Category: projects

  • Solid Liquids: Cane Sugar, Fruit Sugar, and Honey

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    Camper English
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    I hit a snag in the Solid Liquids Project (project index here) as I can get some liqueurs to dehydrate into a powdered sugar, but not others. In the last two posts, I think I've identified a commonality in the liqueurs that did not crystallize: they are probably sweetened with something other than (or possibly…

  • Primitive Sugar Production

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    Camper English
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    In studying sugarcane and sugar, we've looked at its biology, origins, spread to the West, and its previous nefarious association with forced labor. (Go here for the project index.) In today's post we'll look at how sugarcane was processed in the olden days to make cyrstallized sugar. Most of this information comes from the sources…

  • Solid Liquids: Dehydrating Liqueurs in the Microwave

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    Camper English
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    In the process of making powdered liqueurs for future use, I've been trying to figure out the best method to get liquids into solids. I'll be comparing the microwave to the oven to the food dehydrator, using Campari as my first liqueur in all of them. In today's post we'll look at using the microwave.…

  • Sugarcane and Slavery

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    Camper English
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    Boy is this ever a topic I'd rather avoid! However there is no denying the historic link between sugarcane production. We were tracing the spread of sugarcane and the sugar industry from the Old World to the new. But slave labor used to harvest and process sugarcane began long before sugarcane was brought to the…

  • The Spread of Sugarcane in the New World

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    Camper English
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    When we last left off looking at sugarcane's spread from India/Indonesia to the rest of the world, the sugar industry had shifted from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic islands of Spain and Portugal, including Madeira and the Canary islands.  During this time, the powers in Europe were developing a taste for sugar.  Sugar was only…

  • Solid Liquids: Dehydrating Liqueurs in the Oven

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    Camper English
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    In the process of making powdered liqueurs for future use, I've been trying to figure out the best method to get liquids into solids. I'll be comparing the microwave to the oven to the food dehydrator, using Campari as my first liqueur in all of them. In today's post we'll look at using the oven.…

  • Solid Liquids: Dehydrating Liqueurs in a Food Dehydrator

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    Camper English
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    In the process of making powdered liqueurs for future use, I've been trying to figure out the best method to get liquids into solids. I'll be comparing the microwave to the oven to the food dehydrator, using Campari as my first liqueur in all of them. For now let's talk about the food dehydrator. I…

  • The Spread of Sugarcane in the Old World

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    Camper English
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    In the last post we looked at what sugarcane is. Now we'll see where it came from and how it traveled around the world.   Sugarcane is a tall grass native to the region of the India and Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated in New Guinea, perhaps independently in Indonesia.   In 325 BC Alexander…

  • How NOT to Dehydrate Campari

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    Camper English
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    I figure, why not try the method that looks easiest first, even if it seems doomed to fail?  That's what I decided to do as an experiment in dehydrating liqueurs down to sugar: to see what happens when you cook Campari the fastest way possible to get all the liquid out.    I put two…

  • An Oral History of Liqueur Dust

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    Camper English
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    In studying the methods bartenders have used to dehydrate liqueurs into flavored powders, I mentioned that I didn't know the complete origin story of the practice.  Luckily, Jacob Briars, currently the global brand director for Leblon cachaca (and formerly with 42Below vodka), sent me an email with the full story as he remembers it.  You…