Alcademics

Category: fun

  • Fortune Ice: Like A Fortune Cookie But With Ice

    In my latest set of fun experiments with ice, I created fortune ice.  

    Second set_tn

    I'd been meaning to do this for a while, but two things made it actually happen. First, I bought a Tovolo King Cube Ice Cube Tray to make 2-inch cubes. Second, I realized I could use my Label Maker for the fortunes. 

    Still thirsty_tn

    I was thinking that I would have to make fortunes then laminate them, but the label maker spits out labels that are plasticy on both sides. 

    This is one case where I didn't want perfectly clear ice (learn how to make clear ice here) because then you could read the fortunes in the cubes before they melted. 

    It turns out that the cloudiness in water does well to hide the paper in ice. 

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    Drink close_tn

    I froze the cubes with the fortunes inside, then let them thaw out. When some of the fortune was sticking out from the cube, I could pull it from the end and they slid out: No need to wait until the whole thing melted. 

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    No free refills_tn

    I wanted to make sure the paper didn't disintegrate in water, so I left a few fortunes in a glass of water overnight and they showed no signs of deterioration. However I should try this again with alcohol.

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    So, that was fun!

    Possible uses for fortune ice could include: 

    • Fortunes, just like fortune cookies.
    • Giveaways/prizes. One fortune contains a coupon for a free drink, door prize, etc. 
    • Cocktail recipes for the drink that you're drinking. 
    • Advertising. "Next time make this drink with our brand of whisky!"
    • The bartender's phone number. "Call me, hot stuff."

    All your ice_tn

     
    An index of all of the ice experiments on Alcademics can be found here.

  • Berlin Cocktail Snake

    I'm in Berlin, Germany blogging for the bar show Bar Convent Berlin. I had a few extra hours today, so I decided to see some of the city. I visited a remaining portion of the Berlin Wall, passed by some sausage stands, had a beer, and saw the sign for the famous cocktail snakes. 

    Cocktail snake
     The cocktail snakes have a rich history dating back to Second Reich, but were largely unknown outside of the Eastern part of Berlin until after Reunification in 1957. 

    Today they are some of the most popular tourist destinations in all of Germany, with signs on many street corners directing enthusiasts to the nearest snake bar, known as Snackbarleichten. (American tourists are often confused by the name, expecting to find a snack bar but receiving a poisonous bite instead. Because of the resulting lawsuits, German parliament passed a resolution in 2003 requiring all snake bars to stock plenty of antidote and have nurses on staff.)

    In the traditional Snackbarleichten, the snakes are kept in a glass aquarium with an open top at the same level as the bar counter. The bartender ("snackfrau") pours cocktails in oversized glasses; typically a blend of the local schnapps with sugar and a drop of fresh mouse blood. She puts the drink on the bar and then the wait begins. 

    Eventually one of the snakes will coil itself around the cocktail glass and reach its forked tongue in for a sip of the drink. The snake will take only a few slurps, becoming instantly intoxicated and passing out coiled around the stem of the glass. (Cold-blooded animals have no livers, so alcohol goes directly to the brain.) Only after the snake has fallen asleep do you get your turn to drink- with a straw so you don't wake the snake. 

    Recently some modern snake bars have opened to cater to the younger generation. These venues (called "ultrasnackbarleichten") house only specially-bred albino snakes that glow in the nightclub-style black light. There, the mouse blood is replaced with Red Bull and the snakes do not sleep, but jitter in a rhythmic motion to the industrial dance music piped in over loudspeakers.

    Anyway, that's what I was imagining on my walk following the cocktail snake sign to see what could possibly be at the end of it. Turns out, it's a pharmacy. 

    I didn't ask if they carried anti-venom kits.

  • The Double Rainbow Cocktail

    I decided to create a drink to honor the best video of the weekend, "Yosemitebear Mountain Giant Double Rainbow 1-8-10". (Scroll down to see it if you haven't already.)

    It's guaranteed to make you say, "DOUBLE COMPLETE RAINBOW! What does this MEAN?"

    Double Rainbow Cocktail by Alcademics3s

     

    The Double Rainbow
    by Camper English

     1 ounce vodka
    1 ounce St. Germain elderflower liqueur
    4 or so ounces of soda water
    4 dashes of grapefruit bitters (Fee Brothers brand)
    lemon peel for garnish
    rainbow ice cubes

    Make rainbow ice by adding food coloring to an ice cube tray, filling with water and freezing. (For more fun with ice, see the index of all of the ice experiments on Alcademics here.)

    Cut lemon peel into stars. Add all ingredients to a glass filled with ice in rainbow order (two cubes per color, making it a double complete rainbow). Garnish with lemon stars.  

    Double rainbow by alcademics top views
    This cocktail I actually created for a wedding several months back, but thought it would be appropriate here. (It's not so original that I would be surprised if many other people have created this same drink. I just poured it on rainbow ice.)

    Note: If you enjoyed this video-inspired cocktail, perhaps you'd also enjoy the Honey Badger Shot.

    The video that inspired the drink is after the jump.  Double rainbow all the way!

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  • The Olive Centipede: The Frightening New Release in the Torture Garnish Genre

    (this post is a joke about this movie)

    The Olive Centipede was created by Dr. Heiner, a disturbed German bartender formerly famous for his flair garnishing techniques. The evil Dr. Heiner decided to create a garnish centipede, made from sewing three olives together along the olives' digestive tracts, pit-to-pimento.

    Olivecentipededrawing

    Unfortunately for the olives, the surgery was a success. A hideous, hideous success.

    Olivecentipede4s

    The poor olives tried to escape Dr. Heiner's laboratory/ultra-lounge.

    Olivecentipede3s

    But were unsuccessful.

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    And now Dr. Heiner wants to create an even more hideous centipede garnish made from twelve olives.

  • Inside the Freezer of an Ice Nerd

     
    My-freezers

     

    Well I certainly wouldn't want any food in there spoiling the flavor of my ice that I spent so much time making.

  • The Ultimate Test of your Liquor Cabinet

    Not only is the Laphroaig Project delicious and surprisingly tropical for its ingredients, it's a test of your liquor
    cabinet. If you have all of these ingredients at home you are a huuuuge cocktail geek.

    The Laphroaig Project was created by Owen Westman at Bourbon & Branch and it's
    also available at Rickhouse, both in San Francisco. It contains:

    • Green
      Chartreuse
    • Yellow Chartreuse
    • Laphroaig Islay Single Malt Whisky
    • Luxardo Maraschino liqueur
    • Peach bitters
    • Lemon juice

    What? Yes. The recipe is here.

    And if you can make it without shopping, I think you are cool. 

  • Eggsactly the Right Glasses for Easter Shots

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    Well, maybe not eggsactly. As you can see these have holes. I taped the bottoms but the one on the right still leaked.

    These are fancy new high-tech "hinged" eggs. The old boring ones without holes would be better at holding liquids.

  • Easter Drinks For My Peeps

    I made these marshmallow peep straws by poking a skewer through the peep, then sliding a straw down the skewer. Fun.

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  • Easter Ice

    CleareggssYou know how I made those cool ice balls before? Well, they really come out looking more like eggs, which inspired me to make some ice eggs for Easter cocktails. Again I just used water balloons filled at the sink.

    Note: I experimented with water to see if the powder inside the balloons was changing the taste of the drinks. It does a little, but this can be softened. Since I have to fill these from the tap, the influence of tap (versus filtered) water is present. But I noticed a big improvement when I rinsed these balloons after freezing to remove a slight plasticy taste. So: rinse before filling, then rinse the outside of the ice after freezing.

    Then I got to thinking: clear eggs are boring. This is Easter, after all, and the only thing good about Easter is decorating Easter eggs. (Revision: the brunch drinks are another good thing.)

    So after filling my balloons with water but before tying them, I added a drop of food coloring to the balloon stem then tied them up. The results are awesome!

    Coloredeggss
     Glasseggsangles Coloredeggsglasss
     
    An index of all of the ice experiments on Alcademics can be found here.

  • A Bar Contest You Don’t Want to Win

    Eater SF hosted a "Douchiest Bar in San Francisco" contest. The winner, unfortunately for them, was Medjool, the rooftop bar in the Mission. Filling out the Top 5 were Matrix Fillmore, Bar None, Americano, and Zeitgeist.

    The comments on the original post are priceless.

    "It's as if the marina suddenly puked up it's best and brightest in the
    fields of self-absorption, douchbaggery and cougardom into one
    consolidated spot… and then poured 1,000 cosmos into the mix."

    Oof.