Kevin Liu's Profile | Serious Eats

Finally, a Tool for Making Totally Clear Ice Spheres

@BeerWeezil the ice tasted clean to me, but then again I didn't notice a taste from the other molds I tried either.

Finally, a Tool for Making Totally Clear Ice Spheres

@deliciouslymeta they stay clear in the freezer in a ziploc bag. I made a big batch over a week so I could do tests and pictures and they all stayed pristine.

The Best Way to Store Vermouth

@detho great advice, thanks!

The Best Way to Store Vermouth

@epic it's still on shelves here in VA.

The Best Way to Store Vermouth

@cag/co HA. winning.

The Best Way to Store Vermouth

@J. Blair a very good point. I always run my bottles through the dishwasher to sanitize them, though it might also be a good idea to use a bleach mixture. But, yeah, it's probably hard to ever get them truly clean.

The Best Way to Store Vermouth

@ESNY1077 the one thing I've found is that after over a year (I was overseas) my bottles of sherry and cocchi both grew flakes of what I think must have been mold. Sorta gross.

The Best Way to Store Vermouth

@deliciouslymeta I typically refrigerate anything 18% abv or below, though I haven't tested that technique in-depth. So, for example, I refrigerate cynar and punt e mes, but I keep fernet in the cupboard.

How to Build a DIY Home Carbonation Rig

@cheers,

sorry, I don't have any experience with that so I don't want to comment either way. it sounds reasonable off hand, though?

How to Build a DIY Home Carbonation Rig

@herr.moen if you're going to store the water in the fridge, I would recommend topping off your 3/4-full bottle with some more carbonated water to prevent the CO2 from filling into the headspace. And yes, you'll want to unscrew the cap slowly.

@Grease no-the ISI top can be completely unscrewed. You can't do that with a CO2 tank.

How to Build a DIY Home Carbonation Rig

@KevinMofM ohhh that makes sense - thanks!

How to Build a DIY Home Carbonation Rig

@Realies - just checked out Liquid Bread's FAQ. They say to keep the gas injector on for only 20 seconds, you can keep the cap on longer. I would agree with taking the injector off while you shake.

How to Build a DIY Home Carbonation Rig

@Realies - that's interesting, I hadn't heard about that time limitation before. You really can't remove the cap to shake—you'd lose a ton of gas before you could recap it with another cap. I'll try to get in touch with them to figure out what's going on.

How to Build a DIY Home Carbonation Rig

@chrisdkk I have seen the issue of non-food grade lubricants being a concern. Usually the concern had to do with the filling process, which, if you follow my guidelines about asking for food- or medicine-grade purity, you should be fine. I check my own canister and there wasn't any lubricant visible on the tank itself, though I suppose you could clean it just to be sure.

@peekpoke you'll need some sort of system to agitate the CO2 and water together on the fly - like this

@gumbercules yeah my next step is to get a longer hose and another control nozzle and build a box for this under my counter :-)

@joy see ok that guide is truly epic. I really I had found it before writing. Thanks for sharing!

So You Want to Write a Cocktail Book...

Michael, congrats on the book and thanks for sharing. I've been eagerly awaiting shrubs for a long time now and though I'm disappointed to have to wait until October, I'm sure it'll be worth it!

Can Yeast Really Keep You From Getting Drunk?

@Jump Soap in this case, it's not actually the yeast that are digesting the alcohol, but rather an enzyme called Alcohol Dehydrogenase (ADH) naturally found in yeast. Whether or not ADH stays active in stomach is a valid question, but it doesn't matter whether the yeast is alive or dead.

In specific answer to your question, you should theoretically see the most effect the sooner you drank after taking any yeast.

Can Yeast Really Keep You From Getting Drunk?

@Charles Richter yes, I would definitely have done it with a hydrometer if I had one. But, I wonder if even small amounts of yeast remaining after straining would throw off the results.

Can Yeast Really Keep You From Getting Drunk?

@blindlyin2space ok now THAT is interesting. I've never heard of homebrew farts. Serious question: do they smell the same as normal farts?

Can Yeast Really Keep You From Getting Drunk?

@ChrisE yes, but that's unlikely to happen. The simple sugars that yeast thrive on are rapidly absorbed into the blood stream from the small intestine.

You already get bloating and discomfort from bacterial fermentation - that's what happens when lactose-intolerant people drink milk or when some people eat beans.

So eating yeast shouldn't make a difference to that process unless you're also consuming foods you normally don't agree with.

I'm not a doctor, and I don't have any links to studies that look at this (I mean, why would they?), this is just the conclusion I came to after reading my research.

Can Yeast Really Keep You From Getting Drunk?

@AndroidUser I hardly ever use vodka at home, to tell you the truth. I don't much like the taste of it, except with ginger beer or watermelon.

@Ehubbard89 I have a thing against writing about drinking to excess. Doesn't seem like a responsible thing to do. And, more importantly, n=1 tests are not very useful and other people have already tried it.

@kimchikjigae 1: i love your screenname 2: the yeast didn't taste as bad as I thought, though it leaves a pretty terrible aftertaste. Apparently, though, you can buy dissolvable capsules and put the yeast in that.

The Science of Fat-Washing Cocktails

@Quinno certainly - and if the comments are any indication, other folks were interested in the topic too :-)

The Science of Fat-Washing Cocktails

@BostonAdam

So I think milk punch does count as fat washing. Gaz Regan actually writes about it in his book, because David Wondrich found the technique and views it as the first published recipe for fat washing.

@gumbercules there was a oil slick even after you froze the spirit? :-(

The Science of Fat-Washing Cocktails

@cycorider that's interesting - I also used my Aeropress to remove fat (coconut in my case), but it didn't work very well. I've found that the Aeropress works best for hard ingredients, like spices and roots. Soft fibrous stuff (ginger, berries) gunks up, and fats can kind of get squeezed through.

If you're willing to waste a little of the infused booze, try racking out the fat next time - basically removing the top layer of fat and then slowly pouring the spirit into another container while leaving the sediment in the original container.

The Science of Fat-Washing Cocktails

@GrazingGourmet that is some seriously awesome work, my friend. It's for people like you that I really enjoy writing. I wouldn't have guessed that avocado fat would oxidize once infused into liquor, interesting!

@Jared Kent I think it depends on the intensity of the flavor of the fat you're using, I haven't come upon a specific ratio, though I may be wrong.

The Science of Fat-Washing Cocktails

@Boerderij Kabouter - wow, that's all pretty awesome. Never thought about using it in dashes.

@BeavisPeters - You shouldn't have any trouble cooking with the skimmed fat. The fat will probably pick up some of the flavors from the alcohol as well.