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Vodka, Vodka, Vodka: Flavor Trends, New Distillates, and Muscle-Building Additives

2009-11-20T07:14:00-08:00

Vodka is getting weirder, which makes it more interesting in my book.

Vodka can be distilled from anything that ferments and is already made from wheat, rye, corn, sugar beets, molasses, potatoes, maple syrup, and other ingredients. Now it's also made from oranges. 4 Orange Vodka is "distilled from 100% orange spirits derived from four unique Florida orange varieties - the Hamlin, Parson Brown, Temple and Valencia."

The website say 4 Orange Vodka it's initially only available in Florida, retailing for $24.99.

360 Vodka, an organic vodka made in the midwest, has launched a new flavor: Cola. The company suggests mixing their cola-flavored (and colored) vodka with lemonade, cucumber slices, and soda water in a cocktail called the Ecolade, or (get this) mixed with Sprite.

A soda-flavored vodka sounds odd to me, but I suppose it shouldn't. The biggest trend across vodka flavors is mocking the flavor of other beverages. Sweet tea vodka was all the rage last year, Three Olives released a root beer flavored vodka, and Burnett's launched a pink lemonade flavor as well.

It seems to me the division between pre-mixed cocktails and flavored vodkas is getting smaller. You can probably just pour most of these over ice or into an up glass and call it a cocktail.

Lastly, there is a new protein-infused vodka, Devotion Vodka, hitting the market. This solves the problem that so, so many vodka drinkers have: you want to drink your protein powder to gain ultimate muscle power, yet you also want a vodka cocktail. Until recently you'd have to mix them. No longer! According to the website:

The protein used in the Devotion Vodka blend is PeptoPro® and casein, PeptoPro® , which was developed by DSM Food Specialties with the Dutch Olympic Committee is a recovery ingredient for fast muscle refueling. The target was to give the Dutch Olympic athletes a competitive advantage at the Olympic Games in Athens in 2004. PeptoPro® is a casein hydrolysate (a protein cut into fragments), which is the same protein found in dairy products.

So it's also good as a post-workout cocktail ingredient while your muscles are recovering. Sure.

But actually I want to try the product because I wonder what the protein will do to the texture of the vodka. If it makes it thick and silky, that could be interesting in cocktails. And it would be nice to bulk up my drink muscles.

Good Booze, Bad Booze: No Such Thing as Wine Flu

2009-11-19T16:08:00-08:00

One day science says drinking will make you live forever. The next day science says it will kill you tomorrow. Good Booze, Bad Booze is an Alcademics category where I put all these stories together.

11/19/09: Resveratrol Exhibits Antiviral Properties in Italian Study [link]

From Wine Spectator: "Resveratrol, a polyphenolic compound found in red wine and the focus of many medical researchers, may be able to fight off viruses, according to a new Italian study. While the chemical has shown hints of antiviral properties in previous studies, this research shows that it appears to prevent virus replication at the cellular level."

11/19/09: Alcohol 'protects men's hearts' [link]

From the BBC News: "Drinking alcohol every day cuts the risk of heart disease in men by more than a third, a major study suggests."

Previous Good Booze, Bad Booze

11/17/09: Kudzu compound could help alcoholics quit drinking [link]

9/22/09: White wine rots your teeth... and brushing makes it worse [link]

9/22/09: Alcohol as a Lifesaver in Head Injuries [link]

9/02/09: Moderate Drinking May Help the Brain [link]

8/31/09: Regular drinkers get more exercise [link]

see plenty more news stories after the jump...

8/30/09: Moderate beer consumption linked to improved bone strength [link]

8/22/09: Daily drinking may raise risk of several cancers [link]

8/22/09: Does wine really prevent heart problems? [link]

6/16/09: Alcohol’s Good for You? Some Scientists Doubt It [link]

4/30/09: Wine Adds Five Years to Life, More Than Beer, Dutch Study Finds [link]

4/21/09: Wine May Guard Against Lymphoma Recurrence [link]

4/10/09: New study says a glass of wine a day can lead to 'the shakes' [link]

3/31/09: Prevention: One Drink a Day Tied to Lower Death Risk [link]

3/07/09: Alcohol Consumption May Increase Pancreatic Cancer Risk [link]

3/06/09: Moderate alcohol intake good for bones [link]

3/02/09: Drinking Wine Lowers Risk Of Barrett's Esophagus, Precursor To Nation's Fastest Growing Cancer, Study Suggests [link]

2/26/09: More evidence links alcohol, cancer in women [link]

2/07/09: Alcohol stops men being a flop in bed [link]

1/19/09: Study: Seniors Should Drink To Health [link]

12/31/08: Marinating steak in beer or wine 'reduces cancer chemicals' [link]

12/28/08: Too much beer, wine linked to cancer [link]

11/25/08: Four beers a day 'could make you go blind' [link]

11/24/08: Red, red wine: How it fights Alzheimer's [link]

11/01/08: Pregnant women 'can drink a small glass of wine a week' [link]

10/21/08: Alcohol doesn't worsen chronic lung conditions [link]

10/20/08: Women unaware of wine breast cancer risk [link]

10/14/08: Drinking Alcohol Associated with Smaller Brain Volume [link]

10/13/08: White wine may also be good for you. [link]

10/8/08: Red wine slashes lung cancer risk in smokers [link]

7/7/08: Fountain of Youth? Red wine gives up secrets [link]

7/7/08: Red wine 'won't extend your lifespan' [link]

5/27/08: Light Alcohol Consumption May Help Bones [link]

5/22/08: Beer Drinking May Speed Pancreatic Cancer Onset [link]

Another Clue to Ice Clarity: Slow Freezing Like a Japanese Pond

2009-11-19T09:00:00-08:00

The other night a friend of mine told me that she read something about clear ice, which as you may recall is a topic of interest of this blog. Naturally I forgot what she said (we were at a bar, remember) but the next day I found the following email I had sent to myself:

"Clear ice old japan sawdust"

The amazing thing is that when you put that into Google the very first story it comes up with is what I assume is the exact thing my friend was talking about. In this story on natural ice (popsicles) in Japan, a person in the story gives a quote that could prove useful.

Masao Yoshiara, the fourth-generation president of the company, said: "In Nikko, the daily lowest temperature in winter averages around minus 10 C, ideal for making crystal-clear ice.
"If it's colder than that, ice can be made quickly but it is not solid enough. Here, ice grows 1 centimeter thicker a day. When ice becomes about 15 centimeters thick over half a month, we cut out ice blocks. If an ice block is thicker than that, it contains cracks."

Minus 10 degrees Celsius is 14 degrees Fahrenheit. I don't know the temperature of my home freezer, but it's worth investing in a thermometer to find out. Perhaps slow freezing equals clearer ice.

The other factor we'll have to consider about pond ice is that the bottom never freezes. Thus the air that is a major factor in cloudy ice is still in the warmer water below the surface layer of the ice.

This is another strategy I've been considering in attempting to get clear ice in the freezer: if I place a good insulator at the bottom and sides of the water container that doesn't cool down nearly as fast as the water (for example a super thick glass bowl, or a pan of ice that sits on a stone surface), will that cause all the air in the water to migrate to the bottom and freeze last?

This reading inspires a lot more ice experiments to come. I'm glad I emailed myself from the bar.

Does Freezing Water in Layers Make Clear Ice?

2009-11-19T07:00:00-08:00

Here's a new edition in my ongoing ice experiments. So far, there experiments have been:

With successes in:

So far my conclusions have been that (at least with my San Francisco water), temperature and filtering have less of an effect than trapped air that migrates to the center of the freezing cube. Thus I am trying to minimize this effect.

In this experiment I froze ice in layers in small lasagna pans to see if we had a maximized surface area, hopefully no air would get trapped in the ice and form cloudy parts. Apparently some commercial ice machines such as Kold Draft spray an upside-down mist of water in layers, so this would be the home approximation of that.

I tried this experiments with tiny layers, medium layers, and large layers in the same sized pan, the difference being that I added more water per layer. I let the water freeze before adding another layer.

As you can see, none of the layers turned out clear:

(Tiny layers, medium layers, and large layers left to right.)

The small sized layers were made only adding a couple of ounces of water at a time, so I can't get much smaller layers than these unless I use a spray bottle.

We'll have to call this one a failure. Freezing water in layers does not appear to make clear ice, just ice with smaller layers of trapped air.

Below is a closeup of the layers for your ice ogling enjoyment.

The Smuggler's Cove Rumshakers

2009-11-18T10:23:52-08:00

Smuggler's Cove, the new San Francisco tiki bar in the former Jade bar space, run by "Shoeless" Martin Cate formerly of Forbidden Island, will open December 8th to much fanfare.

The word on the scene is that the rum selection is going to be ridiculously large. The staff are in training now to make the probably very long menu of undoubtedly complicated and delicious tiki drinks. They've already announced they have a rum, and wine, and a beer made exclusively for the bar. And it keeps getting better- I just got word on the staff.

The Smuggler's Cove rumshakers will be:

Christine D'Abrosca-England (ex-Malo, Seven Grand in LA)
Matty Eggleston (ex Varnish in LA)
Reza Esmaili (Conduit)
Melissa Garcia (ex-Trader Vic's)
Jacqueline Patterson (Heaven's Dog)
Alex Smith (soon-to-be-ex Ramblas & Thirsty Bear) manager
Dominic Venegas (83 Proof, John Walker & Sons, Appleton Rum ambassador)

The other folks in the picture are barbacks and a door person. Aloha! See you in December.

New Booze: El Grado Tequila

2009-11-18T06:41:00-08:00

Hey, there's another 100% agave tequila on the market. El Grado tequila is available in California, Arizona, and Texas so far. The tequila is made at Productos Regionales de Atotonilco, a distillery where they also produce brands El Rincon, Los Kikirikis, and Sol De Mexico, according to Tequila.net. Atotonilco is the town where they make Don Julio and Siete Leguas, so lots of good stuff comes from there.

The press release is rather vague on production details. The agave is from the Highlands,they use ex-Tennessee whiskey barrels for aging, and the picture of the still looks like it's tiny and made of stainless steel, but other than that we don't know anything about the treatment of the agave: autoclave, stone ovens, diffuser, tahona, etc..

So we'll just have to go on taste. I received samples of the reposado and anejo. The reposado is aged 6 months and the anejo for a minimum of 15 months.At first sniff, the buttery wood notes are pleasant with the baked mango yam and black pepper notes typical of agave following. On the reposado I get a lot of unbaked vegetal notes like wet spinach and olive brine with a mouth that suggests peeled sticks (not in a bad way). On the anejo, caramel pickled mango chutney on the nose gives way to a thin texture in the mouth with dominating shallow spices on the palate.

Of the two I like the reposado better as the anejo seems a bit clumsy, but I'd like to try the blanco sometime to see what I think about that.

Also, I like the caps on these bottles- not just style-wise, but because they work like a cork but are made of plastic and super easy to remove and replace. I wish more brands used them.

New Booze: Oxley Gin

2009-11-17T07:03:00-08:00

Oxley is a new gin just launched in NYC, SF, LA, and Vegas. The interesting thing about this product is that it's made through "cold distillation." The theory is that the high temperatures used in traditional gin distillation to boil alcohol (to separate it from water and the infused botanicals in the still) can impart 'cooked' notes or lose desirable flavors in gin.

However, the press release didn't go into what cold distillation is. One option could be freeze distillation, where you put out a jug of wine outside your front door in the winter to let it freeze. You scrape off the frozen part (the water) and keep the rest (the alcohol). After a few times you get a higher-proof drink than what you began with.

The other way to achieve cold distillation is by lowering the pressure by creating a vacuum in order to lower the boiling point of liquids. It turns out that's how they produce Oxley:

The boiling point of all liquids alters with the pressure change; the lower the pressure, the lower the temperature required to achieve boiling. It is for this very reason that water boils at a lower temperature at the top of a mountain than at sea level.

Cold Distillation uses a vacuum to reduce the pressure in the still and as a result lowers the temperature to approximately -5C, causing the macerated spirit in the still to ‘boil’ and turn to vapour. At this point the natural flavours from the botanicals are captured, resulting in a spirit that is reminiscent of the natural ingredients used to create it.

The reduced pressure within the still means that the molecules in the macerated spirit are no longer forced together by pressure, and instead start to separate, reducing the kinetic energy required to boil and changing from liquid to vapour (but without the use of heat). When this was observed during the development of OXLEY, it was discovered that the natural essences from the botanicals were captured and preserved in the vapour transferring to the final distilled spirit.

The Cold Distillation process occurs at approximately -5C and the resulting vapour is condensed at a temperature of -100C. As a result, the botanical flavours and aromas are not altered as they often are during traditional distillation methods. During other distillation methods botanicals are exposed to temperatures of 80C or greater. Cold Distillation, by contrast leaves the structure of the botanical molecules unchanged, thus preserving their original intensity. As a result, harsh and cooked notes, tops and tails and ‘spirit safes’ become a thing of the past. All the spirit distilled for OXLEY is of such high quality that everything produced goes into the final bottle and nothing is discarded.

The first part is interesting, but the last few sentences are very interesting. During distillation usually the first vapor that comes off the still is both yucky tasting and poisonous. The last vapor off is yucky and potentially watery. Thus much of the art in distilling is choosing the center cut- the heart- while not wasting too much of the spirit from the heads or tails. (This waste alcohol is often redistilled in a new batch or recycled into industrial alcohol) The folks at Oxley are saying that they've eliminated this alcohol waste entirely through this high-pressure, high-tech distillation. Very cool.

Anyway, the stuff costs fifty bucks a bottle. How does it taste?

Largely it tastes like gin. The nose is lemon zest and juniper, and on the palate more citrus comes into play as do almond notes that the press kit says comes from meadowsweet. To my mouth, the most unique aspect of this gin is the finish- I don't get a lot of the oiliness that reminds me of dried juniper berries usually found in gin, but in its stead I get a metallic dryness, like aluminum or stainless steel. (I wonder what the still is made of...) Other palates may just identify it as just dry or non-oily. I have not tried the drink in anything beyond a G&T and a Gin Sour, in which the aftertaste is still very dry.

Oxley Gin is interesting and high-tech stuff, but ultimately you'll have to decide whether or not you like it on your own.

SF Event: Indy Spirits Expo

2009-11-16T14:08:01-08:00

To win a pair of tickets to this event, keep reading.

On Thursday, November 19th from 6-9 PM (5-9 for VIP hour) Mighty (119 Utah Street, SF) hosts the Indy Spirits Expo. This is a tasting event featuring smaller brands of liquor, including:

Vieux Carre Absinthe
Port Charlotte Islay Single Malt
Tuthilltown Distillery
North Shore Distillery
Rhum J.M.
Renegade Rums

The full list of brands is here.

This will be a good excuse to try some new products, and there is plenty of time to try nearly all of them. Unlike the whisky and rum events hosted in SF, this one features all kinds of liquor. Tickets are $50 for regular admission and $75 for the additional VIP hour.

Want to win a pair of tickets? Become a fan of Alcademics on Facebook (follow the hard-to-read link below) and comment on the Facebook entry where I link to the Indy Spirits Expo (not this one). I'll pick a random commenter to win a pair of VIP tickets to the event this Thursday. Good luck, and I'll see you there.

Alcademics on Facebook

Passing the B.A.R.

2009-11-16T07:00:00-08:00

This past fall I took the B.A.R., Beverage Alcohol Resource, five-day course in New York. The course has two levels- "Ready" and "Certified", with the only difference in the number of drinks one has to make within a certain time on the practical bartending exam. The course ran for about 12 hours each day for the first four days, with nearly a full day of testing on the last day. It was a real butt-kicker.

People seemed to come away with different impressions of the course, but what stuck out most to me was what you need to know not just to pass the class, but to say that you're at an expert level in the industry. It's a lot. You need to know:

The science and history of fermentation and distillation from the dawn of time
The history, ingredients, geography, and practical and legal production rules for every major category of spirits
The entire history of bartending and individual history and timelines of dozens of important cocktails
How to blind taste and identify spirits, quality of distillation, barrel type and age, and other production parameters, down to individual brands and bottlings
How to balance drinks, mix drinks, make them fast and of the highest quality possible while providing top quality customer service
How to create new drinks and tweak existing ones based on different mixological strategies
How to blind taste and critique cocktails

I took 76 pages of notes in those four days, after having read and studied the textbook, attended dozens on lectures by the instructors, read zillions of books, and passed the BAR Smarts course before the course. We sampled a few hundred spirits blind, I practiced bartending until my shoulder ached from shaking, and still tried to find time to study each night before passing out.

I decided to attempt the BAR Ready certification, thinking that I knew so much about the history and production rules of spirits that I wouldn't have to even study for that part of the test. (Boy was I wrong about that.) Luckily if you don't make all your drinks in time to be BAR Ready you can still pass BAR Certified. And I did, which is awesome.

My takeaway from the course is not just the new information and skill set gained during the week, but knowing what it takes to stay on top of things going forward: A great and constant amount of work tasting, testing, practicing, learning, and reviewing what you think you already know.

Apple Brandy in the News

2009-11-15T10:25:09-08:00

Apparently it's West Coast writers' apple brandy weekend.

Jordan Mackay of San Francisco writes about apple brandy for the New York Times.

Paul Clarke of Portland OR Seattle writes about apple brandy (with cocktail recipes) for the San Francisco Chronicle.