary and thyme
    1 litter of acacia honey
    280ml apple cider vinegar

    Liquidise in the blender , strain and filter , keep refrigerated.

     

    Thanks Humberto!

     

     

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