Alcademics

Tag: aperol

  • Which Liqueurs Crystallize When Dehydrated?

    SolidLiquidsProjectSquareLogoIn the Solid Liquids Project I've experimented with various methods to dehydrate liqueurs into solids. I've found that not every liqueur does crystallize through conventional heating methods to boil off the alcohol and water. Ones that do not crystallize usually leave a thick, sticky, gummy glob at the bottom of their container.

    I have not figured out why some liqueurs don't crystallize, though I've had some theories.

    First Eleven oven_tn

    Here is my list of liqueurs I've tried to crystallize (most of them in silicone cupcake cups in the oven) and whether or not it worked.

    Liqueur Crystallization 

    Liqueur Crystallizes? Notes
    Campari Yes  
    Midori Yes  
    Amaretto Yes  
    Luxardo Maraschino Yes  
    Green Chartreuse Yes  
    Rhum Clement Creole Shrub Yes  
    Emmett's Irish Cream Yes Dairy
    Aperol Yes  
    Tuaca Yes  
    Hiram Walker Triple Sec Yes  
    Licor 43 Yes  
    Creme de Violette Yes  
    DeKuyper Peppermint Schnapps Yes  
    Pallini Limoncello Yes Beet sugar
    Disaronno Yes  
    Luxardo Bitter Yes  
    Cointreau Yes Beet Sugar
    Mandarin Napoleon Yes  
    The King's Ginger Yes  
    Wild Turkey American Honey No Honey
    X-Rated Fusion Liqueur No Fruit Juice
    Hypnotiq No Fruit Juice
    Irish Mist No Honey
    Courvoisier Rose No Fruit Juice
    Velvet Falernum No- Squishy, thick  
    Hiram Walker Gingerbread Liqueur No- Mostly Solid  
    Combier Roi Rene Rouge No- Mostly Solid Cherry Juice?
    Firelit No- Hard puck  
    Potters Creme de Cacao No-Thick, Squishy  
    Hiram Walker Blueberry Schnapps No- Soft Squishy  
    Patron Citronge No-Soft, squishy  
    Barenjager No- Crusty top gel beneath Honey
    Drambuie No- Crusty top gel beneath Honey
    St.Germain No- Crusty top gel beneath  
    Cynar No- Crusty top gel beneath  
    Solerno No- Gel  
    J. Witty Chamomile No- Crusty top thick gel beneath Agave?
    Benedictine No- Crusty top gel beneath Honey
    Cherry Heering No- Dense Gel  
    Root No- Solid Puck  
    Kahlua No- Full volume gel  
    Domaine de Canton No- Gel  
    VEEV No- Crisp, glassy puck  
    Ancho Reyes No- Crisp, glassy puck  
    Creme Yvette No- soft gel puck  
    Bols Yogurt No- brown, crisp  
    Allspice Dram No- thick gel  
    Rothman & Winter Apricot brittle clump  
    Drambuie 15 No- Crisp, sticky clear candy  
    Pimm's No- glassy shattering candy  

    It is possible that your results may differ for some of these, or that you have tried other liqueurs with successes and failures to share. If so, please let me know in the comments. 

    Dehydrated frangelico_tn

     

    The Solid Liquids Project index is at this link.

     

  • 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. 

    Swag piles

    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. 

    Absinthe spoons 

    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. 

    Aperol sunglassess
    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?