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The Sangria Spectrum in Fine Cooking Magazine

In the June/July issue of Fine Cooking magazine I have a story about sangria.

We kind of rewrote it a bunch of times and now it's mostly a list of tips on how to make a good sangria, but here is the intro.

Traditional sangria is delicious, but it can also be a bit predictable: a pitcher of red wine with orange liqueur or brandy, slices of citrus, and sometimes a splash of soda for fizz. Recently, though, sangria has been showing up to the party dressed in new shades—pink, white, and even yellow—thanks to a base of rosé, white, or sparkling wine. The fruit accessories have diversified, too. Some recipes call for vibrant peaches or pastel pears, and others boast a rainbow of kiwi, pineapple, strawberries, and blueberries. With so many options, today’s sangria is practically a year-round drink, changing to suit the season and the occasion.

There are also two sangria recipes. The first is from Kathy Casey, a strawberry-melon sangria in a deep red color.

The second is by Kim Haasarud, author of 101 Sangrias. It is a yellowish pineapple-orange sangria with peach vodka and Riesling.

The pictures are better in the print magazine, I promise.

May 9, 2012
Extreme Aperol and the No Baloney Negroni

As ongoing part of the Solid Liquids Project, I decided to make high-proof Aperol.

I haven't talked about this use of dehydrated liqueurs yet, which is making high-proof spirits with them. Simply add neutral grain spirits plus dehydrated liqueur, plus some of the original liqueur to keep taste consistency.

First I dehydrated some Aperol (I can't remember if I used the stovetop method or the oven method– they produce the same thing).

Then I made Extreme Aperol.

Extreme Aperol

2 ounces Aperol
2 ounces Everclear Grain Alcohol
1 ounce (by volume) Dehydrated Aperol

Combine ingredients and shake container until dehydrated Aperol is dissolved. (I had to break out the muddler as I had some big chunks.)

Extreme Aperol, Looking Sexy

Everclear is 75.5 percent alcohol and Aperol is 11 percent alcohol, so by my rough calculations ((.4 x 75) + (.4 x 11)) this comes out to 34.4 percent alcohol.

And the stuff is flipping delicious, like Aperol on steroids.

Then I decided to make a Negroni with it. Many people new to Campari (a Negroni is equal parts Campari, gin, and sweet vermouth) find it too bitter and weird for their taste, so bartenders sometimes substitute the more orangey and less bitter Aperol.

The problem is that Campari is 24 percent alcohol, while Aperol is only 11 percent. I don't think Aperol holds up well in the Negroni. Thus, using Extreme Aperol should keep the same flavor of Aperol but have a higher proof.

To make Extreme Aperol the alcoholic strength as regular Campari I'd need to water it down to 70% Extreme Aperol to 30% water, so in this recipe I just used .75 ounces Aperol instead of the usual ounce.

No Baloney Negroni

.75 ounces Extreme Aperol
1 ounce Gin
1 ounce Sweet Vermouth

Stir all ingredients over ice and strain over new ice or serve up if you prefer. Consider garnishing with an orange peel.

The No Baloney Negroni.

This drink has the same syrupy texture as a Negroni, but the orange is more present than in the standard recipe. Awesome!

The No Baloney Negroni, Served Up

This post is part of the ongoing Solid Liquids Project. If you liked it, you may want to read Campari Fruit Roll-Ups, the non-alcoholic Campari & Soda, or the Missing Link Aviation.

April 23, 2012
Dehydrated Liqueur Flavor Pills and Champagne Cocktails

As an ongoing part of my Solid Liquids Project, I have dehydrated various liqueurs into flavored powders and am now experimenting with new ways to use them.

In yesterday's post I described how I bought a pill press to make tablets out of the liqueurs.

I started with Angostura bitters, but then made additional "flavor pills" out of Campari, Midori, and Aperol.

I was thinking that these would be fun flavor enhancers for drinks, especially champagne drinks.

A cool presentation might be to give a guest a glass of champagne and a variety of flavor enhancers from which to choose. To make it extra fun, I put some in a pill box.

Then you pick your pill and add it to the sparkling wine. It fizzes up nicely.

And eventually it breaks down and colors and flavors the drink.

It does take several minutes for the flavor to become noticeable in the champagne. I tried to speed up the process by experimenting with adding baking powder to the mix, but this affected the flavor of the drink.

Thus this works best with the most strongly flavored liqueurs, and using rather large sized flavor pill tablets. It could also be a fun addition to hot tea.

Sometime soon I'll do some experimenting (I've run out of sparkling wine for now) to see which flavors work best in this format.

I hope this inspires some fun experimenting!

April 18, 2012
The Bitter Pill: Dehydrated Angostura Bitters Tablets

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I wanted to find some more uses for the dehydrated liqueurs I spent a few months developing. The index to that experimentation is here.

Yesterday I tried putting dehydrated liqueurs into pill capsules, but these did not readily dissolve in any of the drinks I put them in.

So I went online and bought a pill press. You'll find them online often called a "pollen press" to make some sort of pollen pills (and I get the impression that they're also used in vaporizers with marijuana). Anyway, the one I bought was this simple split pipe and sleeve on Ebay. I bought the half-inch size.

You simply put some powder in the sleeve and the metal pipes into either end, then bang them together using a rubber or wooden hammer. It produces a tablet of sorts that you can make in any thickness.

So now they're ready to use. One of the first ones I made was not the Campari or other typical liqueurs, but Angostura bitters. (I mixed Angostura and sugar and dehydrated them together in the oven.)

That way, this "bitter pill" of Angostura and sugar can be added to bourbon to make an instant Old Fashioned cocktail.

It can also be added to champagne to make a Champagne Cocktail.

April 17, 2012
A Brilliant Idea That Didn’t Quite Work

You'll remember I spent a few months figuring out the best way to dehydrate liqueurs into flavored sugars.

Now I'm finding new ways to use those liqueur-flavored sugars.

Typically bartenders who use these dehydrated liqueurs sprinkle some on top of an egg white foam or use them as a rimming sugar on a cocktail glass. But I had the idea to use them as an optional flavor enhancer to cocktails – give the customer a drink and some powdered liqueur and let them add it if desired. (Some bars do this with bitters and tinctures.)

So I bought some vegetarian capsules and filled them with dehydrated liqueurs.

They look awesome, right?

But unfortunately, they didn't perform as expected. When adding them to a cocktail the capsules didn't dissolve. I tried a boozy cocktail, a fizzy cocktail, and an acidic cocktail in the hopes that these would help speed up the process. I even tried a hot cocktail to see if that worked.

In all forms, the capsules dissolved eventually, but if you want to wait 20+ minutes for that to happen you're a more patient drinker than I.

Ah well, it was a cool idea that didn't work out.

But in tomorrow's post, I'll talk about a technique that actually worked…

Read more about the Solid Liquids Project and how to deyhydrate liqueurs here.

April 16, 2012
The Golden Gate 75 Cocktail

I created the Golden Gate 75 cocktail in tribute to the Golden Gate Bridge's 75th anniversary. They are doing a whole series of events around the anniversary with a big party on May 27th.

I had an idea: Golden Gate 75 is close to French 75. And if we swap out gin and lemon for Campari and orange juice, the color could match the famous "international orange" of the bridge!

It took a lot of experimenting to get the color right. I couldn't make it happen with regular orange juice (Campari wants to go pink) but luckily blood oranges had just come into season. It turns out that was the key. So then I talked to the Campari folks and they had it professionally photographed. I got the color pretty close I think.

Photo by Rich Niewiroski Jr

Golden Gate 75
By Camper English

2.5 ounces California Sparkling Wine
1 ounce Campari
1 ounce Blood Orange Juice (Or substitute regular orange juice)
.5 ounces Rich Simple Syrup*
1 dash Orange Bitters (Regan's Orange Bitters No. 6 recommended)
Orange peel for garnish

Directions: Blood orange juice helps turn this cocktail a color resembling the Golden Gate Bridge, celebrating its 75th birthday this year. Add Campari, orange juice, simple syrup, and bitters to an ice-filled shaker. Shake and fine strain (to remove any pulp) into a champagne flute or coupe. Top with sparkling wine. Zest the orange peel over the top of the drink and drop the peel in the drink or discard.

*Rich Simple Syrup: Heat 2 parts sugar to one part water and stir until dissolved. Store covered in the refrigerator between uses. Depending on the sweetness of sparkling wine used, you may use less simple syrup.

Now, this drink is delicious, but it's not rocket science. There are several recipes I found online for the combination of Campari, sparkling wine, and orange juice, this is just a small adjustment with bitters and simple syrup, and of course using blood orange to make it match the bridge.

When I made this at home, I used aspic cutters to make a "75" out of orange peels. But they were pretty big so they kind of sank.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the drink!

April 13, 2012
A South American Sazerac

Over at FineCooking.com, I posted the recipe for the Sazeru, a version of the Sazerac made with Pisco (from Peru, get it?).

I actually made the drink as part of the final exam for the five-day B.A.R. course I took a couple of years ago. We had to create a cocktail with just four ingredients, including garnish.

As the only color in the drink comes from Peychaud's Bitters, it has a lovely pink hue. I decided to serve it up rather than on the rocks to show it off.

It's important to use an earthy, rather than floral, pisco in the drink. I think you'll like it.

Sazeru
By Camper English

2 fl. oz. Peruvian Pisco (Quebranta or Acholado)
.5 fl. oz. Simple Syrup
1 Barspoon Absinthe (Use a clear brand like Kubler)
2 Dashes Peychaud's Bitters

Stir all ingredients with ice until very cold and strain into a cocktail glass.

April 2, 2012
Cocktail Predictions for San Francisco
I wrote this piece on predictions for the Bay Area cocktail scene back in November for The Bold Italic magazine, and it has just gone online. They made it look super snazzy for the web.

Predictions include:
- Shorter cocktail menus
- Hyper-local cocktail menus
- More Scott Beattie
- Cocktail party pop-ups
- Other cities taking the lead over San Francisco
Give it a read and let me know what you think! (Especially about that last thing…)
March 29, 2012
I’m On A Boat (Magazine)

Should you happen to be riding along with Seabourn Cruises sometime soon, you may find a story from me in your onboard magazine.

I wrote a story about pastis, how is originated wtih absinthe, and what it's like today.

I don't think the story will ever go online, so you'll just have to book a cruise to read it.

March 29, 2012
Find Me in the Penthouse

Penthouse magazine, that is. I have a story in the April issue about my trip to Warsaw and the ancient forest with ZU vodka, the bison grass vodka known throughout the world as Zubrowka.

But I'm also in Penthouse as a model, again!

Of course you'll recognize my hand, sexily caressing that piece of bison grass. Damn I look good.

Always.

But if you don't have a subscription to the magazine you can read my write up here on Alcademics.

March 21, 2012