My Experiments With Mixology – And Spectacular Goof-Ups!
Often enough, social media posts and reels would have us believe that all the cocktails and mocktails concocted using complex techniques were made by mixologists who became instantaneous masters of these processes. But a peek behind the curtain reveals that the perfect drink is a result of many foibles, many mixology blunders and way too much mess on the bartending table, before the finished drink finally spells precision. And this happens to all of us.
So, here is me, taking you, enthusiastic reader, behind the closed doors of my own mixology experiments to reveal the numerous faux pas that occurred when I tried experimenting with complex mixology techniques. This is not a success story!
Experiment 1: I Tried To Sous Vide Herbs
I had watched this way too many times on cooking shows, reels and stories and one day, decided to try it out myself. Lesson learnt: sous vide is not as easy as it looks.
The plan was to construct an herb-infused cocktail where the herbal element would be prepped using the sous vide technique.
Essentially, sous vide is a French culinary method which involves submerging herbs, meats or vegetables in a water bath to allow it all to cook at a consistent temperature. This is precision cooking at its finest and somehow I fancied myself to be competent enough to take it on.
Now, obviously I am not in possession of a sous vide machine. I decided to use a rice cooker instead. To make the sous vide herb-infused gin, I crafted a mixture of the spirit, fresh lemongrass and rosemary. It was double-bagged, tied with rubber bands and immersed in the cooker. What skipped my mind was that rice cookers need a lot of attention to maintain consistent temperature. At the end of one hour, the herbs had turned into a soggy mush, the gin had evaporated to a half of the original and the smell was that of pepper soup gone bad.
The result: a specularly bad smelling herbal concoction, an utter travesty!
Also Read: Behind The Scenes Of Bartending: How To Wield Mixology Tools Like A Total Pro
Experiment 2: Fat Washing Whisky With Ghee
It was a stroke of genius – only in the beginning. Indian kitchens are incomplete without ghee so here I was thinking that this ingredient could be used for fat washing whisky rather smoothly on account of its ready availability. So, I added some ghee to a pan, heated it and added it to a good quality Scotch. Then, this mixture was put into the refrigerator to solidify the fat. Feeling good about myself, I let it chill and once solid, tried to remove the fatty element.
But the first whiff of the solidified fat told me that something had gone wrong. The mixture smelt burnt, like rancid oil and tasted more like whisky-infused ghee than the other way round. I had heated the ghee too much, added it in a much larger quantity than the recommended spirit to fat ratio and had forgotten to strain the whisky after fat washing. This meant little bits of ghee were still floating around in the mixture and felt stale, too earthy and quite inedible.
In the end, fat washed whisky became a messy, overdone concoction.
Experiment 3: A Warm Milk Cocktail That Curdled
Admit it, this has happened to you as well. Milk is a very delicate ingredient to work with and sometimes, it just curdles, no matter how hard you try. This is what happened to me:
The plan was to prepare a rose and saffron liqueur infused warm drink as an after-dinner offering. I used a homemade infusion containing rose syrup and saffron – the liqueur carried a soft pinkish, orangeish hue. This was blended with warm milk, fresh rose petals and crushed nuts. The plan was to garnish it with whipped cream. But I never got that far!
Upon mixing the milk with the liqueur, the milk curdled, fat solids floated to the top and a watery mess remained inside the container. I was to discover later that neither ingredient was at fault.The vessel had been sloppily rinsed before adding warm milk – a common mistake. There was soapy residue in the container which disrupted the compounds in the warm milk causing the split.
On that eventful day, we never ended up having dessert.
Drink Responsibly. This communication is for audiences above the age of 25.
