Here are some recent stories shared to the CocktailGreen Facebook Page, and now grouped together here: The Science Behind Vegan Meringues This story includes some science and testing of aquafaba in place of egg whites. It's specifically using canned aquafaba and looking at merengues rather than cocktails, but there is some good information about adding acids vs alkaline ingredients to attempt to stabilize the foam. He also makes some flavoring suggestions to make the foam less beany-tasting. One of those ingredients is rosewater, which reminds me of some bartenders who would scent eggs with essential oils. I wonder how a... Read more →

Daren Swisher, co-owner of the forthcoming Daiquiris & Daisies, a "cocktail bar in a food hall, in the Financial District in Boston that might open soon" replied on Twitter to the post about Freezing and Thawing Citrus Ends in an Attempt to Make Oleo Saccharum. The post was about a (failed) attempt to make easy oleo saccharum from the ends of citrus fruit by freezing and thawing it to break the pockets of oil in the peels. It didn't work. Swisher replied, "I’ve done a similar thing, but with unfrozen ends and shells, I beat them up in a stand... Read more →

Oleo Saccharum, sugar imbued with citrus oil, is typically made with peeled citrus. The peeling seems to be crucial to freeing the oils in the citrus for the sugar to pull it out - you can't just pour sugar over a whole lime and make oleo saccharum. I was curious about making oleo from the ends of citrus after making wheels - those are not typically peeled and would be very hard to peel. Also, for limes that were squeezed (as limes are hard to peel) - same situation. My thought was that if you put the citrus in the... Read more →

Oleo saccharum is citrus sugar extracted from citrus peels. You can then take those sugar-coated peels and put them in a food dehydrator to make dried candied peels as a garnish or snack. Simply: Peel citrus Cover peels with sugar and let sit overnight. The sugar will pull out citrus oils and turn into syrup The next day or two, use your fingers and wipe off the syrup from the peels and place in a dehydrator (or in your oven on the lowest setting) Reserve the flavored sugar syrup to use in cocktails. I use mine in Old Fashioneds (orange... Read more →

Julian de Féral is an international drinks consultant, occasional bartender, and writer. He was previously the drinks director for the London-based Gorgeous Group. He created a non-alcoholic milk punch that uses an oleo saccharum from extra lemon zests, plus older lemon juice. The mix punch method (curdling the mixture with milk then straining) helps preserve the lemon flavor, and adds whey from the milk that in turn adds froth to cocktails! Typically the ratio of "punch" to milk in the milk punch is 4:1 and this one has more, it would be interesting to play with the ratios to see... Read more →

The following missive comes from Nicholas Box of The Acorn restaurant in Vancouver. This post has tons of information in it, so if you followed a link here you might have to scroll a bit to find the particular section where it's mentioned. "I run the bar at The Acorn restaurant in Vancouver - that is up until the great closure of many many businesses. We are a 44-seat vegetarian restaurant focused on local ingredients. Now citrus isn't very local, but at least we can still order in organic. I'm a believer in getting organic when possible, especially if the... Read more →