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A Homemade Giant, Crystal Clear Ice Cube Tray
As you're probably aware, I've been dabbling in experiments making clear ice at home. [update: An organized index of ice experiments on Alcademics can be found here.] The way I've found that works best is to freeze ice in an Igloo cooler with the top off. (Please read the post before you tell me to boil the water in the comments- it doesn't work.)

This is now how I make all my ice at home- I haven't used trays in months.

Now I am working on ways to best carve ice and also trying to create an ice cube tray that will work in this directional freezing system. I found a method that works that I need to perfect.

Here's what I've done.

I went down to The Container Store and purchased these plastic gift boxes. They're 2 inches by 2 inches wide (4.5 centimeters) and around 5 inches tall (11.5 cm) with the tops off.

These I put in my Igloo cooler. I've done it with the open top of the container facing up, and also facing down. Facing down works better, actually, because the air in the rectangles gets pushed out the bottom. Facing up, you get a 1cm cloudy patch at the top of the cubes. No big whoop.

Then I fill the cooler with water and freeze it. It comes out as a block of ice with the cubes stuck in it.

These separate surprisingly easily from the block.

Also surprisingly easy is how the ice pops out of these plastic containers. I just leave them upside-down for a couple minutes and the ice cubes slice right out.

As you can see in the above picture, there is a little bit of cloudiness when the trays are left with the open part facing up. I repeated this experiment with the open part facing down and there was less cloudiness. Either way, there isn't much to worry about as it can be cut off when cutting these big long cubes down to 2 inch by 2 inch by 2 inch ones.

Conclusions:
- These ice cubes are fricking awesome.
- I need to try it with cutting off the bottom of the containers so that they're a rectangular tube rather than a box.
- I think this is actually scalable to make an ice cube tray with some tweaking.
- Hooray!
An index of ice experiments on Alcademics can be found here.
August 27, 2010
Ice Meets Chainsaw

Ice nerds got a real treat this Tuesday, for Andrew Bohrer from Seattle was guest bartending in San Francisco along with Amanda Womack from Cask.

He brought chainsaw Thursday to the city in order to chop up giant blocks of clear ice from an industrial ice maker into big cubes that could be further cut into ice balls.

Keep scrolling for videos of hand ice carving… or click here for an index of all of the ice experiments on Alcademics.

First they cut slices off the big blocks, then cut those into long rectangles. Then they cut those into cubes.

Click below for the videos.

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August 12, 2010
The Bar Agricole Bar Staff
This coming week is the pre-opening of Bar Agricole, the big big big restaurant/bar project from Thad Vogler about which I am very excited. Bar Agricole opens on August 16th (15th according to the SF Chronicle).

I asked Vogler about his bar staff- and got a surprise. All the bartenders will work full-time at Bar Agricole. I know three of the crew pretty well already, and have a feeling I'll get to know the two others soon enough.

The Bar Agricole Bar Staff:
- Ben Krupp (Camino, Slanted Door)
- Rosa Lynley (Farallon, Slanted Door)
- Eric Johnson (Eastside West, Bourbon & Branch, Delarosa, Beretta, Heaven's Dog)
- Craig Lane (Farallon, Heaven's Dog, Slanted Door)
- Thad Vogler (Slanted Door, Bourbon & Branch, Beretta, Camino, Farallon, Jardiniere, Bardessano, Heaven's Dog)
August 6, 2010
Percent Cloudiness in Top Frozen Block Ice

I'm somewhere along the process of creating an ice cube tray that takes advantage of the top frozen ice that I make in an Igloo cooler. As the cooler lid is off when I freeze water in it, the water freezes from the top down like a pond in winter. The cloudy part of the ice (where air an impurities migrate as the water freezes) are only in the bottom of the block.

In the below picture the block has been turned upside-down after removing it from the cooler.

Most of the time when making ice for myself at home, I leave the cooler in my freezer for a couple of days then dump out the ice before the bottom portion starts to freeze and get cloudy- that way the entire block of ice is clear and I don't have to cut any of it off.

In a recent set of experiments, I wanted to see what percent of the block of ice was cloudy if I let the block freeze entirely. So far I've done three measurements.

As you can sorta see, a portion of the ice has bubbly streaks in it but is mostly clear, then there is an all-cloudy last bit.

Trial One:

Total height = 3.75 inches
Somewhat cloudy =  last two inches
Very cloudy, unusable = last 1/2 inch
Percent unusable cloudiness = 13%

Trial Two:

Total height = 6 inches
Somewhat cloudy =  last three inches
Very cloudy, unusable = last 1 inch
Percent unusable cloudiness = 17%

Trial One:

Total height = 6 inches
Somewhat cloudy =  last two inches
Very cloudy, unusable = last 1 1/2 inch
Percent unusable cloudiness = 25%

So we're looking at an average of 18% of the ice is too cloudy to use in a cooler of this shape and size.

Why might this information matter? If I develop an ice cube tray that fit into this cooler I would want to be able to remove the last cloudy bit so that it wouldn't get into the ice. I wanted to know about how much waste we're looking at.

But one thing I'm learning with repeated experiments is that by freezing from the top down the water expands and puts a lot of pressure on the bottom of the cooler. (Think of how a plastic bottle will bulge when put in the freezer.) With repeated experiments that cooler is starting to warp on the bottom, plumping out in the center. A better freezing vessel would be flexible on the bottom.

To see all of my ice experiments use this link.

August 3, 2010
The Fourth Annual Tales of the Cocktail Swag Awards
Another year, another Tales of the Cocktail convention in New Orleans, another chance to rank the swag! I started giving the swag awards in 2007.
Once again this year they had a gifting suite rather than a swag bag, wherein you were able to fill up a sack with anything from the room. This is what made it home with me.

I have a lot of swag around the house (and nearly all my jackets and t-shirts have a booze logo on them somewhere), so I try not to take stuff just to take it. I grabbed a bunch of Firefly Sweet Tea Bourbon from the suite, as I knew you can drink that stuff without any mixers back in the hotel room. I saw writer Jason Wilson with a flask of a Dubonnet Cocktail (Dubonnet, gin, bitters) created from all swag items- nicely done. I recreated that in the room as well.

I typically don't have time to make (or the inclination to fight the crowds for) the swag-rific tasting rooms at Tales, but I did receive a few items outside the gifting suite like the full bottles of Angostura rum and Geranium Gin.

I was also handed this year's second place swag winner, an absinthe spoon from Tempus Fugit Spirits. They had the spoons custom made with the skull design, and as a joke kept the real spoon at the end. I will probably use this spoon for every meal and not just for absinthe. Alas, though, the spoon was not heavily-enough branded with the Tempus Fugit name, so it cannot win the award for Best Swag at Tales this year.

That honor goes to Aperol, for their orange sunglasses.

Hip enough to be popular, using the color of the product and subtle branding of the name on the side of the sunglasses, inexpensive enough to give out tons of them, extending the brand beyond the bar, and keeping in line with the brand's image (a sunny summer spirit), Aperol knocked it out of the park for Best Item of Swag this year.

That said, there were tons of items of swag I'm sure I didn't see. For those who attended, what was your favorite item of swag?
July 28, 2010
Bar Eras in San Francisco and Beyond

I have a great-looking four-page story in the August Eat + Drink issue of 7×7 Magazine.

The story splits up old bars and new bars inspired by old bars into five types/eras: Barbary Coast, Speakeasy, Martini Bar, Tiki Bar, and Fern Bar. In each category I list some identifying factors and a few era-appropriate drinks.

There are also tons of great pictures by photographer Erin Kunkel, including these yanked from the 7×7 website.

Read the story online here or pick up the magazine on the newsstand for even more pictures than on the website.

July 27, 2010
Every Drink I Had at Tales of the Cocktail
I just returned from New Orleans for Tales of the Cocktail, a cocktail convention attended by many of the world's top bartenders, drink writers, PR representatives, and superenthusiasts. I think this was my favorite year of the convention to date.

I tweeted every cocktail I had over the week. Let's see how messy that looks added up!

Tuesday July 20, starting at 5PM
- Vieux Carre and an
- Abita beer @ Monteleone Bar
- Another Abita beer at Carousel Bar at Monteleone
- makers mark on the rocks out of a plastic cup at acme oyster house
- Sazerac at Carousel Bar
- Vieux Carre at Carousel Bar
- Vieux Carre
- Giant Bud Light with some awful Pizza somewhere on Bourbon Street.
Wednesday July 21
- Coffee with Kahlua to start the day!
- Gold kiwifruit St Germain Splash
- kiwifruit cucumber reviver
- not sure what it's called but kiwi yummers
- Shot of rum before my seminar begins
- Three drinks at my seminar- rear admirals grog
- perudriver
- margarita
- Firefly bourbon in hotel room
- another sweet tea bourbon
- a shot of dubonnet cocktail out of a flask
- 3 glasses of Veuve Cliquot at dinner at Arnauds
- Shot of bourbon
- bourbon cocktail
- miller lite
- orgeat drink
- 2 shots of Stock Fernet
- Ocho tequila
- Miller lite
- stock fernet
Thursday, July 22
- Cat Daddy Moonshine coffee drink at breakfast
- Drinks of Asia seminar cocktail: unkown cocktail with some herb that tastes like fuzzy lemon dandelion leaves
- cognac old fashioned
- Self Publishing seminar- an amaretto and gin cocktail
- Ron Abuelo juicy drink at Carousel Bar
- nutmeg drink at Consulting seminar
- firefly bourbon
- Diageo Happy Hour drinks:
1. Joaquin riff on seelbach cocktail
2. Wayne Curtis drink with Oronoco rum and fernet
3. Singapore sling punch
4. Aviation from Simon Difford
5. Daiquiri from bill Norris
6. rosy sinclair by Jason Bram
7. Valentinos Denise by Jim rondall
8. Bryan Dayton serves a Mary Pickford
9. Phillip Duff makes a Clubland
10. Tequila negroni from Ricky gomez
11. Brian miller makes drink with tanqueray dolin chartreuse cocchi
12. Misty Kalkoffen drink
13. John Lermayer drink
14. Lynette Manero makes a drink
15. Tommy klus Serves a Mexican firing squad
16. Pisco drink from Aisha Sharpe
17. Ed Hamilton actually makes a cocktail!! With Zacapa
18. Jim meehan with a Cuervo drink
19. Spicy drink from Wondrich
20. Sean Muldoon serves a trader Vic drink
21. Andrew Friedman serving a sagatiba drink
22. Cable Car from Tony Abou Ganim
23. Chad and Christie drink
24. Francesco Lafranconi drink
25. Josh Durr drink
- Cure bar daiquiri
- Another daiquiri at Cure
- Dubonnet cocktail In hotel room
Friday, July 23
- a sip of Ron Abuelo rum at breakfast
- 2 Disarono cocktails at my Social Media seminar
- A Glenfiddich drink from Jon Santer
- Bourbon carbonated grapes that taste like a Mint Julep at the Bax vs. Clift seminar
- Sazerac with absinthe fog
- Molecular michelada
- apple sous vide infused calvados.
- Dehydrated fruit cereal with champagne
- Old fashioned with orange peel smoke served in a jar
- Quick bourbon in the room before a meeting
- 2 Abita Amber and a veggie mufalatta at Cage Maspero
- Pimms Cup at Napoleon House
- Abita Amber at Napoleon House
- glass of bourbon
- Hilo Hai cocktail with Teader Tiki Syrups!
- Stella Artois.
- nip of Ron Abuelo
Saturday, July 24
- a spicy Hendricks cocktail
- Mount Gay Rum punch.
- Wet Grave cocktail in Darcy Oneils fascinating Soda seminar- bourbon, acid phosphate, bitters, vermouth, claret syrup
- Soda seminar drink with Root beer, gentian, bourbon, acid phosphate
- 10cane rum drink in the Subconscious Drinks seminar
- a sip of Geranium Gin
- Brandy Milk Punch in the Caousel Bar
- 2 rum drinks in hotel room followed
- 2 martinis at Tales of the Cocktail awards
- Glenlivet Nadurra 16
- Another gin martini at Tales awards
- Many swigs of Jameson 18
- a beer with my slice of awful but sobering pizza on bourbon street
Sunday, July 25th
- A morning Akvinta vodka cocktail.
- Stella Artois at breakast
- A Dalmore cocktail at the Keeping Ahead in an Online World seminar
- second Dalmore cocktail
- A final vieux carre at carousel bar.
- One last beer at the airport
Apparently I had 35 drinks on Thursday. That would be terrifying but do keep in mind that for the vast majority of these drinks I had only a sip out of a glass that only held an ounce or so at maximum.

Still, my liver will be getting a much-earned rest for a while now that I'm home.
July 26, 2010
Bar Agricole Cocktail List Revealed

The SF Chronicle's Jon Bonne gets the scoop on Bar Agricole's forthcoming cocktail list.

The story has lots of information about the bar/restaurant (one we've been awaiting for about 2 years). The bar is set to open August 15 or 16. So go read it.

For those of you not lucky enough to have sampled Thad Vogler's cocktails at Slanted Door, Beretta, and other venues, here's the gist: Simple, local, organic, seasonal, custom-made ingredients; small twists on vintage cocktails; consistency and elegance.

While the older style of California cocktails was sometimes called the "salad in the glass" style- tons of fresh herb and citrus ingredients muddled together- this menu is more of the refined simplicity Vogler has been seeking all along. For this project, many of the ingredients (even distilled ones) were produced locally just for the bar.

I cannot freaking wait!

Whiskey Cocktail with dry vermouth and grenadine, absinthe, orange bitters
Traditional Sour of Blanche d’Armagnac, lemon, egg white
Brandy Cocktail with curaçao, Italian vermouth, absinthe and bitters
Daiquiri of white rum, lime, grapefruit, maraska, aromatic bitters
Jersey Sour: California brandy, lemon, apple, maple, aromatic bitters
Tequila Daisy with lemon, vermouth blanc, apricot preserve, chartreuse bitters
Petit Zinc: farmhouse vodka, orange juice, red vermouth, farmhouse curaçao
Whiskey Sour: lime, port, and orange bitters
Presidente: California agricole, farmhouse curaçao, grenadine, orange bitters
White Rum Swizzle with 2 vermouths, lemon, farmhouse curaçao, raspberry
Ti Punch made with hibiscus bitters
Gin Cocktail with riesling and stonefruit bitters
Star Daisy: Calvados, gin, grenadine and lemon
Capitan Cocktail: Blanche d’Armagnac, aromatic bitters and chinato
Dry Pisco Punch with pineapple gum and hibiscus bitters

July 13, 2010
The Safety of Milk Thistle

A few months ago, founder Mike McAdams of Drinkwel reached out to me. This product is meant to be a vitamin for drinkers rather than just a hangover cure.

I told them that I was unsure about one of the ingredients in the mixture, milk thistle, as I'd heard reports that rather than being good for the liver it may actually cause harm.

This caused a conversation that I thought I'd share. McAdams replied:

It's also funny you mention milk thistle because that was really our only ingredient that had an interaction paper on it. I've taken it on and off for a couple years but make sure my dosages are not too high.

In case you're interested, here is what our doctor who helped formulate had to say (unfiltered):

Milk thistle is probably the most well known liver protectant on the market. As far as alcohol intake, new studies have shown that milk thistle has both liver toxicity protection from ethanol [18] and protects against liver fibrosis in non-human primates [19].

Safety

There is the possibility of an adverse reaction with milk thistle (possible Pk interactions regarding the decrease of CYP, UGT, and P-Gp activity) [20]. These decreases seem limited so should not be a concern. Therefore, I believe this drug to be a safe and positive addition to the formulation.

and:

The biggest concern would be Milk thistle with only one interaction paper. I think for the most part its use in this formulation would be fine. It has been used for this type of treatment for numerous years without a major side effect case report being brought to light.

18. Song, Z., et al., Silymarin protects against acute ethanol-induced hepatotoxicity in mice. Alcohol Clin Exp Res, 2006. 30(3): p. 407-13.

19. Lieber, C.S., et al., Silymarin retards the progression of alcohol-induced hepatic fibrosis in baboons. J Clin Gastroenterol, 2003. 37(4): p. 336-9.

20. Wu, J.W., L.C. Lin, and T.H. Tsai, Drug-drug interactions of silymarin on the perspective of pharmacokinetics. J Ethnopharmacol, 2009. 121(2): p. 185-93.

I followed up with McAdams and he send some more information. Then I followed up with the National Institutes of Health. This is all below the jump.

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July 12, 2010
So, So Many Orange Liqueurs

(Craig Lee / Special to The Chronicle)

My latest story from this Sunday's San Francisco Chronicle is now online.

Quest for best orange liqueur comes full circle

Camper English, Special to The Chronicle
Friday, July 9, 2010

When a critic complained that the orange liqueur in the margarita at Tacolicious had an "off flavor," owner Joe Hargrave decided to do something about it. The margarita is the Marina district restaurant's top-selling cocktail.

"After I was finished being (ticked) off, I decided we should see if this has merit," he said. Hargrave arranged a blind tasting of margaritas with different orange liqueurs to find the best replacement for the bargain-priced Bols triple sec he was using.

With a flood of new orange liqueurs on the market, picking a reasonable number for the tasting was no easy task.

My story about all the new orange liqueurs on the market– and the thrilling result of the orange liqueur taste test at Tacolicious- can be found by following the link.

There's also a recipe for a drink (see picture above) from Kevin Diedrich of the Burritt Room.

For more information on the history and differences between triple sec and curacao, this discussion has some good information. And for the biggest orange liqueur comparison on the internet, see Jay Hepburn's blog posts.

July 9, 2010