Category: science
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Temperature vs TDS of Water
In my Water Tasting Classes, we use low-end TDS (total dissolved solids) meters to check the TDS of still waters before tasting them. Not only are the TDS meters not the top of the line, another reason they don’t always match the reported TDS (bottled waters put this info on their websites – Fiji is…
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I Got a Shout-Out on Netflix
A friend sent me the link otherwise I might never have known. There’s a show by America’s Test Kitchen called The Cocktail Lab. It was on YouTube but turns out it is also on Netflix. Basically they cite me as the person who figured out Directional Freezing – the process of making clear ice by…
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Find Camper English at Tales of the Cocktail 2026
I’ve finalized my schedule for Tales of the Cocktail Foundation this year, with three speaking events in 24 hours, plus another couple I’m attending in between. (Note to self: remember to eat. ) Tuesday July 21:12PM Soda Science & Whiskey Highball Workshop seminar with Bushmills, Ritz2PM The Cocktail Anthology with Gallo at Ohm Lounge4PM Living…
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How to Stretch a Lime – My Story in the SF Chronicle
I wrote about oleo citrate and super juice for the San Francisco Chronicle. These are techniques for increasing the yield from citrus fruits by eight times or so, using a touch of citric and malic acid powder in a specific way to bump up the flavor and texture of citrus to extend it over a…
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The Best Drinks Books of 2024
These are some of my favorite cocktails and spirits books I read in 2024. Several of them I blurbed for their authors. There are few more books that were published this year that I haven't read yet, so maybe they'll get on next year's list. My 2023 Best Of List is here, by the way. In…
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The Mystery Pillar and Ice Spikes
This is a video about "ice spikes" that form in the freezer, and as explained it does so due to the expansion of water when it freezes. He is talking about ice forming in a standard ice cube tray but those of us who make clear ice cubes in trays know this phenomenon as the…
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An Alcademics Study of Liquor Bottle Weights
Since 2009 I have been weighing liquor bottles before recycling them. I was up to 1226 bottles weighed and decided it was about time for me to analyze the data. At the bottom of the post I'll include a link to my spreadsheets. Note that I dated when I weighed the bottles because bottles…
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All the Cocktail and Drink Books from 2020 for Reading or Gifting
It's time for the annual Alcademics drink book round-up! Below are all the books that have come to my attention in 2020. I don't follow wine/beer closely so there are only a few in that section. The links below are to Amazon and to Bookshop.org. If you buy stuff after clicking on a link, I…
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Designing A Club Soda From Scratch
I was recently in touch with Top Note Tonic founders founders Mary Pellettieri and Noah Swanson about their new Club Soda that was created specifically for making highballs with whiskey. They went into the process with specific goals in mind to pair it with whiskey, researched styles of water and other brands' mineral content, then…
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Getting Nerdy About Soju Production: Sticky Rice, Nuruk Fermentation, Multi ABVs, Korean Production
I received an email from a newish soju brand Tokki Soju with a really interesting story. Given the technical skill of one of the founders, I thought I could get some additional information, and that's just what happened. First, the background: The brand was launched in 2016 by Founder Brandon “Bran” Hill and CEO Douglas…