Tag: solid liquids

  • A Brilliant Idea That Didn’t Quite Work

    SolidLiquidsProjectSquareLogoYou'll remember I spent a few months figuring out the best way to dehydrate liqueurs into flavored sugars.

    Now I'm finding new ways to use those liqueur-flavored sugars.

    Typically bartenders who use these dehydrated liqueurs sprinkle some on top of an egg white foam or use them as a rimming sugar on a cocktail glass. But I had the idea to use them as an optional flavor enhancer to cocktails – give the customer a drink and some powdered liqueur and let them add it if desired. (Some bars do this with bitters and tinctures.)

    So I bought some vegetarian capsules and filled them with dehydrated liqueurs.

    Liqueur pills5M
    They look awesome, right? 

    But unfortunately, they didn't perform as expected. When adding them to a cocktail the capsules didn't dissolve. I tried a boozy cocktail, a fizzy cocktail, and an acidic cocktail in the hopes that these would help speed up the process. I even tried a hot cocktail to see if that worked. 

    In all forms, the capsules dissolved eventually, but if you want to wait 20+ minutes for that to happen you're a more patient drinker than I. 

    Ah well, it was a cool idea that didn't work out. 

    Liqueur pills4M
    But in tomorrow's post, I'll talk about a technique that actually worked…

    Read more about the Solid Liquids Project and how to deyhydrate liqueurs here.

  • Solid Liquids: Bulk Liqueur Dehydration in the Oven

    SolidLiquidsProjectSquareLogoThis is just a quick post in the Solid Liquids Project (project index here) to note that you can dehydrate liqueurs in the oven in containers other than the silicone cupcake holders that I've been using.

    Many people have SilPat non-stick baking mats. These are great but have the problem of being flat so liquids run off them.

    However you can also get other silicone containers. I bought a breadpan-sized silicone pan from Amazon. It works just fine for dehydrating larger quantities of liqueurs.

    As you dehydrate a liqueur in the oven, a surface crust will form trapping some still-liquid liqueur beneath it, so it's important to break it up as it gets near the end of baking. I just squeeze the silicone pan to crunch the innards.

    Baking pan solid_tn
    Baking pan finished_tn
    Baking pan crushed_tn

     

    The Solid Liquids Project index is at this link.