Science

The most popular drink in the world was once made using Acid Phosphate. Today, Coca-Cola no longer uses this unique ingredient, instead they have simplified their formulation by using phosphoric acid, which still makes it a phosphated soda, but not the classic version. The “phosphate drink” was the most popular… [Continue]

The idea of the purest, cleanest vodka is one of the biggest marketing ploy's going. Every company is advertising triple distilled, quadruple distilled, and so on, to give you the impression that the vodka is the best distillate possible. Some companies even make the gimmick go to six or seven times distilled! So what makes one vodka special and another one not so special? What would be the… [Continue]

For the past few days I’ve been working on a vodka study that I’m looking to publish in the next month or so. This vodka study is similar to the study involving malt and blended scotch identification, with a few modifications and additional analysis.… [Continue]

This is the second part of a write up on a persons ability to distinguish one spirit from another. Part one was Malt vs Blended whisky and this part is brandy vs whiskey. In the first research paper it was concluded that an inexperienced whisky drinker could not distinguish between a single malt… [Continue]

Lately cocktails have been in a renaissance. There has also been an increased interest in making them a culinary equal. Molecular mixology is one of those trends that is being mirrored from the kitchen because molecular gastronomy… [Continue]

Recently I received an email question from Bryan, a regular reader of The Art of Drink. In his email he had some questions about the process for making rum and requested some information, if possible. Well, I’m always willing to answer questions, really, just email me. In this case the answer is appropriate for an article so I did a little bit of research… [Continue]

After preparing all of my test solutions on a, sunny, Saturday afternoon, I decided that a beautiful Tuesday evening was perfect to spend in the lab, the same lab I spent all day in. But the effort was for a good cause, which was to answer the nagging question: Does… [Continue]

A recent research paper published in Psychological Science has shown a relationship between bitter flavours and judgement. The interesting result was that after tasting something bitter, people were harsher in their judgement. If you are politically conservative, the effects are even more pronounced. Since bitters are a key part of cocktails, and alcohol in itself can be bitter to a significant… [Continue]

For some reason bartenders are drawn to the idea of infusing spirits with tobacco. After my post on the Bar Sorcerer, where I made a statement that “tobacco infusions are a bad idea” I’ve had a number of people ask why? The simple answer is toxicity, but that answer doesn’t provide the details intelligent bartenders are looking for, so in this post I’ve expanded on… [Continue]

Ice can be a pretty boring topic, unless you are talking to a cocktail enthusiast, then you just need to sit back, listen, and enjoy the cocktail they served you demonstrating the potential of ice. Besides filling the glass and chilling the drink, what’s so important about ice? Well,… [Continue]

What happens when you age a cocktail? Does aging help or hinder the flavour and what is happening chemically to the liquor mixture inside the barrel? Do you really need a barrel to make them? These are the questions everyone wants to know about aged cocktails, and really, this is a unique and little understood process so let’s do a little research and discover what is happening.

Aged… [Continue]

Last week Trevor Easter (bar manager of the Rickhouse in San Francisco) asked me a question about Jamaica Ginger for a cocktail that he was researching. It just happened that I did know a fair amount on the subject. While doing research for Fix the Pumps I came across some old recipes… [Continue]

As much as the maraschino cherry is reviled by professional bartenders, it is lovingly embraced by the consumers of sundae's and artificially flavoured fruit “martini's”. Why do people love the artificial variety? Aside from the brilliant red colour, the cherries remain plump like a cherry should be, and not shriveled like the head of a 105 year old person. Oddly, a portion… [Continue]

Patent 4298623 Issued on November 3, 1981. Estimated Expiration Date: December 14, 1999.

Description
This invention relates to the processing of cherries, and more particularly to a method of processing fresh uncooked cherries in such amanner as to render the cherries storable. The invention further concerns a method of processing cherries which have been stored in the manner contemplated… [Continue]

Question from Blair: I've noticed a phenomena when I'm making bitters.  After I macerate this that or the other in the alcohol, I filter it to remove any sediment, twigs, etc.  I then add cooled caramel syrup to lower the proof and give it a nice texture/color. After adding and blending the syrup, I start to get some… [Continue]

After writing the article on the Dawn of Tiki, I had about a litre of prepared fruit juice leftover, so I've continued to make the drink from the Philippines. Even though I'm on my sixth or seventh one, the drink still has a peculiar property that makes me enamored with it. I've finally figured… [Continue]

I've always like the idea of molecular mixology, but not necessarily the name or some of the end products. The name has been abandoned by most practitioners of the art, but the media refuses to move on. So be it, it's just a name and if it promote's better drinks / solids / foams / beads then… [Continue]

In part one we figured out how much cyanide was contained in fruit pit kernels and their toxicity. To summarize, yes there is cyanide in the kernels and there is enough to harm you. The next obvious question is; can you remove the cyanide from the kernel so it can be used in liqueurs? Additionally, I know… [Continue]

When you publish a website, you often leave yourself open to public scrutiny, which often leads to "Fan Mail", as I like to call it. Most of the time I ignore it, but sometimes I feel compelled to reply. This is one of those occasions. Now, the topic is High… [Continue]

What is it about High Fructose Corn Syrup that makes it different from other sugars, like common table sugar? Obviously, the sugars come from two different plants corn and sugar cane / sugar beets. But the key factor, and the one that causes the most discussion, is that the sugars produced from corn are a products of a multi-stage enzymatic process that breaks down corn starch into simple sugars.… [Continue]

High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is all the rage these days. Actually, its more likely to cause opinionated rage, at least on the Internet. In the summer of 2006 I was going to discuss this topic but got distracted by all the boozy goodness. Then Scott, at Scott's Rum Pages, brought up the point about HFCS in the Rum and Coke post. This reminded me that I was going to write something about this… [Continue]