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Testing Out the Rabbit Clear Ice Tray
I received a sample of the forthcoming Rabbit Clear Ice Cube Tray, which will be "only available at Bed Bath & Beyond starting in the fall," though I don't see it on the site yet. I'll link to it when it goes live.

Now it's available here.

The predicted retail price is $19.99, far less expensive than any other clear ice tray on the market.
Brand Images
As you can probably tell from the images, this ice cube tray takes advantage of Directional Freezing, the technique I pioneered here on Alcademics.

What is not visible is that each of the four blue ice cube holders has a hole in the bottom, so you fill the tray with more water than fits in the cube part alone. Directional freezing (from the top to the bottom since the sides are all insulated) will cause trapped air and impurities to push down into the bottom of the chamber, leaving the top (the entire ice cube) very clear.

To remove the ice cubes, you pull the plastic part out of the base cooler, and pop the cubes out of the tray. My first trial with this was quick and painless. Below are pictures from my first trial.

Takes up a "row" of freezer space

Pull out the top tray from the insulation and run warm water over to remove cubes easily

The remainder of ice beneath the tray. I didn't let them freeze completely so they look more clear than they'd be if completely frozen.

Pros: The price point is great; and it's a good proof-of-concept of a directional freezing tray. It's easy to use, and it will probably be a big gift this holiday season. If you take photos of cocktails at home, you can finally not have the ugly white bits in your cubes.

Cons: It's large; taking up a good chunk of freezer space, and you only get one highball glass worth of ice cubes out of it. The cubes aren't super big, so while you may impress yourself/your guests with your clear ice cubes, you're not going to blow their minds as you might with a 2-inch cube.

Related articles

Clear Ice Cubes Using a Tray in a Cooler

Make Perfectly Clear Ice Balls Using Insulated Mugs

Testing Out An Electric Cocktail Mixer (With Slo-Mo Video!)
September 8, 2016
Why Sherry Cask Whiskies are Aged in Spanish Oak But Sherry is Aged in American Oak Casks

This is a simple point but one I didn’t know before. Often you’ll see that scotch and other whiskies are aged in Spanish oak barrels that previously held sherry. However, I’ve always been told the barrels in the sherry soleras are American oak. What gives?

Thanks to Billy Leighton, Head Blender at Midleton Distillery, I have an answer. He says that yes, the true barrels on the sherry soleras are American oak and as old as possible. They do not want wood influence in sherry so the barrels don’t lend any flavor.

Traditionally, sherry was shipped to the UK in barrels (rather than bottles), and for that they would use the much less expensive/lower quality (at least at the time; I can’t speak for that now) Spanish oak casks, rather than American oak ones.

After being emptied, those casks would have been the ones reused to age scotch and other whiskies.

The Redbreast Lustau Edition is aged in ex-bourbon American oak barrels and sherry conditioned Spanish oak casks.

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Live from Jerez: Redbreast Whisky Launches new Lustau Edition

September 7, 2016
The Return of Blue Drinks: A Story from 2012

People are all excited about blue drinks these days, but I first wrote about their return in 2012. Since Details magazine went away and the story is no longer online, I rescued this story from the Internet Archives.

Memories….

TUESDAY, JULY 31, 2012

Food + Drinks

Blue Cocktails Are Back—and Now They're Ironic

After years of worshiping brown spirits and classic drinks, booze fans at this year's Tales of the Cocktail convention in New Orleans turned the spotlight on a new color: blue. In particular, the sometimes-neon liqueur blue curaçao—often reviled as the antithesis of all things vintage and authentic—is back.

Blue drinks have long been a mixologists' in-joke. When bartenders were getting serious about pre-Prohibition cocktails about five years ago, jet-setting New Zealand bartender Jacob Briars invented the Corpse Reviver Number Blue, a piss-take on the sacrosanct classic Corpse Reviver #2 that was enjoying a major comeback.

Since then, he and other bartenders have been practicing "sabluetage"—spiking the drinks of unwitting victims with blue curaçao when no one is looking. The forbidden liqueur can now be found on the menus of a few of the world's best cocktail bars, including Jasper's Corner Tap in San Francisco, PDT in New York City (where it's mixed with other unfashionable ingredients, such as Frangelico and cream), and London's Artesian Bar (winner of the World's Best Hotel Bar award this week), where a new blue drink—called Blue Lagoon—also features Sprite and bubble tea.

What has spawned this artistic blue period? According to a panel discussion on the topic this weekend, blue-curaçao-cocktail recipes date back as far as 1908 (predating the margarita and even the original Corpse Reviver #2), but the reappearance of the ingredient is likely more an elitists' embracing of the down-market and absurd—the mixological equivalent of trucker hats among fashion's hipoisie several years ago.

There is also a consensus that perhaps everyone is taking all this classic-cocktail stuff a bit too seriously. Today's top bartenders may be walking encyclopedias of cocktail knowledge, but they're also aware that no one goes to a bar to hear an encyclopedia reading. Blue drinks are a reminder that drinking is supposed to be fun.

"At the end of the day, people want to have a good time," says Artesian's head barman, Alex Kratena, as he demonstrated making his drink for the Tales of the Cocktail audience. Of course, his cheeky blue bubble-tea drink will run you about $23 back in London. If you're willing to sacrifice the cool factor, you could always join the hordes of partying tourists on Bourbon Street, one block away from the convention, gulping down blue drinks that are served in souvenir plastic cups—for half the price. Irony, as always, costs extra.

—Camper English is an international cocktails and spirits writer and the publisher of alcademics.com.

August 31, 2016
All About Pechuga Mezcal: Meat Infused Agave Spirits
A few years ago (Feb 2014) I wrote a story about pechuga mezcal, one of the most in-depth ones I'd seen at the time. The story was for Details.com, and the website (and magazine) no longer exist. Thinking it's a shame that the story disappeared (the URL now redirects to the front page of GQ's website) I am pasting it here.

Would You Like the Chicken, the Turkey, or the Rabbit? Inside the Weird World of Meat-Distilled Mezcals

In anticipation of a new ham-flavored mezcal, our cocktail maven traces the roots of pechuga, the oddest bird in the agave-based spirit family.

By Camper English

This March, chef José Andrés' restaurant Oyamel in Washington D.C. will be the first place to debut Del Maguey's new Ibérico, a mezcal made with ham that costs $200 per bottle. The pig parts are a new thing dreamed up by the Spanish chef, but there is a history of putting animals into mezcal in Mexico that dates back a few hundred years before bartenders dabbled with bacon infusions.

Most mezcals with meat available in the U.S. are known as "pechuga" mezcals; the word is Spanish for "breast." (Let's get this out of the way: We're not talking about mezcals with "worms" in the bottle, which are added afterward and are not actually worms, but usually arean indicator of a crappy product.) The first pechuga on the U.S. market came from Del Maguey; it is the same as the vegetarian Del Maguey Minero but infused with fruit, rice, and other ingredients and redistilled with a chicken breast hanging from strings inside the still. The technique isn't unique in the spirits world; many gins are made in a similar method called vapor infusion. Just not with livestock.

Odder still, there is actually a market for this stuff. Several other brands—like Pierde Almas,Fidencio, Real Minero, Tosba, La Niña del Mezcal, Benesin, and El Jolgorio sell pechuga mezcals, though most use turkey (guajolote) rather than chicken. Pierde Almas also sells a conejo mezcal, which swaps in a rabbit, and I've heard a few mentions of a venison mezcal in Mexico, though it's not available in the U.S..

From left: Chicken breast suspended during distillation; Del Maguey's pechuga bottle.

HISTORICAL ROOTS

If you ask the folks behind the mezcal companies, they'll tell you the pechuga tradition dates back centuries. The producers of Del Maguey's pechuga trace it back at least 75 years, and the creators of El Jolgorio say it's been around for 100 years through five generations of distillers. (This information comes through mezcal importers, rather than the small distillers living in remote villages in Oaxaca who may not even have phones to give interviews, let alone Internet.)

According to the son-in-law of the distiller at Mezcal Vago (which has a corn-infused mezcal called Elote), the neighbors would request a special-occasion treat for events like weddings and baptisms. So the distiller got the idea to take the mezcal he'd already made, infuse it with dried corn from the family farm, and distill it another time. It proved so popular that they began bottling it commercially along with the base mezcal.

WHAT'S REALLY INSIDE

Del Maguey's version includes, in addition to the hanging chicken breast, an infusion of wild mountain apples and plums, plantains, pineapples, almonds, and uncooked white rice. According to importer Ron Cooper, the chicken balances the fruit. Fidencio's pechuga uses plantains, apples, pineapple, guava, and sometimes quince and pear, says Canadian importer Eric Lorenz. He also notes that Pierde Almas' version uses some combination of those ingredients, plus cloves, star anise, and a bag of rice, and then either turkey breast or rabbit.

The fruits and spices, in all likelihood, once helped mask the taste of some lackluster mezcal in the early days of distillation in Mexico. Today, however, most if not all of the pechuga-style mezcals are made from the same mezcal that the importers sell unflavored—so you could try the before- and after iterations in a taste test if you like.

Some of these ingredients are seasonally driven. El Jolgorio pechuga is made around the Feast of the Virgen de los Remedios (near September 1), while most others are made later in the year (November). The makers of Fidencio say their product is made specifically during the quince harvest.

"Basically, when they had something to celebrate like harvest abundance," Lorenz says, "they pulled out all the stops to do so, including making their usual beverage better for this and other special occasions."

BUT DOES IT TASTE LIKE CHICKEN?

Cooper, the founder-importer of Del Maguey and basically the guy who kicked off the whole mezcal renaissance, says the taste of chicken mezcal is quasi-feminine when compared to the more masculine ham version. Other tasters rely on textural descriptions, invoking the words umami and unctuous for these mezcals.

"Among the 15 or so pechugas I've tasted, truly the most prominent flavor in all of these is undoubtedly the fruit components," Lorenz admits. When I'm feeling extremely on my game (and when I'm no longer sober), I can indeed detect mild chicken- or turkey-broth hints . . . and I'm pretty sure those are the typical conditions under which everyone else believes they can detect the taste of the meat as well."

Perhaps it's easiest to think about these meaty mezcals like the strawberry-rhubarb pie your grandmother bakes from ingredients in her garden that she brings to the family-reunion picnic—a long-standing homemade delicacy for special occasions. But instead of fruit in a pie, it's a carcass in agave juice.

As for Andrés' Del Maguey Ibérico: It may not be like drinking bacon-flavored tequila, but it is made with the finest free-range, acorn-fed, black-footed Ibérico pig flown in from Spain. And I bet his family reunions are one hell of a good time. Where can you try it if you're not in D.C.? See our list below:

26 AMERICAN BARS THAT SERVE PECHUGA MEZCAL,
IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER
1. OYAMEL, WASHINGTON D.C.
2. LA URBANA, SAN FRANCISCO
3. PRIZEFIGHTER, EMERYVILLE, CALIFORNIA
4. THE PASTRY WAR, HOUSTON, TEXAS
5. WILLIAMS & GRAHAM, DENVER
6. JIMMY'S, ASPEN, COLORADO
7. MEZCALERIA OAXACA, SEATTLE
8. LIBERTY, SEATTLE
9. MAYAHUEL, NEW YORK CITY
10. TACO LU, JACKSONVILLE BEACH, FLORIDA
11. TEQUILA MUSEO MAYAHUEL, SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA
12. VERDE, PITTSBURGH
13. CANTINA MAYAHUEL, SAN DIEGO
14. PORT FONDA, KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI
15. ESQUIRE TAVERN, SAN ANTONIO
16. LAS PERLAS, LOS ANGELES
17. GUELAGUETZA, LOS ANGELES
18. MOSTO, SAN FRANCISCO
19. CASA MEZCAL, NEW YORK CITY
20. HILLTOP KITCHEN, TACOMA, WASHINGTON
21. AÑEJO TEQUILERIA, MANHATTAN, NEW YORK
22. PENCA RESTAURANT, TUCSON, ARIZONA
23. LONE STAR TACO BAR, ALLSTON, MASSACHUSETTS
24. COMAL, BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA
25. SCOPA ITALIAN ROOTS, LOS ANGELES
26. MASA AZUL, CHICAGO
August 29, 2016
With Pokemon Ice Balls You Can Catch All The Drinks
Pokemon Go is taking America by storm, but if you want in on the action without leaving the comfort of your home bar you might try making these Pokemon-themed ice balls instead.

The process is really easy. I did it with two different sized ice ball molds:
- These smaller (roughly 2 inch diameter) Final Touch ice ball molds
- These large 2.5 inch diameter Arctic Chill ice ball molds
Step 1: Fill the bottom half of an ice ball mold with red liquid. I used cranberry juice in one (the darker one) and one of the red flavors of Gatorade in the other. Let it freeze overnight.

Step 2: Chill some water. Put it in the refrigerator for a long time, then into the freezer for 20-30 minutes so it is just above freezing. You don't want to add hot water to the mold or it will make the red color bleed into the other half of the ice ball.

Step 3: Attach the top of the mold and fill the other half with the cold water.

Step 4: Wait for it to freeze then pop it out and catch all the drinks.
These Pokemon ice balls would be fun in non-alcoholic Pokemon cocktails or perhaps in a Pokemon Gin & Tonic.

Related articles

Clear Ice Cubes Using a Tray in a Cooler

A New Clear Ice Ball Maker That Seems To Work Okay

Make Perfectly Clear Ice Balls Using Insulated Mugs

Fact-Checking the Clear Ice Balls Method
July 13, 2016
The Difference Between Bitter Almonds, Sweet Almonds, and Stone Fruit Seeds
The difference between almonds, bitter almonds, "bitter almonds," and stone fruit pits/seeds like apricot, peach, and cherry can be very confusing. This post will hopefully help sort that out.

Almond trees come in either sweet or bitter varieties. Sweet almonds are the ones you eat, and considered safe.

Bitter almonds contain cyanide precursors and are not commercially available in the United States. According to Wikipedia, "Bitter almonds may yield from 4–9 mg of hydrogen cyanide per almond and contain 42 times higher amounts of cyanide than the trace levels found in sweet almonds."

The FDA requires that bitter almond oils are “free from prussic acid (cyanide).”

But bitter almond liqueurs like Disaronno and Luxardo Amaretto contain bitter almonds. Well, yes and not really. These liqueurs contain the oil of "bitter almonds," which is how they refer to the seeds of stonefruit.

Disaronno only uses apricot pits in their formulation, while Luxardo uses all three of the stone fruits. The stone fruit seeds are crushed and distilled, leaving behind the dangerous parts. The bitter almond oil is collected and used to flavor the liqueurs.

I bought some almonds, peach seeds, and apricot seeds online. As you can see, the unsafe "bitter almonds" just look like smaller sweet almonds.

In short:
- Almonds are sweet almonds.
- Bitter almonds are a type of high-cyanide-containing almonds, but also:
- "Bitter almonds" you see for sale/on ingredient lists are usually the seeds of stone fruit like apricots, cherries, and peaches.
According to the TTB: "Bitter Almond Oil produced from the pits of Bitter Almond, Peach, Apricot or Cherry must be free from Prussic Acid (FFPA) as determined by the AOAC Method 973.19." So no matter which type of bitter almond one chooses, it must be free of cyanide.

Another note: There is some confusion (or at least I had some) about whether those stone fruits that resemble almonds are the pits or the seeds of the fruit. Pits are the containers of the seeds, and the seeds are the things that look like tree almonds. So in the picture, you can see that the sweet almonds refers to the seeds, which are surrounded by the pits.

For practical (rather than botanical) purposes, these seeds can also be called kernels.

Related articles

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July 6, 2016
Watch Me Say Things About Japanese Bartending in this Awesome Short Film

Alan Kropf and Matthew Noel made a short film about Japanese bartending in which they interviewed knowledgeable US bartenders, filmed working Japanese bartenders, and also had me say a few things. I sound smart, so you know the editing was great 🙂

But seriously they did a great job on the 17-minute featurette and I think it summarizes the uniqueness of the Japanese bartending style, technique, service, and of course, ice-handling.

Check it out here:

June 22, 2016
What They Got Right – and Wrong – at ABV in San Francisco

ABV in San Francisco won the Best New Cocktail Bar award at Tales of the Cocktail in 2015.

I decided to interview one of the owners, Ryan Fitzgerald, on what he feels they did right and wrong, and what changed from initial plans, when opening it.

There are some really good and interesting tips for other bar owners to consider; stuff about bar ergonomics and having bartenders working the floor.

Check out the story here.

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June 1, 2016
What to Talk About, When you Talk About Armagnac

I wrote a piece for Liquor.com on armagnac – not so much on armagnac generally, but on how bartenders might quickly describe to customers armagnac and how it's different from cognac.

I asked a bunch of people what language they use, and took the best responses.

The story is here.

May 25, 2016
Vodka Made from Fog Water on Popular Science

In my latest story for PopularScience.com, I wrote about the new Hangar 1 Fog Point Vodka, which was diluted with fog-harvested water from San Francisco; most of it from beneath Sutro Tower on Twin Peaks.

In another deviation from their standard blend of grain spirit with grape, this product is distilled from 100% biodynamic wine from Bonny Doon – they actually purchased it in bottle, dumped the bottles and distilled.

Then the batch was diluted with 1000 liters of fog water that had been boiled and filtered through carbon.

Yesterday I visited Tilden Park in the East Bay, where a volunteer has two fog catchers hidden on the steep hills. It was unfortunately sunny, but our guide squirted water from a spray bottle to show us how the nets on the fog catcher pick up 50% of the water that passes through them – pretty impressive. The small fog catchers get from 1L per day, now up to 1.5L, and they expect them to pick up 3-5L per day in the foggiest season.

Anyway, check out the story on PopSci.com!

May 20, 2016