Camper English's Blog, page 45

Toronto Cocktail Conference Recap

Last week I attended the Toronto Cocktail Conference to give a talk on CocktailSafe topics.  It was the second year of the conference under the combined management of the Drake Hotel and Bartender Atlas. 

I've mentioned it on Twitter and elsewhere, but this small conference is doing a few things I really like, that are a bit different from other cocktail conferences:

All speakers must stick around to do mentoring sessions with conference attendees. Speakers weren't allowed to just pop in for talks and fly back out right away. This happens often at other conferences- you see a speaker but never get to speak with them. 

One price includes all. For $150 CDN attendees could attend any of the seminars over three days, subject to capacity. It also included activations, which were mostly cocktail tastings from larger brands upstairs at the Drake, and spirit tastings from smaller distilleries downstairs. There were also cocktail competitions and parties where drinks were available for sale. 

Great selection of speakers, both local and a few folks like myself flown in for it. 

Like other conferences mostly not in the cocktail space, they emailed out their Code of Conduct to attendees and speakers. 

Speakers weren't allowed to stream their own sessions or record them to post online later, in order to be respectful of people who bought tickets to be in the room. 

One night there was no programming at the conference hotel specifically to encourage attendees to go out and visit the local cocktail bars. 

My talk about CocktailSafe topics went great! I was scheduled as the first talk of the conference, without any other seminars happening at the same time. They even simulcast it to the upstairs area as the seminar room was at capacity. 

The feedback on the seminar was terrific, and I talked to more than a dozen people who attended it and wanted to say hello or talk more about certain topics it brought up, both in my mentoring sessions and just hanging out all week. 

A note from each seminar I attended:

Round Building, Revised: With new tools and techniques including big ice, ice stamps, slushie machines, and cocktails on tap, the order and methods used for building rounds of cocktails has changed significantly over the last even five years.

Cocktail Chemistry 101: If you want X liters of batched cocktail, you can't just add up the volumes of the component parts; much like how 1 liter of sugar plus 1 liter of water doesn't equal 2 liters of simple syrup when combined.

Bitter/Sweet - A Proudly Uncomfortable History of Rum and Drink in the Caribbean: One thing producers and marketers of rum can do to better acknowledge the role of enslaved people in the history of rum is to de-emphasize the "plantation owner as rum blending genius" narrative/messenging that many brands have used. 

Dealers Choice: The Art of No Menu: It's important to develop scripts to quickly find out what customers are seeking. Each bar will have "house favorites" that they'll tend to make when certain keywords like "herbaceous" or "floral" are used. The order takers should always decide on the drink, not hand off the descriptions to the bartenders assembling them as that leads to miscommunication. (This talk did nothing to change my belief about no-menu bars that no matter what you order, they make you a Boulevardier.)

Bartending Techniques 101: The guest is always right: Policies should be in place for conflict resolution/escalation at each bar, with the goal of these policies to support and empower the staff rather than to pass every conflict/request along to management, for example.

Kitchen Techniques Behind Bars: The Aviary's Micah Melton recommends for those people getting into more scientific/kitchen techniques starting with equipment - scale to measure by weight, whip cream siphons, then circulators and sealers. 

 I also had a great time running around to bars in town. I was able to visit:

Civil Liberties

Mulberry Bar

Pretty Ugly

Bar Raval

Alo bar

Bar Chef

Mother (still thinking about that Gibson)

Shameful Tiki Room

Thanks to the TOCC crew and the bars of Toronto for a great time had by me! A few pics from my drinking adventures are below. 

 

 

The Life and Death of Kold-Draft

Over at Punch, Drew Lazor wrote a story about the Kold-Draft ice machine. He covers the role the big clear ice cube maker played in the cocktail renaissance (I didn't realize it was around so long), and how many bars are abandoning the machine today due to its problematic performance record. 

Lazor quotes me in the story:

“I used to say at the time that the Venn diagram of America’s best cocktail bars and bars that owned Kold-Draft machines was a near-perfect circle,” recalls drinks journalist and ice enthusiast Camper English.

 Check out the story on Punch. 

 

Quick Quote from Me in the Washington Post

M. Carrie Allan wrote a story in this weekend's Washington Post about how to make quality non-alcoholic cocktails by taking into account things like texture, bitterness, and spice. My brief place in the story is in this quote:

 Drinks writer Camper English noted that he uses the word “slow” to talk about what makes good nonalcoholic drinks — “something bitter or spicy or weird that makes you sip rather than gulp.” 

 

Three recipes are included: a n/a Penicillin, a chocolate-cherry drink, and a coconut cream drink. Check it out! 

New Drink Books for Summer 2019: Low- and No-Alcohol, 90s, Nerds, Twists, Cider, & More

Time for a new drink book round-up! We last rounded up new books on cocktails and spirits (and a few related topics) in April (see post), and a lot more have hit the market since then and are about to by the end of August. 

As usual, the descriptions come from the publishers and are not reviews by me. Links are to Amazon for purchase. 

 

Cocktails with a Twist: 21 Classic Recipes. 141 Great Cocktails. by Kara Newman

For anyone looking to expand their palate and discover a new favorite go-to drink, this inventive cocktail book is just the thing. Each chapter is based on a classic (like the Manhattan), but inside the unique gatefolds, readers will discover numerous riffs (like swapping Irish whiskey for rye to make a Blackthorn, or substituting amaro for vermouth to make a Black Manhattan).

More than 100 variations on 21 modern classic cocktail recipes are accompanied by helpful tips on keeping a well-stocked bar, garnishing drinks, and throwing a party. With bold coloring and a foil cover, Cocktails with a Twist is a handsome addition to any home bar. And with 21 gatefolds, with classic recipes and intriguing variants, this is a cocktail book unlike any other.

 

 

The Cider Insider: The Essential Guide to 100 Craft Ciders to Drink Now by Susanna Forbes

Cider is big news. Just as with craft beer and artisan gin, there's a world of new brands and styles for the drinker to discover – but where to start?

In The Cider Insider, award-winning drinks writer Susanna Forbes has hand-picked 100 great ciders that are worth seeking out and drinking now. She offers a complete, accessible guide to the very best on the market, from single-varietals to vintage ciders and pear cider (perry, the ancient 'new kid on the block'), and even ice ciders. The greatest cider-makers have honed their skills to a fine art – from Spain to Oregon, the world's top ciders are now being appreciated as a versatile drink akin to the finest wines. Indeed, cider's complex flavor profiles make it especially suited for drinking with a meal, and Susanna suggests food matches for each variety.

 

 

 

The Lager Queen of Minnesota: A Novel by J. Ryan Stradal 

A novel of family, Midwestern values, hard work, fate and the secrets of making a world-class beer, from the bestselling author of Kitchens of the Great Midwest

Two sisters, one farm. A family is split when their father leaves their shared inheritance entirely to Helen, his younger daughter. Despite baking award-winning pies at the local nursing home, her older sister, Edith, struggles to make what most people would call a living. So she can't help wondering what her life would have been like with even a portion of the farm money her sister kept for herself.

With the proceeds from the farm, Helen builds one of the most successful light breweries in the country, and makes their company motto ubiquitous: "Drink lots. It's Blotz." Where Edith has a heart as big as Minnesota, Helen's is as rigid as a steel keg. Yet one day, Helen will find she needs some help herself, and she could find a potential savior close to home. . . if it's not too late.

Meanwhile, Edith's granddaughter, Diana, grows up knowing that the real world requires a tougher constitution than her grandmother possesses. She earns a shot at learning the IPA business from the ground up--will that change their fortunes forever, and perhaps reunite her splintered family?

Here we meet a cast of lovable, funny, quintessentially American characters eager to make their mark in a world that's often stacked against them. In this deeply affecting family saga, resolution can take generations, but when it finally comes, we're surprised, moved, and delighted.

 

Flask: 41 Portable Cocktails to Drink Anywhere by Sarah Baird 

A compilation of portable drinks, Flask comprises 41 classic and contemporary cocktail recipes that can be transported anywhere. From imbibing in the great outdoors to ringing in the New Year, the book offers recipes for all of life's greatest moments. Bold, vivid infographics detail drink recipes for 6- and 17-ounce flasks, perfect for sipping solo or sharing with friends.

Accessible and fun, the book includes a brief history of flasks, common dos and don'ts, and an interactive quiz, all within a sleek, handsome package featuring a die-cut window and bright silver foil endpapers.

 

 

 

 

Alcohol-Free Cocktails: The Redemption Bar by Catherine Salway and Andrea Waters

Learn how to make delicious, alcohol-free cocktails and healthy canapés that will dazzle your guests and delight your taste buds.

Alcohol-free drinks have never been more glamorous thanks to this stunning new book by Catherine Salway and Andrea Waters, the brains behind Redemption, one of London's healthiest bar restaurant brands.

Redemption Bar will introduce you to a refreshing new take on alcohol-free drinks and innovative, healthy bar snacks. Learn how to make delicious, guilt-free cocktails and tasty canapés that will dazzle your guests and delight your taste buds.

Packed with nutritious recipes, Redemption Bar has something for everyone, with a variety of vegan, low-sugar and gluten-free recipes available.

Quirky, alcohol-free cocktail recipes include: Lychee and Yuzu Martinis, Pineapple Margaritas, and Strawberry & Mango Daiquiris. The book also offers a range of delicious canapés for light snacks and entertaining, from Slow-roasted Activated Almonds to Miso Glazed Baby Aubergine Skewers.

 

 

Are You Afraid of the Dark Rum?: and Other Cocktails for '90s Kids  by Sam Slaughter

A cocktail book with recipes for re-creating adult versions of your favorite '90s childhood drinks as well as original craft cocktails inspired by that iconic decade, Are You Afraid of the Dark Rum? is '90s nostalgia in a glass!

Are You Afraid of the Dark Rum? is a tongue in cheek cocktail book for the former '90s kid and those just discovering how cool old-school Nickelodeon and Delia's once were. With recipes for alcoholic versions of childhood favorites like Ecto-Cooler and Mondo as well as creative pop-culture inspired originals like the Rum and Stimpy and Semi-Warmed Kind of Cider, this is a perfectly giftable mix of humor, nostalgia, and tasty recipes.

 

 

 

 

Drink Like a Geek: Cocktails, Brews, and Spirits for the Nerd in All of Us by Jeff Cioletti 

Booze-fueled entertainment: Sci-fi and fantasy worlds are full of characters who know that sometimes magic happens at the bar. Drink Like a Geek is a look at iconic drinks and the roles they play in our favorite movies, shows, books, and comics. It’s also a toast to the geeks, nerds, and gamers who keep this culture alive.

Flights of fantasy: Drink Like a Geek is a fan encyclopedia and cocktail book. Because audience participation is strongly encouraged, dozens of recipes for otherworldly cocktails, brews, and booze are included.

A gift they’ll love: If you’re looking for geek gifts, Drink Like a Geek raises the bar. Homebrewers and mixology nerds who are fans of superheroes, wizards, or intergalactic adventure will also enjoy this book’s celebration of real-world bar-arcades, geeky Tiki culture, and the surprising connections between space and modern booze.

In Drink Like a Geek, you’ll find entertainment and drinks for fans who love:

sci-fi
comic books
wizards
genre TV
B-movies
videogames
cosplay and conventions
space!

Readers will love this book if they enjoy pun-filled cocktail recipe books and cookbooks like Tequila Mockingbird: Cocktails with a Literary Twist, Gone with the Gin: Cocktails with a Hollywood Twist, The Bob’s Burgers Burger Book: Real Recipes for Joke Burgers, and The Geeky Chef Drinks: Unofficial Cocktail Recipes from Game of Thrones, Legend of Zelda, Star Trek, and More.

 

Happy Hour: The Cocktail Card Game by Laura Gladwin and Marcel George

Shake, stir – or shuffle? Step up to the bar and order your favorite drinks in this cheerful game of cocktails. Collect illustrated cards of 52 iconic drinks and group them into sets of four to win. Perfect for cocktail parties and game nights, Happy Hour also includes short histories and full recipes for each of the 52 drinks. Cheers!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All Day Cocktails: Low (And No) Alcohol Magic by Shaun Byrne and Nick Tesar

Enjoy cocktails at any time of day with this collection of fresh, creative low- and no-alcohol recipes.

Celebrating seasonal ingredients, and with a focus on sustainability, All Day Cocktails showcases nearly fifty varieties of citrus, berries, tropical fruits, stone fruits, pome fruits, vegetables, herbs and nuts. Each variety features a versatile prep recipe that can extend into your cocktails and beyond, meaning All Day Cocktails is much more than your average cocktail book.

All Day Cocktails brings you ninety cocktail recipes + fifty prep recipes, including: bitters, caramels, cordials, coulis, granitas, honeys, jams, jellies, juices, kefirs, liqueurs, sherbets, shrubs, syrups, tisanes and vinegars.

 

 

 

Natural Wine for the People: What It Is, Where to Find It, How to Love It by Alice Feiring 

A compact illustrated guide to the emerging and enormously popular category of natural wine, a style that focuses on minimal intervention, lack of additives, and organic and biodynamic growing methods.

Today, wine is more favored and consumed that it's ever been in the United States--and millennials are leading the charge, drinking more wine than any other generation in history. Many have been pulled in by the tractor beam of natural wine--that is, organic or biodynamic wine made with nothing added, and nothing taken away--a movement that has completely rocked the wine industry in recent years. While all of the hippest restaurants and wine bars are touting their natural wine lists, and while more and more consumers are calling for natural wine by name, there is still a lot of confusion about what exactly natural wine is, where to find it, and how to enjoy it. In Natural Wine for the People, James Beard Award-winner Alice Feiring sets the record straight, offering a pithy, accessible guide filled with easy definitions, tips and tricks for sourcing the best wines, whimsical illustrations, a definitive list to the must-know producers and bottlings, and an appendix with the best shops and restaurants specializing in natural wine across the country, making this the must-buy and must-gift wine book of the year.

 

Celebrate Rosé: Cocktails & Parties for Life's Rosiest Moments by Ashley Rose Conway 

With an intoxicating collection of rosé-based cocktails for fun, sun-splashed occasions—alfresco soirees to bachelorette bashes, beach parties to boozy brunches—this charming book by a cocktail maven also offers stylish entertaining ideas, food pairings, bar techniques, and a wealth of insider know-how for lovers of this delightful pink drink.

This enchanting book extols the many virtues of rosé—and shows how to craft enticing cocktails with this beloved pink wine that’s versatile, affordable, and fashionable. Choose from tried-and-true classics like sours, spritzes, punches, and palomas—all made uniquely different and special—as well as contemporary concoctions like a Rosé-Aperol Spritz or Frosé. Organized by gathering, each party includes recipes and styling ideas for rosé-perfect occasions throughout the year like Mother’s Day, pool parties, and bachelorette celebrations. You’ll also discover tabletop styling tips, food pairings, and plenty of clever bar techniques, such as creating rose liqueurs, flavoring and garnishing with botanicals, and more. For lovers of pink wine everywhere, this is your go-to guide for expert cocktail and party inspiration.

Camper English Voted 39th Most Influential Person in the Global Drinks Industry 2019

Drinks International Magazine today announced the result of a new list they created, the Bar World 100. The list is a ranking of the 100 most influential people in the global drinks industry, under the direction of DI editor Hamish Smith. (Smith and I worked closely on the World's 50 Best Bars list for many years.)

You can view the entire special edition of here. 

 

The voters included media, consultants, brand reps, and others. The criteria were for people who inspire the industry, push it forward, and address important issues. 

 

I'm delighted to have been named the 39th most influential person on the inaugural 2019 Bar World 100 list. Hooray!

Though not mentioned in the writeup, about 90% of my "influence" is probably due to all my research and writing about clear ice. 

The full list is below. 

 

Tooting my own horn a bit more, being a writer on this list is a distinct honor. Writers and authors above me include David Wondrich, Jared Brown, Jim Meehan, Dave Broom, and Jeff Berry - though probably half the other people on the list have a book coming out within two years. And as a journalist, well, I'm feeling pretty great about my ranking. 

Of course, lists are just lists and hopefully nobody on it (or not on it) takes too seriously their placement. I do work my butt off and it's wonderful to be recognized. 

So, congratulations to me and to everyone who works hard in the booze industry not only to cash a check and party hearty, but to take something they love and try to make it better. 

 

 

 

Color Talk Resources from Tales of the Cocktail

For attendees of my talk on Color in Cocktails and Spirits at Tales of the Cocktail 2019, below are notes and links from the slides. 

Product links are to Amazon.com. 

For all the natural colorings to use in cocktails, see This Page

Cocktail Techniques book by Kazuo Uyeda 

Alchermes/Alkermes - Heirloom liqueurs from Bittercube 

Cochineal - Product [link] Note that it's not marked as food safe.  Book about cochineal A Perfect Red.

Mauve book [link]

Purple and pH color changing drinks - anthocyanin - see this blog post

The Standard Manual of Soda and Other Beverages (1906) [link]

Liquid Intelligence by Dave Arnold [link]

Black coloring information - activated charcoal on CocktailSafe.org 

Freeze-thaw method for extracting color 

Methods of Removing Color

1.Distillation/Redistillation

2.Charcoal Filtration

3.Milk Washing - Article on Cook's Illustrated 

4.Citrus Clarification

Extracting Natural Colors - See this blog post

Colored Ice Ball molds - Mini Rainbow Ice Balls

Xanthan Gum to keep color dispersed when freezing 

Instagram Inspiration: #garnishgame scottcbeattie onedrinkaday

Book: The Secret Lives of Color

 

 

 

 

For anyone who missed it, the talk was: 

Saturday, 7/20/2019



Color in Spirits and Cocktails





12:30 PM - 2:00 PM





 

This seminar will examine color in spirits and in cocktail ingredients, from the history of naturally-derived colors (and how to use them today) to artificial coloring, to ways to remove color from cocktails and spirits.

Until the creation of synthetic dyes – a laboratory accident in the attempt to synthesize quinine – food and beverage dyes were naturally derived from materials including tree barks (oak bark used to dye curacao liqueur), minerals including copper and iron to make things green and blue (and often, toxic), and insects (kermes scale insects, later replaced by the New World discovery of Oaxacan cochineal). The first synthetic dye (mauve), derived from coal tar, gave way to dozens of others that ended up in food and drink, including most colored liqueurs today as well as those neon maraschino cherries. We’ll study the history of synthetic dyes and modern safety concerns (did you know red M&Ms were taken off the market for 11 years due to a cancer scare?), as well as touch upon how some spirits use different coloring in different countries. And of course we’ll talk about blue wine, because yuck.

These days there is a renewed interest in natural colorings for cocktails, with cochineal making the strongest comeback but bartenders using everything from beet powder to butterfly pea flower tea to annatto to alter the color of drinks and garnishes. We’ll talk through the options and pros and cons of using various natural colorings in your drinks at home and the bar.

We'll also study the most popular natural coloring in the spirits world: caramel that’s used in rum, whisky, and tequila, and other spirits. And finally, we’ll review ways to remove color from cocktails and spirits: by charcoal filtration as is done with aged rum and cristalino tequilas, and we’ll briefly touch on how milk washing works to filter color from cocktails.

 

Cocktail Coloring - Natural Food Colorings to Use in Drinks

Below is a list of colorings that can be used to turn your cocktails  blue, green, red, yellow, black, white, etc. and include everything from dragon fruit to squid ink. 

I've made tasting notes when I've tried the colorings, and sometimes added some commentary about the colors. The links are to purchase items from Amazon. 

 

Blue and Purple

Purple Corn [buy]  no flavor when added to liquor/water. Boiled purple corn produces tons of deep purple color and has a slight corn husk note. 

Butterfly Pea Flower [tea bags] [flowers] [powder form] - This flower starts off bright blue in neutral water/alcohol/syrup. It changes to purplish to pink when something acidic is added, like most cocktail ingredients. It tastes only slightly tannic with a subtle wilted vegetation note. 

Blueberries [freeze dried] - These turn from light blue to pink. They have a vegetal grassy note; slightly perfumy. Not enjoyable as a flavor. Perhaps fresh is best. 

Blackberries - Produce good purple color. Taste (frozen blackberries) weedy, earthy; fresh grass notes. 

Blue Spirulina Powder [buy] Brilliant color! There is a slight seaweed nose but not much flavor at all, so this is good for coloring. With added acids like citrus juice, it changes to a turquoise blue.  See the picture below. 

Acai Powder [link] 

Ebony Carrot Supercolor Powder [link]

 

 

Red and Pink 

Raspberries [freeze dried] - These don't release as much color as one might suspect. The taste is super bright citric sharpness. These would probably add citric acid taste to beverages. 

Hibiscus [dried] -  Produce an intense color with a small amount; purplish red. They have a sharp dried leaf note. 

Strawberries [freeze dried] - Because the red color is just on the outside, strawberries tend to give off only a slight gentle pink color. Freeze dried strawberries seem to give more color than frozen/fresh. 


Beets [beet powder] - Fresh beets give bright color; dried more often a dried blood color. The taste of beet powder can be cardboard-meets-super dry earth/dirt, so best to minimize the amount used. 

Cranberry - Does not release much color. Not recommended. 

Dragon Fruit Powder [buy] - I have not tried this but it was recommended to me by someone who has. I believe this is was Starbucks and other brands use to make "unicorn foods." 

Cochineal - This dried insect makes a red to purple color range and is used in some liqueurs including Bruto Americano. It is available for purchase but please ensure you buy a version approved for food use. By default it will be intended for use on fabrics. 

 

Yellow and Orange

Annatto [buy] - These can be either red seeds or ground to yellow in color to start with, and can produce a bright orange color. The flavor has touch of anise and dry carrot peel, very much in the range of cocktail flavors. 

Turmeric [buy] - Deep mustard yellow color. Taste is bright yet grounded earthy; will provide base notes in drinks. 

Saffron [buy] - Gorgeous golden honey yellow color with only 1-2 threads. Not much flavor; grassy like sucking on a flower petal; slightly woody. 

Mustard Seed/powder - Most is a mellow yellow color. 

Orange Carrot Supercolor Powder [buy]

Paprika - Doesn't seem very effective as a colorant but has strong flavor.  

 

Green

Matcha tea [buy powder] - The kind I tried was a tea with jasmine. It had a swampy tannic bad flavor. Probably other brands taste better. (The linked powder is not the brand I purchased.)

Green Spirulina Powder [buy] - Unfortunate "low tide" smell; seaweed to fishy. However the taste comes through only slightly and is probably hideable beneath other ingredients. 

Fresh green herbs and plants, muddled to order - anything with chlorophyll

Wheatgrass powder [buy]

Pandan Leaf Powder [buy]

 

Black

Activated Charcoal (not recommended) - Note that activated charcoal can disable medications if taken within a few hours. I don't recommend using it on cocktail menus. This is not an approved food coloring in the United States. More information here. 

Carbon Black - This is an approved food color in the EU and Canada, but not in the United States. 

Food Coloring [link]

Black Sesame Seeds [link] - These can make cocktails look greyish to blackish. 

Squid or Cuttlefish ink [powder] [jar] - Available powdered or in liquid form. This is a commonly used food coloring though not vegetarian-friendly. 

Black Currants - Have a very dark red/black color. 

 

White

Milk

Blanche Absinthe 

Cloudy Ice 

Anything that louches

 

 

Below: Blue spirulina diluted with water, with added citric acid, and with lemon juice. 

 

Green Spirulina, in water or with added lemon juice. 

Purple Food Colorings: Anthocyanin

Anthocyanins are pigments that, depending on their pH, may appear red, purple, blue or black. Food plants rich in anthocyanins include the blueberry, raspberry, black rice, and black soybean, among many others that are red, blue, purple, or black. [wikipedia]

That purple color-changing butterfly pea flower tea? [tea bags] [flowers] [powder form] Anthocyanin. The purple cabbage science experiment you did in middle school? Anthocyanin. 

Wikipedia offers a list of food sources with high anthocyanin levels. I put them in descending order below. You might choose to use them to color your cocktails. 

Purple corn leaves

Purple corn [buy]

Dried red cabbage

Norton Grape

Eggplant

Blueberry

Black Raspberry

Raspberry

Concord grape

Acai

Plum

Ube

In my next post, I have links to many different natural food/drink colorings. 

 

Extracting Natural Color from Plants: The Freeze-Thaw Method

In advance of my seminar at Tales of the Cocktail on Color in Cocktails and Spirits, I am putting up a few blog posts that the attendees (and you know, you) can use as reference. The images below are exported PowerPoint slides. 

I was trying to create some natural colors from plants and read about how dyers do it. Many of them are not practical (or safe) for food and beverage use. Some ways to extract color that are safe include: 

 

But one method I read about suggested freezing flower petals overnight, then thawing in hot water. This actually didn't work for me, but it gave me the idea for how to do it similarly. 

The idea is that freezing plants breaks the cell structure and allows the natural colors to release when you add water. So what I did on my second attempt was to freeze the flower petals in water, then let it thaw out and strain out the solids. 

This worked much better for me, and then I decided to repeat the process (not with new petals but just freezing and thawing the same ice cubes three times). Each time the color of the water became more intense. It worked! 

With any flowers in particular or plants in general picked from nature (as opposed to the produce section), make sure that they're safe and edible. A great resource for that is CocktailSafe.org. 

Above are the flower petals I harvested from my patio. I put them in 2' ice cube trays with some water. 

As you can see, the colors came out lovely. 

The idea is that you could now use this water as a base for a simple syrup, soda, or ice cube with the natural color in it. 

Though I haven't experimented with other plants yet, I bet this technique would work great for many things. 

 

The Latest Trick Dog Menu Features Little Old Me

Trick Dog in San Francisco is known for their wild concept menus that change every six months. Everything from Dr. Seuss-style rhymes to voting posters to tourism maps.

This tweet lists them all, in a ranking I completely disagree with as the record album was one of my all-time favorites!

Trick Dog menus, ranked.

1. Dog Calendar
2. Murals
3. Pantone
4. Whole Dog
5. TDA
6. Rhymes
7. Tourist
8. Cookbook
9. Tattoo
10. Horoscope
11. Top Secret
12. Chinatown
13. Election
14. Records

DISCUSS! And share your ranking.

(Archives: https://t.co/I1cfkZCHd4)

— Paolo Lucchesi (@lucchesi) July 12, 2019

 

The latest menu, just launched after the 4th of July holiday, is a tribute to the hippy dippy Whole Earth Catalogue, called The Whole Dog Menu.

The Whole Earth Catalogue was between a DIY and a "back to the land" catalogue of a lot of tips for planting seeds and products for composting, etc. Read about it on Wikipedia.

You can view the entire menu at this link:  Whole Dog Catalog (PDF). In between the cocktails to order there are DIY tips, writings, a crossword puzzle, and other fun/goofy stuff. 

As explained in the SF Chronicle (requires subscription): 

The new Trick Dog concept also stretches beyond just themed drinks. The bar’s new menu is accompanied by an original story from author Rita Bullwinkel (“Belly Up”) and writing from students of 826 Valencia, a nonprofit organization that supports under-resourced students in their creative and expository writing skills.

Proceeds from the sale of the menu and cups are being put toward the newly founded Bon Vivants Scholarship, which exists through a partnership with Dave Eggers' ScholarMatch. The Bon Vivants, the bar group behind Trick Dog, has agreed to contribute $150,000 over the next five years to support the educational pursuits of five local students whose families work in the hospitality industry.

 

I was honored to be mentioned on the menu, in that my work on Directional Freezing to make clear ice was featured on page 12. 

 

I haven't been in yet to try the drinks (and buy a copy of the menu for my archives!) but will in the next few weeks. So go check it out and beat me to it!