Author: Camper English
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How to Pick Potatoes
Earlier this month I visited Cape Bjare, Sweden to learn about Karlsson's Vodka. Karlsson's is made from a blend of seven heiroom "virgin new" potatoes. This means that the skin hasn't fully developed into the brown stuff we recognize here in the States. In Sweden, restaurants serve these little tiny potatoes as a delicacy (I…
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Camper English: Penthouse Model
In the June issue of Penthouse, I have a travel story about my trip with Dos Equis to Playa Del Carmen. You can read the original posts here on Alcademics in part one, part two, and part three. I've written for Penthouse previously, but this is the first time I've appeared in its pages…
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Carved Ice Balls: Starter Molds
Here's a method that gets ice balls started using the cooler method for making clear ice. This comes courtesy of Dave Michalowski, for I saw it on his Facebook page and asked if I could steal his pictures to share. Thanks Dave! He says, "I am using the round containers for the ice balls. I…
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The Humble Potato and the Dangers of Monoculture
Recently I watch the documentary The Botany of Desire on Netflix, based on the Michael Pollan book of the same name. Of the four plants they focussed on, one was the potato. And as I was planning a trip to visit a potato vodka distillery, I decided to take notes. The Origin of the Potato…
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Tales of the Cocktail Preview: The Chainsaw Shift
This is a preview of a seminar that will be given at Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans, which takes place July 20-24, 2011. The Chainsaw Shift There are two seminars this year at Tales about setting up an ice program. I'm pretty sure this one will be the only one with chainsaws though. The other, How…
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All About Orris: Harvest in Tuscany
In Tuscany on a botanical trip with Bombay Sapphire, we learned how the orris root is grown and processed to use in the gin. Orris root is the rhizome of the Iris flower. Here in Tuscany they are grown on sloping hills between rows of olive trees. Nice space. These iris flowers are not grown…
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Picking Juniper Berries in Tuscany: A Photo Album
In May I visited Italy to learn more about the botanicals used in Bombay Sapphire. From Tuscany they get both the juniper berries and orris used in the gin. In the rolling hills of Tuscany at high elevations where there are few trees and many wildflowers are found the juniper bushes. They're kind of ugly,…
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In Which I Blather On About…
…cocktail snobs versus geeks, micro and macro trends in cocktails, what drinks win cocktail contests, why I'm not sick of speakeasies, and much, much more. Read this interview with me on Mix Pour Sip.
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A Thousand Year Old Drunken Regret Letter
For my book club I read the book Foreign Devils on the Silk Road by Peter Hopkirk. It's about European explorers finding and raiding the artwork of abandonded and sand-buried cities along the silk road. In a chapter on finding a hidden library of ancient scrolls at Tun-huang, the author notes (page 175) that they found "a…