Liquid intelligence
Arnold provides practical tips for preparing drinks by the pitcher, making homemade sodas, and building a specialized bar in your own home. For devotees seeking the cutting edge, chapters on liquid nitrogen, chitosan/gellan washing, and the applications of a centrifuge expand the boundaries of traditional cocktail craft.
Stats for nerds
10recommend
12mentions
11people
2016–2026years
92% recommend8% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- Yes! Also his book "Fix the Pumps" https://a.co/d/0intXOn1 which has a bizarre title and cover art, but is right up there with "Liquid Intelligence" for traditional sodas.
- I'm not sure this is universally true. When I've visited Scotch distilleries, the person leading the tasting would suggest you first try it neat, then with a few drops of water. Particularly when drinking cask-strength whisky (50%+) it is typical to add some water to mellow it a bit.
On the rocks is somewhat different, as it will dilute the whisky progressively as it melts, until it's lost most of its flavor. Chilling the whisky also reduces our ability to taste it, as our tongue is less sensitive when cold.
(If you're interested in the science of how dilution and temperature affect our experience of drinks, I highly recommend Dave Arnold's book Liquid Intelligence).
- Sounds like you want to pick up Liquid Intelligence by Dave Arnold.
- Dave Arnold is amazing and is probably a better HN food follow than Kenji (they're both great, but Arnold is distinctively HN-y, and also a truly idiosyncratic character.)
But Dave Arnold's slogan is "you're an enemy of quality", a title you can obtain by doing almost anything differently than he might, including not precisely measuring the displacement of ice and water before mixing a G&T. He calls things "garbage products" all the time. He is far, far more opinionated than Kenji is.
If Dave's opinionated demeanor isn't a problem for you, then opinionation (is that a word?) isn't really your problem with Kenji.
I highly, highly, highly recommend Arnold's book, Liquid Intelligence.
- I like Dave Arnold’s “Liquid Intelligence”, but I cannot stand his podcast. Comically, I don’t really like Kenji / Serious Eat’s written content, but his YouTube channel is great.
- Traditional whiskey sours (or any other "sour"), among other classic cocktails, are made using an egg white. When shaken well, it creates a foamy layer on top of the drink that is quite stable and offers a pleasant texture (IMO), somewhat similar to the foam you get on top of a freshly poured beer. On top of that, there is some sort of chemical reaction that happens with the egg and alcohol, especially oak-aged spirits—apparently the egg white "softens" the booze, which is nice for higher-proof whiskeys and such.[0]
You can take this even further, too: I make a variation of the Mai Tai that's topped with a foam made by blending egg white with passion fruit puree. The foam is the first thing you taste, so you immediately get hit with the sharp, sweet-tart flavor of the passion fruit, before the rest of the (more subtle) flavors kick in. It's delicious.
(I've done it with aquafaba and it works almost as well, although I've only used canned, which generally contains salt. I don't mind it, but it doesn't work in every cocktail.)
[0]: If you're interested in this stuff, I highly recommend the book Liquid Intelligence by Dave Arnold.
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