Reddit reviews Liquid Intelligence: The Art and Science of the Perfect Cocktail
We found 19 Reddit comments about Liquid Intelligence: The Art and Science of the Perfect Cocktail. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Liquid Intelligence The Art and Science of the Perfect Cocktail
I’d recommend liquid Intelligence
I'm going to actively try to avoid recipe books here in my links (that said, that means you're missing out on Vintage Spirits & Forgotten Cocktails, Death & Co, Potions of the Caribbean, and The Joy of Mixology so.... YMMV)
Liquid Intelligence - IMHO must have guide on the technical aspects of bartending. This book is amazing and is the first thing I share with my coworkers that want to broaden their knowledge
The Drunken Botanist - In depth examination of the plants that go into making our favorite drinks, beers, booze, and sundry
Bitters - Has history of bitters, along with instructional on how to make your own.
Shrubs Kind of recipes but also talks about how to make shrubs and good proportions for them, which isn't super common.
Wine Folly Do you want a good intro-to-wine with good, clear reference sheets about styles and pairings? Here's your book
The Wine Bible Want to know way more than you ever thought you wanted to know about wine? This is what you want to be reading.
The Beer Bible - Same as above, but for beer instead of wine.
Holy Smoke! Its Mezcal Mezcal can be hard to pin down and I've found this one to be decent. Includes a table of things that were available in the US at time of publishing and the author's opinions on quality.
Vermouth - pretty in depth history on vermouth, focusing on its place in American cocktail Culture
Imbibe! In depth history of early cocktail culture, focusing on Jerry Thomas and the Bon Vivant's Companion
...I'm sure I could think of more, given the time. I'm trying to just delve into things currently on my shelf, and not in my wishlist.
Not Cocktail of the Week #93: The Earl Grey MarTEAni and the Mandala
This week's NCotW is a Modern Classic created by contemporary legend Audrey Saunders, along with an original twist on the recipe. I'm /u/ems88, filling in for /u/hebug this week.
Saunders is responsible for a fair number of cocktails that have spread far beyond the walls of the bars where they were first shaken or stirred including the Old Cuban, the Gin Gin Mule, and Not Cocktail of the Week #19: Intro to Aperol.
Background
The Earl Grey MarTEAni is a tea-infused variation on the classic Gin Sour (with egg white). It was first developed in 2002 for an event at the Ritz Hotel London. Saunders continued to offer the MarTEAni as part of her cocktail program at Bemelmans in Manhattan's Carlyle Hotel, and when she opened Pegu Club in 2005 she brought the drink with her.
The drink rose in popularity to become one of Pegu Club's most ordered cocktails, but in 2010 it found itself at the center of a controversy related to use of raw egg whites in bars and was temporarily removed from the menu. The substantial fines and citations initially threatened were never imposed, and the Earl Grey MarTEAni returned to the menu in triumph.
The cocktail has since taken on a life of its own, appearing on menus from Vancouver to London to Beijing. In 2013 Difford's Guide included it on their list of the Top 100 Cocktails. I have seen the MarTEAni served (under a variety of names; sometimes credited, sometimes not) at more bars than almost any other drink developed since the Cosmopolitan, thus cementing its status as a Modern Classic Cocktail.
Recipe
Audrey's Earl Grey MarTEAni
New York Magazine, The State of the Cocktail, 2004
Measure all the ingredients into a mixing glass. Add ice, and shake hard to a 10-second count. Strain into a chilled martini glass, ½ rimmed with sugar, and garnish with a lemon twist.
For the Earl Grey-infused gin:
Measure tea into bottle. Cap and shake, and let sit at room temperature for 2 hours. Strain through a fine sieve or coffee filter into a bowl. Rinse out bottle to remove loose tea, and pour infusion back into clean bottle.
Technique
While not addressed in the New York Magazine recipe, for drinks incorporating egg whites there are a few techniques to help achieve an optimal texture. Once the ingredients are assembled in the shaker tin, a 10 second “dry shake” without ice will help with the emulsification of the egg white. In addition, adding the coil of a Hawthorne strainer during the dry shake will provide additional agitation. Remove the coil, add ice and shake vigorously for 15 seconds. Finally, it is especially important with egg white drinks to “double strain” with both a Hawthorne strainer and a fine mesh strainer.
Results
I've played around with a few different gins as the base for this infusion. I did these in small batches, using 1½ teaspoons of tea for 3 oz of gin (which is also a good way to make this cocktail at home if you don't want to commit to infusing a full bottle of gin). As the initial recipe called for Tanqueray (a London Dry Gin), I decided to compare it with Venus Spirits Gin (a New Western Dry Gin from Santa Cruz featuring citrus and lavender) and No. 209 (a Bergamot orange-forward gin from San Francisco).
The Tanqueray version I treated as a baseline, for which it served quite well. The juniper-forward notes play well with the drying tannins of the tea, but beyond that no distinct botanicals stood out. By comparison, the Venus Spirits Gin brought floral notes to the table making the resulting profile reminiscent of a cup of Lady Grey tea. Finally, the Bergamot elements of the No. 209 accentuated the Bergamot of the Earl Grey to create a veritable orange bomb which, while not entirely unpleasant, had a few rough edges and lacked the balance of the other two.
While the original recipe calls for a sugar rim, I prefer my Earl Grey MarTEAni without. As is shown in the picture, I also opted to garnish with a lemon wedge instead of the lemon peel called for in the original recipe. I did this because the overall profile is more likely to be found a touch sweet than a touch sour, so the option to add a squeeze of lemon seemed like a good way to provide the ability for the drinker to modify the cocktail to their palate.
As with other egg white drinks all three versions had a luscious, creamy texture. In each case the tannins of the tea created a drying sensation which brought an unusual element to the cocktail's balance. The dryness added depth to the sour and sweet profile of the Gin Sour base.
This cocktail serves well as an introduction for people skeptical of egg whites as an ingredient. The flavors expressed in the Earl Grey MarTEAni are familiar, but the format in which they are presented is entirely novel, allowing the drink to be at once both provocative and simultaneously comforting.
The Mandala
The frothy, creamy texture of the Earl Grey MarTEAni reminds me of a cappuccino. This inspired me to create a chai-driven twist on the cocktail for the menu at 515 Kitchen & Cocktails in Santa Cruz, CA. The name is a reference to the Sand Mandalas of Tibetan Buddhism: intricate works of symbolic art created over the course of days and destroyed upon their completion as a meditation on impermanence. An ephemeral work of art that is crafted with the intention of being destroyed reminds me of some of the elements of cocktails that I most enjoy.
Recipe
Follow the process described above for egg white drinks, omitting the Angostura bitters from the shaker and instead using them to decorate the surface of the cocktail.
For the chai tea-infused gin:
Decant gin into a non-reactive container and add tea. Allow to infuse for 3 hours (I find the longer infusion time lends itself to a better extraction of the dry spices in the chai tea blend), stirring occasionally, then strain using a coffee filter or a fine mesh sieve and return to the bottle. For a smaller infusion use 1½ teaspoons of chai tea for every 4 oz of gin.
Three Ways to Decorate the Top of an Egg White Cocktail with Bitters
(Click on the links for demonstrative gifs)
First Method: Using an Angostura bitters-filled atomizer, spray a stripe down the middle of the cocktail. Using a straw, in a continuous motion draw a switchback of lines perpendicular to the stripe starting at one end. Upon reaching the other end, stop the switchback in the middle of the stripe and draw the straw along the center of the stripe back to its base. This creates a rosetta pattern.
Second Method: Using a dropper (or a straw in conjunction with a bitters-filled shot glass), create a spiral of dots starting in the center of the cocktail and expanding outwards. Using a straw, trace the path of the spiral. This creates a spiral of leaves.
Third Method: Using the Angostura dasher bottle, dash parallel lines across the top of the cocktail. Using a straw, cut across the lines of bitters in alternating directions in individual strokes. This creates a herringbone-like set of parallel zig zags.
Further Reading
(Partial) List of Bars that Have Featured an Earl Grey MarTEAni on Their Menu
2004 New York Magazine Earl Grey MarTEAni Recipe
2004 Business Week Audrey Saunders Profile
2005 Gary Regan's Account of the Pegu Club's Opening Festivities
2010 New York Times Article on the Egg White Crackdown
2013 Difford's Guide Top 100 Cocktails
Cheers!
Thank you to /u/hebug for the opportunity to contribute to the NCotW series, as well as for consistently providing such high quality content. Tune in next week for another exciting installment.
Also, check out the new book from venerable cocktail behemoths Death & Co. It just came out and is absolutely gorgeous. Finally, keep your eyes peeled for Liquid Intelligence, the cocktail science book from Dave Arnold of Booker & Dax which should be hitting shelves in early November.
Here's to you and thank you for reading.
Dude, that's fantastic news. This comment immediately got me subscribed for updates.
Some other source recommendations off the top of my head...
Tiki drinks:
General cocktails:
...that's... not a bad list to get started. Good luck! I'll be interested to follow along with development.
As many have mentioned before me on this sub, pick up Liquid Intelligence by Dave Arnold. If this sort of thing interests you, he has a whole section explaining this exactly, alongside an experiment for doubters. He also delves deep into the chem/physics of anything and everything cocktail related.
https://www.amazon.com/Liquid-Intelligence-Science-Perfect-Cocktail/dp/0393089037/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1536783466&sr=8-1&keywords=liquid+intelligence
The Kentucky Derby is coming up this weekend, so I thought I'd put together a batch version of the Mint Julep that makes it easy to serve large groups at once.
This recipe uses blender muddling to get a better mint flavor than standard muddling. And it also makes it easy to make many drinks at once. You won't be adding ice to the blender so you can fit many multiples of the recipe below into the blender at once. Just don't make them too far in advance — the mint begins to change flavor after about 15 minutes.
Serves 2.
Blender-muddle mint and bourbon: put mint and bourbon into blender. Liquid must completely cover blades to blend effectively so prepare at least two servings (as written above) or more at once. Blend on slow for a few seconds then fast for a few seconds. This method will extract more of the target mint flavor and less secondary bitter flavors from the same amount of mint than muddling and prevents the mint from browning.
Fine-strain and add simple syrup. Divide the liquid between two julep cups. Add some crushed ice, stir, then continue adding crushed ice until it's heaping. Clap mint sprig and add it and a straw to cup.
This blender-muddling technique was developed by Dave Arnold and is described in greater detail in his excellent book Liquid Intelligence. Here's a video of him demonstrating both nitro-muddling and blender muddling.
The Bar Book - Jeffrey Morgenthaler teaches no bullshit techniques, recipes, and the reasons behind those techniques and recipes.
Liquid Intelligence - Dave Arnold goes full on science nerd on the art of making perfect cocktails.
Death and Co. - Excellent modern classic recipes.
Smuggler's Cover - Pretty much the only Tiki book you'll need nowadays.
Meehan's Bartender Manual - I just bought this as a present for someone, been flipping through it, really nice new book from Jim Meehan.
Liquid Intelligence by Dave Arnold is a great book about the art and science behind mixing cocktails.
https://www.amazon.com/Liquid-Intelligence-Science-Perfect-Cocktail/dp/0393089037
Go pick up the book 12 Bottle Bar by the Solmonson's, work your way through that, then pick up The Bar Book by Jeffrey Morgenthaler, and work your way through that. Then if you want to get all crazy on recipes get the PDT app on your iPhone or pick up the PDT or Death and Co books if you don't have an iPhone. Then if you want to get crazy with techniques... Pick up Liquid Intelligence
Brand suggestions?
Bourbon - Old Granddad or Buffalo Trace
Scotch - Famous Grouse Blended and Laphroaig 10
Irish Whiskey - Bushmills
Brandy - Paul Masson VSOP
Cognac - Jacques Cardin VSOP Cognac
Vodka - Tito's
Gin - Aviation/New Amsterdam and Tanqueray
Tequila - All the Espolon stuff for Blanco, Reposado, Anejo
Mezcal - Del Maguey Vida
Rum - Flor De Cana 4 year+Plantation 5 year+Myers (people may scoff at Myers, but it's a signature style in a way, good for the price too)
Vermouth - Dolin Dry Vermouth and Carpano Antica Sweet Vermouth (Keep them in the fridge after opening!)
Bitters - Angostura, Regan's Orange bitters
Others - Campari, St. Germain, Benedictine, Pernod Pastis, Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur
Non-alcoholic - Lemons, Limes, Oranges, Fever Tree Ginger Beer, Fever Tree Tonic Water, Fever Tree Seltzer, Eggs, Cream, Orange Blossom Water
Watch small screen network's videos, read jeffrey morgenthaler's blog, and keep an open mind.
Don't know if I missed anything.
No reason why not. In fact, I sometimes pre-batch Manhattans (undiluted) and then mix with the appropriate amount of ice water (sans ice) for a finished cocktail. Makes quick work if serving them for a group of people.
Credit to Dave Arnold's Liquid Intelligence (https://www.amazon.com/Liquid-Intelligence-Science-Perfect-Cocktail/dp/0393089037/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1523124676&sr=8-1&keywords=liquid+intelligence) for that suggestion.
If you can't get your hands on Death and Co and need something to pass the time, I would highly recommend Liquid Intelligence by Dave Arnold
An infusion like this generally requires some trial and error. Some ingredient combinations are impossible to mess up: Strawberry infused gin? AMAZING no matter what. Coffee is much more difficult.
This book would be good reading for anyone who wants to nerd out. He has a nice lil section dealing with coffee cocktails and coffee infusions.
The recipe given in Sippin' Safari makes enough for 2 pearl divers
For extra credit, scale the recipe up and add a few grams of Ticaloid 210 S. That will prevent the butter from going back to a solid giving you something like a thick syrup. I haven't actually tried this yet, the idea comes from Liquid Intelligence.
Cocktail Codex for understanding builds
Death and Co for technique, classics, and variations
Liquid Intelligence for understanding the “why” to the “how”
Smuggler’s Cove because tiki is sort of its own thing in a lot of ways
Imbibe! for historical context
Some honorable mentions include Jim Meehan’s Bartender’s Manual, Regarding Cocktails, and The Dead Rabbit: Mixology and Mayhem.
I first posted this is /r/cocktails.
It was originally generated by Popular Science from data in Dave Arnold's Liquid Intelligence, but sadly went offline. I've brought it back by using data from Dave's book, fixing a few misprints & recalculating a few quantities. I find the d3.js layout visually appealling & the data interesting, but can claim credit for neither.
3-d plot is also available. It is less beautiful/less clear, but links to the tab-separated-value file with the data use for both plots.
/r/Cocktails
Liquid Intelligence is fascinating if you're a science/chem type.
The Bar Book and similar books.
Get 3-4 tools;
A Japanese-style jigger or a 50ml graduated cylinder
Ice. (And learn how it is made properly)
A cocktail shaker.
A strainer comes in handy too.
The cheapest way to practice; mix whatever booze you have on hand that is around 80 proof with some form of sugar, (honey, 1:1 sugar-to-water, 2:1 sugar-to-water, agave, Demerara sugar, etc...) and some form of citrus (fresh lime/ lemon juice). Just play around with the ratios of each (booze, citrus, sugar) till you learn how each affects one another.
For beginning bartending, I recommend familiarizing yourself with how alcohol is synthesized, the different distillation processes, and the types of booze from around the world.
From there, look on YouTube.
u/CocktailChem has a nice playlist for beginners called Basic Cocktails
Here is a couple of other playlists for you
The Educated Barfly YT
Steve the Bartender 365 days playlist
How To Drink
United States Bartenders Guild (USBG) seminars
Additionally, look for some books;
Cocktail codex(here)
Savoy Cocktail book (here)
Liquid Intelligence (here)
Smuggler’s cove (here)
Tiki (here)
The Aviary Cocktail Book (here)
The piece of equipment that I decided wasn’t being used enough in my kitchen is my mandolin. I got it in a 4 blade set from Oxo. In order to really delve into it, I decided to make 3 dishes which featured the mandolin. First, I decided to make these mini-potatoes Anna. These were really easy and incredibly delicious. The paper-thin potato slices were melt in your mouth bites of deliciousness. I next wanted to make some kind of chip, but didn’t want to use potatoes again. Instead, I made these baked beet chips. I liked them because I didn’t have to fry anything. They took way longer than expected to crisp up (like 30 minutes or so) but ended up tasting a lot like potato chips with a slightly earthier flavor. Finally, for my main course, I wanted to make something with zucchini noodles. I have been trying to make more vegetable dishes and this seemed like a great opportunity to try this out. I went with this zucchini lasagna recipe. I did make a number of changes to the dish, as suggested by many of the commenters. To start, I added a couple cloves of garlic into the onions. Instead of a 28 ounce can of tomatoes, I went with a 15 ounce can, and then started adding things. I added a handful of minced sun-dried tomatoes, an 8 ounce can of tomato sauce, a squeeze of tomato paste, a squeeze of chili pepper paste, and a large splash of the pasta sauce I had in my fridge. I also added some parmesan and mozzarella to the ricotta layers and topped the thing with some mozzarella. This was delicious and I will definitely be making it again in the future.
For my MetaTheme, I wanted to finally use the Boston Shaker that I have had in my bar cabinet for a couple of years now. This also let me use another piece of underused equipment, my Hawthorne Strainer. Because I was going to use the shaker as my theme equipment, I needed a cocktail that really featured the shaker. In my mind, that means a cocktail with an egg white in it (which needs a dry shake). I decided to go with a Whiskey Sour because it is one of my favorite drinks, when done well, and I somehow haven’t done it in the 93 weeks I have been making cocktails to go with my theme dishes. I had to crack out two different books for this one. I used Liquid Intelligence for the recipe but needed my Bar Book to learn the technique behind using a Boston Shaker. This was a great recipe with the right balance of sweet, sour, and smokey.
They teach you the "easy way", and by easy way I mean using sour mix and taking shortcuts like that. There are plenty of good resources online and amazing cocktail books you can buy that have the original recipes for classic cocktails, as well as the proper way to do things behind the bar.
Learn from reputable sources and from good bartenders. If you're interested here's a couple good reads:
As far as knowledge goes, you can learn a lot from reading and studying. For me personally, I love this kind of stuff and I'm constantly trying to learn as much as I can so I could hardly say it feels like actual studying. As for technical skills, learn from people better than you. No matter how good you get, there is always someone out there you can learn from. A lot of how I work I've picked up from watching great bartenders, everything from small stuff like the way I carry a bottle to the way I move behind the bar has come from watching, learning and implementing it into how I bartend.