The Mixology Talk Podcast, Episode Seventy Three
There are a lot of weird rumors that go around behind the bar (and about the bar!) This week we’re debunking a few of our favorites.
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Common Bar Myths:
Can you Bruise Gin, or make brown spirits “bitter” by shaking them?
Hint: ask Jeffrey Morgenthaler
Vodka is Made of Potatoes.
Nope, not always! Here’s that milk vodka, and for contrast, the “savory” vodka we mentioned that really doestaste like potatoes.
More Distillations is Better
… or is it?
Cheap Vodka + Brita Filter = Better Vodka
Seriously, just buy decent vodka! (Thanks, Vinepair)
Rolling / Heating Limes to Get More Juice
I couldn’t find that study I mentioned, but I did find some (awful quality) videos of people microwaving limes. Spoiler: Very anticlimactic!
Absinthe is Hallucinogenic
Sorry to burst your bubble… there’s no green fairy my friends!
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Have you heard any myths behind your bar, or do you know more about the myths above? Let us know in the comments!
I would never shake any cocktail with vermouth! Vermouth is a fortified wine and to my tastebuds, the flavor of the vermouth changes if it is violently mixed with air. Similarly, I wouldn’t shake Sherry, Madeira, or Port, or any cocktails containing wine in any form whether or not they contain fruit juice. After all, who would shake sangria; would you prefer your sangria shaken rather than stirred?
Btw, I’ve only heard that lemons and limes straight from the refrigerator should be microwaved for a few seconds before juicing. Cold citrus fruits are harder to juice manually than room temperature fruits. The purpose of the microwave is to bring them closer to room temperature. In my many years cooking, I have found that this is true!
Julia is this the study you’re thinking of about citrus juice from Morgenthaler’s book? He did a great controlled experiment.
Kevin Liu at Serious Eats has also experimented with heating lemon and lime in the microwave, and offers scientific analysis of his results. http://drinks.seriouseats.com/2013/07/cocktail-science-using-citrus-smarter-techniques-for-better-lemon-lime-flavor-drinks-acidity-twists-citrus-peel-oils.html
Oh nice, thanks!
I’ve heard if you cut off the ends of each lime/lemon half, that you get more juice when you squeeze it.
Hmm I could see that working! Will definitely have to try this…
I do think rolling the citrus before cutting and juicing does actually add a little to the yield of juice. Reason being that the rolling sort of helps “pre-squeeze” the citrus, making it easier for the juice to come out when using a hand press – but maybe doesn’t affect the yield when using an electric juicer or something more powerful. That’s just my 2 cents!
Absinthe was banned in France for all sorts of reasons. The thing about hallucenogens was false. It was a myth perpetuated by the fact that a bunch of crazy artists drank it, especially Van Gogh. The real thing is that there were no rules about alot of things, including what was allowed to be added to beverages, even if it was poisonous.
Absinthe has that brilliant green colour. That colour is from the cholrophyl in the herbs used to flavour absinthe. The reason absinthe is 65 – 70% ABV is because that is the range in which ethanol becomes a preservative. In order for absinthe to look so pretty and green, you had to use a very large dose of ethanol. If you did not include the herbs in the finish, you could sell absinthe but it would be clear. Good absinthe is emerald green. If you sold absinthe at a lower percentage (say 40%) you could get alot more bottles out for the same amount of ethanol produced. However, at 40%, if it was green, it only had a short shelf life before the absinthe turned brown. The brown was from the chlorophyl decomposing and ‘going bad’. It is organic, after all. This was clearly bad absinthe and would not sell. The unscrupulous ansinthe producer who just wanted in on the fad and to make money as fast as possible wants to sell low percent, but needs it to be green to be considered a good product. Some distillers realized that copper oxide was the right colour. If they added it to the absinthe instead of use the right proof and/or finish correctly with the herbs, they could get get a green product AND sell it at low ABV. This was cheating. And it was REALLY REALLY bad. Copper oxide will have a negative impact on cognitive processes by those who consume it. This did cause some people who drank absinthe to exhibit symptoms of hysteria and other mental issues. Sometimes hallucinations.
Thujone is a drug that is present in very small amounts in wormwood major (artemesia absinthium). Wormwood has been used as a medicine for hundreds or more years. Thujone has recently been catagorized as a CONVULSANT, not a Hallucinogen. I am not sure how we got to hallucinations by consumnig this convulsant. Anyway. It is now considered that thujone was part of the culprit behind absinthe’s reputation as a hallucinogen. When Ted Breaux convinced the US FDA to unban absinthe in the early 2000’s, the US put a cap on absinthe’s thujone content (and any thujone content in anything for that matter). I do not know the number. It is very small in the parts per million. Mr. Breaux, as he is a chemist himself, researched some pre-ban absinthe that he had come into possession of. He was able to deduce that pre-ban absinthe had roughly the same amount of thujone as America had set the limit to. It could be that he helped to set that limit with his research. (I heard him lecture and I forget this particular detail of the story). Dosing on thujone heavily enough to have any effect from it by consuming it in absinthe no matter how much absinthe you drink. You would have to drink more than one could drink.
Absinthe was invented by a Swiss doctor as a cure-all medicine (Patent Medicine) in the early 1800s. When phylloxera killed so much of the wine industry in France, the french turned to new muses. Absinthe was fun and mysterious and new. You drank it with friends and you needed to have a beautiful and ornate absinthe fountain. You had to sit back and wait for your drink to pour, then you needed to sip it and slow down. It encouraged friendly conversation and to top it all off, the famous artists of the day were all about it and that made absinthe very popular to the French. That popularity spread over the sea to America where the drink became too popular. So popular that there might have been some art created called “Absinthe Lane”. When France banned it, so did America. Then, for a hundred years, no source (France) and no market (America), meant no absinthe. Eventually, Ted Breaux and his legal team won the day for absinthe in both America and in France. BAM! Overnight, there was absinthe again.
Look for good, high quality absinthe that does not have any additives, is of very high proof (at least 130 proof), a brilliant green, and has a nice balance of anise and fennel flavours. It is good as an apertif and as a bit of a nightcap.
Just cut one end of the lime and squeeze the whole thing. They split by themselves and cuts your juicing time in half.
Just cut one end of the lime and squeeze the whole thing. They’ll split on their own and it cuts your juicing time in half.