The mojito event at STIX last night was disappointing.

[xiphias]

See, STIX is one of the restaurants in Boston that's doing the most with molecular mixology. And we'd heard that, at this free event sponsored by Bacardi (well, "free plus parking plus the fact that it was over dinner time so we ordered some food, ending up with something like sixty bucks for the free event"), they'd be playing with a few new ideas.

One worked, the other, eh.

The one that worked was the Pop-Rocks one. They did a gelatinous cube (not the 4 hit die one -- just a cube out of jelly) which was half rum and half raspberry puree, plus enough gelatin to make it gel, then squirted a mint sauce on top, and sprinkled it with Pop Rocks. It worked.

The mojitos that were being made were not very good. They tasted entirely artificial -- fake lime flavor, high fructose corn syrup, and not much mint flavor.

And the other drink -- the Smoking Mojito -- was the same stuff, just dropped in a little cup with dry ice.

Now, the cups were interesting. They were narrow cylinders, maybe two inches (5 cm) in diameter by 3 inches (7.5 cm) high. The bottom had a separate chamber, into which the dry ice was put. Then there was a cap over it, with several perforations, and then the rest of the cup. So it had a perforated but separate chamber for the dry ice, which kept the pellet from coming out and hitting you when you were drinking, and kept you from swallowing the pellet, which I imagine would have been very uncomfortable. (Internal frostbite, plus gas pressure as it sublimated. Not a good thing, I imagine.)

However: because the liquid just went through the perforations, the liquid as a whole didn't bubble, so the drink as a whole did not get cold, nor did it carbonate, which are two things which I expect from dry ice. And, like I said, the mojito itself wasn't very good.

I expect better quality ingredients.

And it occurred to me: right now, bartending is going forward in two directions: first, you have the people who are working on re-creating old, hand-crafting techniques, using fresh ingredients and high-quality infusions, liqueurs, and liquors. They are working for careful balance of flavor, elegant presentation, and personal attention.

Then you have people who are going for the "wow" factor -- things that are different, new, exciting, and creative in shocking, avant-garde ways.

What do you get when you cross the two?

Me.

At least, that's what I'm going for.

My margarita souffle seems to be turning out reasonably well.

Comments

[sinboy.livejournal.com]

If you don't have it, you might want to consider
this book. It's got lots of detail on how food science works.

How about using interesting extracts or fruit juices or pured fruit for the "wow" factor?

Also, you can get unflavored pop rocks and a whole lot of interesting ingredients from these people.

Me, I think considering what sort of experience you want the person to have in terms of taste, texture, an appearance is important. Flair and showmanship are important too.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

I absolutely want to read the McGee -- at least to borrow it from a friend -- I think Ny's got a copy.

Lis was looking how to make Pop Rocks, but it requires an industrial high-pressure hyperbaric chamber at something like 200, or maybe it was 2000 PSI. A lot, anyway.

That web site looks awesome.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

http://www.shopchefrubber.com/product.php?productid=5983

So THAT'S where they get it. You've just given me the ability to do everything the professionals do. Thank you, sinboy. You're dangerous.

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

Mis libros son sus libros. :)

(I do indeed have a copy.)

[desperance.livejournal.com]

The McGee is the best book ever; you do so need to read it.

Also, if I were rich and/or we were the same side of the Atlantic, I would so hire you...

[cheshyre]

If you can get to the library before it closes @ 5pm (and its summer, so no weekend hours), the catalog says they have a copy on shelf:

Call # 641.5 McGee



Otherwise, I can see about leaving a tad early and picking it up from the library near my workplace.

[brooksmoses]

It occurs to me, if you'd be interested, that my 1911 Scientific American Cyclopedia of Formulas has about eight pages of recipes for mixed drinks, which I could copy out for you at some point.

Actually, speaking of technological stuff (as well as "old, hand-crafting techniques"!), it also has things like "[Artificial Essence of] Gin: Oil juniper, 1 oz.; oil nutmeg, 1 dr,; oil caraway, 6 minims; fusel oil, 10 minims; rectified spirit, 16 oz." And, under brandy, "Barrels, To Give the Appearance of Age to. -- Dissolve in 3 gal. water 3 lb. sulphuric acid and 1 lb. sulphate of iron. Wash the barrels with it on the outside." Also under brandy is a recipe for what appears to be a blackberry cough syrup, as well as a recipe for a caraway-infused brandy-based cordial (4 oz. bruised caraway seeds, 2 lb sugar, 1 gal. British brandy; macerate for a fortnight). It's got pages and pages of this sort of thing....

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

I think we've got those recipes. It doesn't mean we've got the same book -- this was a book with a number of recipes that looked like they were copied from different sources.

[brooksmoses]

Yeah; these are definitely copied from lots of different sources (of widely varying quality). There are no doubt untold numbers of such collections, each probably with mostly similar stuff but slight differences, so each one probably has a few new things but not much.

It's definitely interesting reading, though.

[voltbang.livejournal.com]

I wish you were local so I could drink what you make. I like my drinking with character like that.

And I hate HFC with a passion. I will cross the street to hate on HFC. Anything you make by blasting corn with high pressure high temperature acid isn't something I want to ingest, thank you very much.

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

It's so much fun reading your mixology posts!