LCBO Food & Drink Autumn 2023

Next-Gen Cocktails from page 133

ESPRESSO NITRONI Since few of us have nitro siphons with

GREEN EGGS AND DRAM Making cocktail caviar using a basic spherification method is surprisingly easy to do and the end result is a really fun way to change up how we “drink” a cocktail. It takes a little advance prep to make the sodium alginate and calcium chloride “baths,” but making the actual caviar is quick and simple. 1 1/2 oz blended Japanese whisky (such as Suntory Toki) 4 oz yuzu tonic (such as 1642 Yuzu Cocktail Mixer), or substitute citrus-flavoured tonic 2 tbsp (30 mL) Green Chartreuse Caviar (Green Eggs), recipe follows Lemon twist to garnish 1. Add whisky and tonic to an ice-filled highball glass. Drop in 1 tbsp (15 mL) Green Chartreuse Caviar. Then, serve 1 tbsp (15 mL) caviar in a low glass with a small spoon. Gar nish the drink with a lemon twist. Find sodium alginate and calcium chloride at gourmet stores or online, where you’ll also find cocktail and culinary syringes (amazon.ca), though any syringe will work. SODIUM ALGINATE SOLUTION Add 1 tsp (5 mL) sodium alginate to 1 1/4 cups (310 mL) water and blend with an immer sion blender for 7 or 8 minutes until there are no lumps of alginate. Once all the alginate is dissolved, transfer to a saucepan and heat on high to remove all the bubbles from the solution. When it comes to a boil, remove from heat and let cool. CALCIUM CHLORIDE BATH Add 1 tsp (5 mL) calcium chloride to 4 cups (1 L) water and stir until dissolved. Combine 4 oz Chartreuse and 6 oz sodium alginate solution in a bowl and stir together. Fill a syringe with this mixture and drop small dots of mixture into the calcium chloride bath from a few inches above, making sure not to drop too much at a time (you don’t want squiggles or worms). Using a julep strainer, remove these “caviar” from the bath and gen tly shake off excess moisture. Be sure to wash your hands after handling before rubbing your eyes! Makes 1 drink GREEN CHARTREUSE CAVIAR (GREEN EGGS)

N2 cartridges at home yet, the recipe for this mash-up between a Negroni and an Espresso Martini calls for canned nitro cold brew coffee, a convenient hack for home bartenders. This recipe can be made with either a blended Canadian whisky or a 100% rye expression— the latter will result in a bolder flavour profile, so it depends on personal preference.

1 oz Canadian whisky or rye 3/4 oz Campari

1/2 oz maple syrup 1/4 tsp (1 mL) salt

3 oz nitro cold brew espresso (such as Two Bears or Rise) 2 dashes orange bitters 1 lemon twist

1. Add whisky, Campari, maple syrup and salt to an ice-filled shaker and shake well for 45 seconds. Strain into a chilled martini glass. 2. Shake a can of nitro cold brew well. Pour 3 oz into the martini glass, taking care to stop before it overflows. Add bitters and garnish with a twist of lemon. Makes 1 drink FIGGY FASHIONED Skip all the à la minute muddling with this Old Fashioned riff that simultaneously mixes the drink and infuses the spirit with fresh figs, a fruit that we’re likely to see more of in Ontario as backyard farmers twig to the fact that it’s a hardy tree that we can cultivate right here at home, especially as the climate warms. 6 oz dark, aged rum (such as Havana Club 7 or Appleton 8) 1/4 cup (60 g) fresh fig flesh, cut in chunks 4 sugar cubes (or 4 tsp/20 mL sugar) 2 dashes (2 mL) orange bitters 4 dashes (4 mL) Angostura bitters 4 orange twists or 2 fresh figs 1. Fill a sous vide bag with the rum, fig meat, sugar cubes and orange bitters, and seal the bag tightly. Immerse the bag in either a crock pot on low or a sous vide cooker. Infuse for 3 hours. 2. Strain contents of bag through a fine cocktail strainer or mesh sieve into a small pitcher and chill in refrigerator for 2 hours. 3. Divide mixture into four parts and pour each portion into a rocks glass over a large ice cube. Add a healthy dash of Angostura bitters to each glass and garnish with a twist of orange or half of a fresh fig. Makes 4 drinks

DOUBLE BUBBLE This twist on a sparkling Sidecar cocktail sees bubbles topped with more bubbles for a show-stopping cocktail with a complex flavour profile. Ingredients like Versawhip and xanthan gum are available at gourmet stores and online (amazon.ca). POM BUBBLE 1 cup (250 mL) pomegranate juice, chilled 1 egg white (or 1 tsp/5 mL Versawhip 600K, a modified egg white powder) 1/2 tsp (2 mL) xanthan gum 1/2 oz bourbon whiskey 3/4 oz Grand Marnier 3/4 oz fresh lemon juice 1 tbsp (15 mL) egg white 1/2 tsp (2 mL) special fine granulated sugar 2 oz sparkling wine 1. To make Pom Bubble, combine pome granate juice with an egg white and xanthan gum in a cylindrical mixing vessel and mix with an immersion blender until the powder is dissolved. 2. Attach a clean air hose to a fish tank air pump and put one end into the mixture (see Hack on p. 133). Scoop up bubbles with a julep strainer as they form on the top, leaving the liquid in the vessel. 3. Shake remaining ingredients except the sparkling wine in an ice-filled cocktail shaker for 45 seconds. Strain into a chilled coupe. Top with sparkling wine and then the Pom Bubble.

Makes 1 drink

178 FOOD & DRINK AUTUMN 2023