Camper English's Blog, page 22

Slowly, Suddenly Sesame

I wrote a flavor trend story for Eater San Francisco. I really enjoy cocktails with sesame in them and recently I realized that there were tons of them all over the place.

I stopped trying to find new ones after locating 14 different bars serving sesame in drinks, though I'm sure I could have rounded up more- and not all of them fit into the final article (sorry Kevin!). 

Check it out on Eater. 

Designs on Clear Ice Cubes Using Clay Stamps

Lately I've been making designs on ice cubes using the Ice Designer tool or these Cookie Stamps. I even wrote a story about how Patterned Ice Conquered Drinkstagram. 

Well in my fairly regular perusal of Amazon for new ice stuff I came across these stamps that are used to impress patterns into clay and other materials. I thought they just might make cool patterns in ice cubes, and surprise, surprise - I was right!

The first step is to make clear ice in one of the many ways demonstrated in my ice experiments.

I first tried them at room temperature and the pattern didn't go deep enough. Then I heated them up a bit - atop my toaster actually. Then pressed the ice on them. It worked great! 

 

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Spring Cocktail Books 2023

These are drink books being released in the first three months of 2023.

Links are to Amazon and I may earn a commission if you buy them. 

 

Cider: Understanding the world of natural, fine cider

Whiskey Makers in Washington, D.C.: A Pre-Prohibition History

Summer Sparklers: 60 Sunshine Cocktails for Spring and Summer

A Dark History of Gin

Paired: The ultimate food and wine pairing guide

Drink Around the World: 101 Unofficial Cocktail Recipes Inspired by Every Disney World Attraction

Cocktail Bible: Over 3,500 recipes

Mocktails, Cordials, Syrups, Infusions and more: Over 80 delicious recipes for alcohol-free drinks

Discovering Yamaguchi Sake: A Taster’s Guide to Breweries, Culture, and Terrain

The Vieux Carré (Iconic New Orleans Cocktails)

Whisky Cask Investment: Building Wealth Through Whisky Casks

Portland Cocktails: An Elegant Collection of Over 100 Recipes Inspired by the City of Roses

The New French Wine [Two-Book Boxed Set]: Redefining the World's Greatest Wine Culture

The Unofficial Big Lebowski Cocktail Book: Over 50 Mixed Drink Recipes Inspired by the Cult Classic

Drinking with My Dog: The Canine Lover's Cocktail Book

Cocktails in Color: A Spirited Guide to the Art and Joy of Drinkmaking - A Cocktail Book

Beer Hiking New England: The Tastiest Way to Discover Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island

Wild Drinks: The New Old World of Small-Batch Brews, Ferments and Infusions

Spirits of the Tarot: From The Cups' Abundance to The Magician's Creation, 78 Cocktail Recipes Inspired by the Tarot

The Essential Tequila & Mezcal Companion: How to Select, Collect & Savor Agave Spirits - A Cocktail Book

Tiki Cocktails: Over 50 Modern Tropical Cocktails

The New York Times Essential Book of Cocktails (Second Edition): Over 400 Classic Drink Recipes With Great Writing from The New York Times

The Maison Premiere Almanac: Cocktails, Oysters, Absinthe, and Other Essential Nutrients for the Sensualist, Aesthete, and Flaneur: A Cocktail Recipe Book

Saved by the Bellini: & Other 90s-Inspired Cocktails - A Cocktail Book

 

 

 

 

 

Dividers For An Ice Block

As you know, I make ice in an insulated cooler in the process known as directional freezing first demonstrated here on Alcademics in 2009.

Lately I've been playing with an ice sphere press to make super nice looking ice balls.

But the problem is that the ice spheres are about 2.7 inches in diameter and there is no 3-inch ice cube tray that I know of. In order to make roughly 3-inch cubes, I make a whole cooler full of clear ice and then cut it up to the size that will fit in the ice ball press. Cutting up a slab of clear ice into these shapes isn't that much of a hassle, but still I am lazy and want to find a better way. 

So I decided to hang dividers in my cooler that would make the ice easily break into sections. This is a work in progress. I first tried one thick plexiglass divider that didn't fit across flat. It was really hard to get the ice out of the cooler afterward, and I figured out that it works best when you can see all the edges of the plastic. But anyway it worked.

Next I experimented with a thick plastic sheet I purchased from Tap Plastics, and then cut to size. It works best when the plastic is straight across the cooler, rather than curved.

Then I realized the defrosting plate that I use to smooth the edges of ice actually fits flat across the width of the cooler. It actually slides right into the grooves in the cooler. Unfortunately, this defrost plate is no longer offered online, so I've been experimenting with others. I'll let you know if I find another one that fits perfectly.

In any case, the metal plate slides out of the ice easier than plastic does. I also learned that it's far easier to separate the block from the dividers if I don't let the block freeze for more than two days, which gives me about 3 inches of ice in the cooler. 

 

Not that I have three sections of ice instead of one block, I can cut each slab in half to get roughly 3-inch cubes just like I wanted. It's a start! 

Anyway, I'll keep you posted on the progress of this project. 

 

The 50 Most Iconic Cocktails in San Francisco, 2023 Edition

For 7x7, I once again wrote my list of the 50 most iconic cocktails in the city.

I've been doing this list since at least 2014!  

 

 

The introduction:

At the start of 2022, many bars remained shell-shocked by the pandemic and were largely playing it safe; cocktail menus were limited to core essentials that bartenders could execute well in the age of "the new normal."

As 2023 gets going, we're rounding a new corner with fancy cocktail lounges, hotel lobby bars, and rooftop venues opening all over the place, and some longstanding spots have jettisoned tried-and-true tipples for complete rewrites of their drink menus.

While there are no doubt several new drinks awaiting their "iconic" status, this year list holds true to many of San Francisco's most recognizable, signature, "I'll have another" drinks.

 

Read the whole list here. 

 

Make Clear Stars and Hearts Ice with Silicone Cupcake Liners

You can make clear ice cubes in a tray in a cooler by punching holes in the bottom of each cube compartment and setting the tray on a riser. This is described here. Most commercial clear ice cube trays work similarly. 

But cubes are not the only shape of clear ice you can make in this method. Using these cheap silicone cupcake liners from Amazon:

I poke holes in them (using this hole punch) and set them on a riser in a cooler. I then filled the cooler with water up to the level of the top of the cupcake liners. I let them freeze for 24 hours, though I could have pulled them out sooner. 

 

The silicone cupcake liners pulled out of the ice surprisingly easily, and the ice slipped right out. 

 

They were hard to photograph with liquid in the glass, because they're so clear the ice disappeared. For the ones with liquid in them, I only have a little bit of liquid in the glass. 

I'd love to think of a way to best display them in cocktails. Perhaps tucked into crushed ice at the surface of a drink. Of course they'd also look great with colored ice, but then we wouldn't have had to poke holes in the cupcake liners in the first place!

 

Making Patterned Ice Cubes with Cookie Stamps

As you're probably aware, patterned ice is the new logo ice. 

You can make patterned ice with an ice designer ($160) or a meat tenderizer ($13), and recently I purchased some cookie stamps ($27) to give those a try. 

The round shape can be limiting, but they're pretty large and will cover a 2" cube. A new addition to my icy arsenal. 

 

 

Check out all my recommended ice tools at this page, and all my ice experiments at the Ice Index Page.

 

A 3D Look at Patent Medicines

For my book Doctors and Distillers I referred to the Smithsonian's "Balm of America" collection of patent medicines. 

The collection is images of patent medicine bottles, pills, etc. 

I was just made aware of another patent medicine collection at NYU - and in this one you can spin the bottles around and look in three dimensions:

Virtual Museum: History of Dentistry

There is also a good amount of information about patent medicines generally and the specific ones in the collection.

 

Check it out!

 

Book Discussion at the Mutter Museum for Doctors and Distillers January 18, 2023

I was thrilled to learn that the Mutter Museum will be discussing Doctors and Distillers in their new online book club on January 18th. Details are here!

 

The Technology Behind Nonalcoholic Vermouth

I spoke with Martini and Rossi’s Master Blender, Giuseppe “Beppe” Musso, and Senior Master Herbalist Ivano Tonutti to learn how they made their new nonalcoholic vermouths. 

It was fascinating!

The story is now live at AlcoholProfessor.com.