Blog

• Using Untreated Water to Proof Whiskey

  Many distilleries brag about their pure water supply, but typically that water is only used for fermentation, and then reverse osmosis filtered or distilled tap water is used to dilute spirits down to bottle proof. So the quantity of that special water left in the bottle is small – in the case of vodka it's just a few percent. 

  Some producers claim to use special water but then do the RO or distillation to it to remove minerals and other organic matter from it for bottling, making the special water a lot less special.

  That's what I suspected was going on when I noticed that on the new Lucky Thirteen bottling from Widow Jane bourbon the label says, "Pure limestone water from the legendary Rosendale mines of NY." 

  So I asked their PR team for clarification- it would be pretty unusual to be using untreated/filtered water.

  I heard back from Lisa Wicker, President and Head Distiller for Widow Jane. She wrote: 

  It is very unusual to use mineral-rich water for proofing! When I “inherited” proofing using water from the Rosendale limestone mines, it took me a while to determine how to handle it. We worked with water engineers on a withdrawal system that does not strip the minerals. The water tests beautifully, it does not need to be treated. Our cave is under lock and key for purity and we hold the only permit of its' kind in New York for withdrawing cave water as an ingredient. Finally, we “polish” the whiskey without chill and conventional filtration, which would have stripped the minerality out that makes Widow Jane whiskey, “Widow Jane.”

  So, it turns out that they do something that I think is pretty unique. I will have to see if I can detect any mineralogy when I taste it. 

  

  Photo: Michele Clark

   

   

  September 27, 2021

• The Big Non-Alcoholic Spirits Taste Test

  For a long time I've been tracking the increasing number of non-alcoholic spirits. There are now more than 115 brands on the market. 

  I've also made hundreds of non-alcoholic cocktails with these n/a spirits (mostly Seedlip) for events, when there used to be events pre-Covid. In my opinion, these products do not perform well when you taste them neat, nor when they are mixed with carbonated beverages like soda water and tonic water.

   

  

   

  I have found that taste good when mixed in a basic Daiquiri or with a strongly flavored syrup, as in these recipes I shared a couple years back. Since then, I've received a lot more n/a spirits in the mail – I share new products on Instagram by the way, in case you're not already following the @alcademics account over there. 

  So I decided to lead a tasting of all the non-alcoholic spirits in my house in a Daiquiri format. Actually, I didn't taste them at all – I invited three bartenders over to my house to do it. I made one batch of sweet-and-sour mix (lime, simple syrup) and added equal parts of each n/a spirit to it. The bartenders tasted them all and I wrote down their impressions, which are recorded below. 

  After we tasted all of them, the bartenders went back through and tasted them unmixed. Boy did that ever give different reactions! And that confirmed that trying these products neat really doesn't reveal all that much about how they'll taste mixed. 

  We tried 11 gins or herbal spirits, 2 tequilas, 2 rums, and the Three Spirit line of herbal beverages. 

  The tasting notes are below (from the bartenders, opinions are not mine), and some conclusions I wrote down after the tasting notes. 

  

   

  Gin/Botanical Spirits

  1. Bowser Leaf –
  1. lots of licorice, playdough, elmer's glue
  2. cloves
  3. I like it, I don't think it's a gin though. Little bit of a piney finish, mentholy
  2. Seedlip Spice
  1. cloves, allspice, warm spices, like chai – cardamom,
  2. overpowering in this application but in another application it could be useful
  3. Wilderton Luster
  1. tastes like earl gray tea to everyone – tannic drying oversteeped tea
  2. acid- citric acid
  3. very low rated
  4. Sipsong Indira Tea
  1. cumin? culinary spice , caraway
  2. not so aggressive after a couple of sips
  3. "that doesn't taste like gin" – taste like Kummel
  5. Seedlip Garden
  1. they all identified it blind as seedlip garden
  2. it's its own flavor; not trying to be gin
  3. everyone enjoys
  6. Lyre's London Spirit
  1. this is bangin' i like this; banana candy; banana runts
  2. real bitter finish though,
  3. tastes like candy but that's a hard finish
  4. (turns out the finish is quinine)
  7. Damrak 0.0
  1. most like water to me
  2. a touch of apple and pear but that could be me grasping
  3. it lets the citrus shine
  4. expensive water
  8. Ginnocense
  1. taste reminds me of something chewy
  2. playdough on the nose
  3. taffy notes
  4. not gin-like
  9. Wilderton Earthen
  1. omg why! terrible
  2. cinnamon ret hots – dried out,
  3. not good in a daiquiri
  4. "sour cinnamon" and that doesn't go well together
  10. Seedlip Grove
  1. it's bitter, resiny
  2. I would not be surprised if this is what  juniper does in water distillation
  3. Musty, like when you walk into a thrift store
  4. Tastes more like gin – resiny but mellow; not the bright herby of the gin but not citrusy
  5. "interesting" i don't dislike it; it's weird, need a better application for it
  11. Fleure Floral Blend
  1. neutral
  2. wood thing going on, woody
  3. a finish more than a flavor; i don't get much

   

  Rum

  1. Fleure Spice Cane Dark Roast
  1. smells like rum, spiced rum, bubblegum
  2. smells like coffee cake
  3. workable as a rum; but rum is easier than other spirits
  4. sweeter – i feel like this has sugar in it
  5. I dont hate it but it tastes like coffee
  2. Ritual Rum Alternative
  1. banana bread
  2. tropical fruit
  3. cadaverine /decay
  4. I lke this! tastes like a daiquiri, butterscotch, caramel, but good in a daiquiri
  5. Everyone enjoys and prefers this one

   

  Tequila/Agave

  1. Fleure  Smoked Agave
  1. liquid smoke
  2. i don't hate that
  3. burnt rubber but not in a bad way; iodine
  4. everyone likes it !  – but not on its own; in this margarita
  2. Ritual Tequila Alternative
  1. "it has the cuervo smell"; mixto
  2. taste is more fruity but it smells like tequila – "smells like bad decisions"
  3. there's actual heat – spicy note – too spicy – spicy margarita
  4. pepper spice; not alcohol spice – too much of the spicness; maybe better in a long drink; if it was intended as a spicy margarita it would be fine
  5.  

   

  Liqueur Fleure Raspberry Blend

  1. soapy
  2. raspberries and violets
  3. pink lemonade –
  4. could use it as a modifier but not a base spirit – but cheaper to use raspberries in a cocktail rather than this product – could be useful as a martini style drink where you don't want to add sugar

   

   

  Herbal Liqueurs (these were tasted neat; not in a Daiquiri)

  1. Three Spirit Livener
  1. smells like tea, tastes a little like prune juice
  2. not a fan of this
  3. tons of warm spices
  4. capsaicin
  5. 1 didn't hate it, 2 hated it
  2. Three Spirit Social Elixir
  1. molasses
  2. bitter, burnt caramel
  3. not pleasant
  4. i could sub that for Averna in a cocktail
  3. Three Spirit  Nightcap
  1. something sour in the smell
  2. kinda like it – juicy
  3. spice in all of them, well integrated
  4. favorite of the Three Spirit line
  5. after-dinner beverage, one bartender would serve it as a digestif to a non-drinker after dinner

  Conclusions of this Tasting:

  • This is a good way to taste/compare these products. When we went back through to taste them neat, bartenders had some radically different opinions; particularly with regard to the spicy notes that may have gone unnoticed mixed. 
  • Lyre's London Spirit- people liked flavor a lot but didn't like the quinine finish at all.
  • Seedlip Garden was enjoyed and identified easily – the favorite product of the whole tasting.
  • Seedlip Grove was considered interesting and generally well-received.
  • Every one wished there was juniper present in the gins, and found that none had any detectable. So none were really gin substitutes.
  • "I wish more of them were better" said one bartender. 
  • The rums and tequilas overall tasted more like their alcoholic versions. 

   

  

   

  July 14, 2021

• Grid Patterned Ice, Plus Blueberries and Cherries

  I made some fun ice, as I tend to do. 

  For the grid ice, I first made ice using the Ghost Ice tray, then I just set it on a cookie drying rack that I heated up on the stove burner. I think it looks like the tardis from Dr. Who. 

  
  
  
  

   

   

  For these cubes, I used the Dexas trays (purchase links here). For the cherry, I used a binder clip and clipped the stem sticking out of the top hole in the tray. 

  The blueberries – some floated and some sunk, so it turned out great with no effort. 

  
  
  
  
  

   

   

  July 13, 2021

• Ice Jenga

  I bought some collins-sized ice cube trays (these ones) and decided to make an ice spear version of Jenga. I mean, why not? 

  I didn't expect it would actually work. I mean, it didn't work all that well but I was able to get three out! Probably the second two on the bottom only came out because those ones had melted the most, but I'll take it. 

  Here are some pictures. Your mileage may vary. 

   

  
  
  
  
  
  
  

   

  February 28, 2021

• Striped Ice

  I made striped ice cubes.

  

  The first time I made striped ice was just before I figured out directional freezing to make clear ice. Having realized that the cloudiness in ice was caused by trapped air and not minerals, I tried to pour very thin layers of water in a tray so that the air might fizz off when the layer froze. It did not work, but it did make cool stripey ice. 

  

  So just for fun I decided to make some striped ice cubes. Using the Dexas IceOlogy tray (my recommendations for ice tools are all here) I filled the water up to the bottom of the tray, let it freeze, then added another layer, let it freeze, then repeated this a couple more times. You should be able to accomplish this more or less with a conventional ice cube tray. 

  So each layer is a clear part and a cloudy part. I still like the taste of clear ice better, but these cubes are fun. There are three cubes in the glass.

  
  
  

  The index of ice experiment on Alcademics is here. 

   

  February 23, 2021

• A Clear Ice Story at VinePair

  VinePair writer Tim McKirdy wrote a story on How to Create Perfectly Clear Ice, so naturally he included Directional Freezing, and the method I created way back in 2009 using a picnic cooler. 

  This is just a quick post to link to it so that I don't forget. Check it out here.

   

  

  February 19, 2021

• Clear Ice with Quotes from Me in Men’s Journal

  Men's Journal did a story on directional freezing highlighting my cooler method of 11 years ago. Spoiler: It still works. 

  Check it out here. 

   

  

   

   

  January 18, 2021

• Ice in the Wall Street Journal

  I was interviewed for a story on ice that appeared in the Wall Street Journal this week. 

  Here's the story link if you have subscriber access. 

  The intro part that mentions me is below. 

  
  
  

  January 16, 2021

• Double Layered Clear Ice Cube Trays In A Cooler

  A few years back. a couple different ice adventurers figured out that you can use a silicone ice cube tray to make clear cubes in a directional freezing system (an insulated cooler in a freezer) simply by poking holes in the bottom of the tray, setting the tray on a small riser (to give a place for the cloudy water to get pushed down through), and filling the cooler only to the level of the top of the silicone tray. 

  When frozen, you can pry out the tray from the block and your cubes are shaped like cubes. Here's the first post where the process was shown.

   

  

   

  More recently, Shawn Soole of Soole Hospitality and the Post Shift Podcast messaged me to suggest: If you can do it with one layer of trays, can you put another tray underneath it, also with holes and get two sets of cubes at once? 

  Great question! 

  I decided to try it and the answer is yes. However, as you'll see by scrolling through the pictures, the first tray is easy to ply off the frozen block. The second one: Not So Much. I was able to chip it out using an ice pick though. It took a while but not forever. 

  My conclusion about this is: Yes it works!

  But is is practical? I think it would be if you had ice cube trays nearly the size of the whole cooler. Otherwise you're doing what I did, which is chipping off most of the cooler-sized block just to get two trays worth of cubes. It would be more efficient if I put in these two trays side by side so I only had to freeze a few inches of the block.

  Someone please make an ice cube tray that's exactly cooler size, please! 

  I be you could do it with the Ghost Ice system, but you'd have to cut up a second tray (and those suckers ain't cheap) to place beneath the top tray, and leave it in the freezer twice as long. That might be efficient in some systems where you need to leave the tray in the freezer over the weekend, but probably for most people it would be simpler to just do one layer at a time. 

  So I'm going with: Theory proven. Reality? Not so efficient. 

   

  Steps:

  1. poke holes in the bottom of 2 2" silicon cube trays
  2. make a riser (I used a take-out container top)
  3. set trays on top of riser, fill cooler to top of top tray. Freeze for about 3 days.
  4. The "mystery pillar" was particularly tall in this case. I had to remove it before the block was fully frozen.
  5. Remove block when finished. The first tray pulls off pretty easily. The second one might have to be chipped out of the block with ice picks.
  6. The ice is pretty clear, just some streaking and one partially-cloudy cube comes out. 

   

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  And remember to check out the full list of Ice Experiments on Alcademics for tons of awesome ice projects. 

   

  January 11, 2021

• Fruit Bowl and Other Ice Projects Made in a Punch Cooler

  Josh Colquitt [facebook page] contacted me on Facebook to share some clear ice work he's been doing. He has been filling a punch cooler (aka "beverage dispenser") with water and freezing with the top off inside a big top-loading freezer. 

  The cooler freezes from top to bottom via directional freezing, leaving him with a big round cylinder of ice to use. He then carves stuff out of it using power tools. 

  He gave me permission to share pictures of his work, including a huge punch/fruit bowl and other objects. I'd never seen anyone use that container before, great stuff. 

   

  All of the ice projects on Alcademics can be found on this page. 

   

  
  
  

  
  
  
  

  December 29, 2020

agave alcademics Angostura bartenders bitters bodega bourbon bowmore Campari Camper English chartreuse clear clear ice cocktail cocktail powder cocktails cognac curacao dehydrated dehydrated liqueurs dehydration directional freezing distillery distillery tour distillery visit france freezing objects in ice hakushu harvest history how to make clear ice ice ice balls ice carving ice cubes ice experiments isle of jura jerez liqueur makepage making clear ice mexico midori molasses orange orange liqueur penthouse pisco potato powder production recipe Recipes rum san francisco scotch scotch whisky sherry spain spirits sugar sugarcane sweden tales of the cocktail tequila tour triple sec visit vodka whiskey whisky