Author: Camper English
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Halloween Ice Round-Up
I'm a total sucker for Halloween, and my only artistic medium is ice, so every year I do a post or two or three with dumb stuff I've frozen into cubes, blocks, etc. Here is a round-up and gallery of some: Halloween Ice: Magic Wand and Plastic Rat Halloween Ice: Severed Hand in Ice Block…
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Monks can’t make enough of this famous spirit. Can an alternative from S.F. replace it?
For the San Francisco Chronicle, I wrote about the Chartreuse shortage and how some bartenders are looking locally to Brucato Chaparral as a stand-in.
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Here’s How to Make Perfect Clear Ice for Cocktails
Sunset Magazine published several excerpts and lovely photos in this story. Read it here, or just pick up a copy of The Ice Book, or join me in one of my Ice Bling Classes!
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Whiskey and the New Ice Age on Wine-Searcher
In a new story on Wine-Searcher, W. Blake Gray covers ice and whiskey: Are you ruining your prized Pappy van Winkle with the wrong ice cube? Whiskey lovers spend a lot of time pursuing the best one-off bottlings. But you may not have put much thought into the only thing generally added to good whiskey:…
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A Guide to the Best Types of Ice for Cocktails
For this article on Liquor.com, writer Audrey Morgan interviewed Don Lee and I extensively. Whether it’s the mountain of crushed ice on a Mint Julep or a single oversized rock in an Old Fashioned, the right ice can set the right mood, and take a drink from good to great. “Ice serves several functions in…
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A Mention of The Ice Book in the New York Times Magazine
I had a little unexpected treat today, when I saw The Ice Book mentioned in this story "Is Ice the Ultimate Luxury?" in T, the New York Times Magazine. This is the third time the New York Times has written about my little book on ice cubes!
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Distillation in Ancient India? Not So Fast
After reading my book Doctors and Distillers, Harold McGee (On Food and Cooking) pointed out to me that proof of distillation in ancient India (supposedly from the fifth century BCE) is not as well established as previously thought. Many histories on distillation cite work from 1979 that claims that elephant head stills were found along…
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How to Make Big Clear Ice for Your Distillery Bar – Distiller Magazine
I wrote a story for Distiller Magazine about the various ways to implement a big ice program. It was written with distilleries (that have sampling bars) in mind – they often have a lot of floor space, but even those with distillery bars don't often have a ton of freezer space. I tried to be…
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Smoothing Uneven Ice Spheres With An Ice Ball Press
In this experiment, I started with ice spheres made in a thermos. These come out pretty great in general, but not perfect. So I decided to compare smoothing them to see if I could make them perfectly round and with a smooth surface using these Cocktail Kingdom ice ball presses. The large first one, as…