You are currently browsing the category archive for the 'Techniques' category.
Bottle labeling is something I wish I had more time to care about. I think it is very professional and shows an amazing attention to detail when homemade syrups and such are contained in a clean well labeled bottle. There are a number of options when looking to label a bottle permentely and one of the most common is etching the glass itself. There are a few different ways to do this, all three are easily done at home, if you’re not married they are cheap, and can be as simple or complicated as you want to make it.
Glass etching with chemicals is the easiest method of engraving glass as well as the cheapest. I picked up a bottle of Armour Etch for ten dollars or so at a craft store. The general idea is to cut a design in a vinyl stencil and then apply some of the chemical to the glass for a short period of time. Wash the chemical off with water and then take the stencil off. I wrote up and printed out something I thought was pretty simple. I taped the paper to the vinyl and then used an exacto knife to cut the lettering out. This sounds easier then is, on top of that, I have little artistic talent. It turned out okay anyway but next time I will tape the vinyl to the bottle itself, I had a problem with the vinyl moving around a little bit, if it was stuck to the bottle I bet I could get a cleaner cut. I would also use an easier to cut font as well as make the lettering a little bigger. I bought the blank stencil sheet but you can use electrical tape or anything similar to vinyl. One of the draw backs of using chemicals is that the etch is not as bright or strong as engraving and can also streak or blot, especially if you are doing anything bigger then a letter.
Another way to etch on your bottles is an actual engraver. It is similar to the dremal, but for about $30 you can buy an engraver and bits. This is where I would end up spending way too much time. You draw out what you want to cut down and then go at it with the engraver, freehand. The perk with using this method is that you can make the engraving as deep or shallow as you want and of course get a lot more intricate then you ever could with the etching cream. Of course one of the draw backs with this is you need some sort of artistic ability to freehand engrave.
Sand etching is very popular as well for engraving glass and there are a number of starter kits to get you going. The basic idea here is you have a sand like propellant that attaches to a nozzle and is blasted at the glass you want to engrave. You have to cover the entire project to avoid scratching any other part of the bottle. Same as with the chemical etching, the project is only as good as your stencil cut! If you take your time and make a nice stencil, both of these methods are great. Sand etching can take you a little further though as you can layer and shade with practice. Another plus to sand blasting is the way the finished product looks compared to the chemical etches as well as coloring options. If you have the space to set up something like this, I would go down the route of sand etching.
There are of course many other ways to label your bottles and I will follow up in the future, but for me this is a start and much better then taping paper labels to my bottles. I would love to see any other custom labeled bottles out there if you have them, hope everyone had a Happy Independents Day, Cheers.
Article By: Mark Sexauer
Watermelon is a tricky fruit to tackle when wanting to use it in a cocktail. It’s mostly water, obviously, hence the name, about 92% and the rest sugar and not much else. The thing with watermelon that has always frustrated me when using it is the taste doesn’t transfer very well. Call me crazy but watermelon candy doesn’t taste a freaking thing like biting into a fresh cut watermelon. Juicing the watermelon is easy but the flavor only last about a day. So to make a watermelon concoction practical to serve behind the bar, somewhat cost effective, not that time consuming, and taste like watermelon is almost an impossible task… almost.
I had an idea in my head for a watermelon drink after some buddies and I cut one up and ate the whole thing. When you cut the melon in half what do you see? It’s round (like looking into the top of a glass) and has the look of a rim as well with the almost whitish rind. See where I’m going with this one… I set out to make a watermelon cocktail that looked like a watermelon in the glass.
Any other bartenders looking to experiment with watermelon keep in mind that the ENTIRE melon is edible. That might not mean much for experimenting with a drink but it does mean endless garnish ideas. Just throwing it out there.
The watermelon is in the same family as the cucumber. When choosing your melons, make sure they are pretty symmetrical and with a minimum or bruises and cracks. (Insert your boob joke here;-) You should also notice a melon fragrance along with a heavier than it looks feeling. What’s funny about this post is that we are creating a “seeded” looking watermelon but the best varieties (of the 50+) are the seedless ones? They are juicy, taste great, and of course have the added convenience of almost no seeds (okay, it’s not that funny.)
Like I said earlier the watermelon is a very hard ingredient to conquer. I started with something I felt would make sense; watermelon juice, some liquor, probably gin… maybe sake, and simple syrup or something. This got me closer than I expected for a first run and with a little tweaking, came up with something that was drinkable. The “look of seeds in the cocktail” idea is where I got carried away. I just got done messing around with some gelatin for a future post and figured I could make gelatin seeds? As I was experimenting though I toned down the gelatin a little bit so it doesn’t solidify all the way, just sort of gels. The basic idea is to get the gel into a squeeze bottle and then after the watermelon drink is made, squeeze in the black watermelon gel into the cocktail to get the look of seeds! Here’s the recipe and technique I came up with.
Watermelon Slushy
3 oz watermelon juice (puree, strain)
2 oz gin (I used Bombay dry)
3/4 oz simple syrup
1/2 oz nigori sake (nigori is unfiltered, milky white, and a touch of sweetness)
1/2 oz lemon juice
2 dashes peychouds bitters
11/2 cup very small ice
Combine all into a blender and puree, then pour into daiquiri glass and squeeze the “watermelon seed” gel into the glass creating a watermelon looking effect.
Black “watermelon seed” Gel
1 cup (8 oz) water melon juice
1 cup (8oz) sugar
1/8 teaspoon black food coloring (about 10-12 drops)
1 teaspoon powered gelatin
Combine all together into a pot and stir on low hear, put into squeeze bottle and refrigerate
Some tips on this, don’t over-heat the mixture. I found that getting the watermelon juice to hot will give it a kind of “dirt” flavor? I tried to reduce the mixture thinking I could get a more potent watermelon flavor… it didn’t work. When you are juicing your watermelon, I don’t know about a juicer, (mine broke, and I’m broke so I can’t get a new one yet) but when I put these chunks in a food processor then strained it I found that letting the juice sit in a container for an hour or two will settle any fine pulp. Another tip, the black food coloring is very messy and does not come out of clothes; a little goes a long way. Again I also fine strained this into the squeeze bottle using a metal small screen strainer just to get any extra pulp out and have a nice clean black gel to use in the drink.
I think watermelon could be the perfect medium for this if you messed around with the ingredients a little. I stopped trying to make a good drink and ended up spending my time messing with the gel. The gel has huge potential, if you had a lemon drink you could make the gel lime and on and on! It makes for more visual appealing drinks but there are drawbacks. The drink itself has to be slightly gelatin or blended, if you put the gel in a cocktail it just sinks to the bottom. The drink has to be a thick enough consistency to support the gel. Let me know what you come up with at your bar and I can assure you, I will be posting more in the future about using flavored gels behind the bar.
Article and Drink By: Mark Sexauer
If you make your own cola, ginger ale, root beer, ginger beer (Jeffrey Morgenthaler’s ginger beer recipe is the best, using this same process for carbonation), or any other soda like substance, then you are going to want to carbonate it. I don’t really like using the carbonators for anything else but soda water. The cost of CO2 canisters can get expensive after time and yeast is cheaper then cheap. I buy packets of Lalvin EC-1118 champagne yeast for about a dollar each.
Champagne yeast will add a slight fruitiness to your soda which is almost undetectable in my opinion. You can mess around with different yeasts, but from experience the champagne yeast yields the fastest carbonation with little or no effect on taste as well as settling nicely to the bottom where you can barely see it. There are hundreds if not thousands of strains available to buy, how deep into this you get is up to you.
So, what container to use? The EZ Cap Bottles are great; you get a small bottle that is more convenient to pour then the splashy carbonatorand they are cheap. I pay about a buck per bottle plus they are pretty cool looking.
Let’s get on with it already… Get your 16 oz EZ bottle and fill it up with 16 oz of whatever sugary liquid you want to carbonate. This should leave a good three inches or so of air space. Put 25-30 granules of champagne yeast into the bottle and seal it up. Give it a good shake and let sit in a dark place like a closet or cupboard for two days. Then refrigerate to stop the fermentation of the yeast.
A disclaimer, if you leave your bottles to ferment for more than two days, you are taking the chance that the bottle will explode. The yeast is creating CO2, and will continue to do so in the right conditions. Even if you have had it in the refridgerator then leave it out, the yeast can referment in the right conditions. I always put semi-detailed labels on my bottles to remind me what time/day to put them in/out of the fridge. On a side note I feel the EZ bottles are pretty durable and that the bottle exploding is nothing more than a “possibility.” If you are worried about it, another option is using plastic 16oz soda bottles that have been cleaned out. If you can print out a cool label on your computer, this is not such a bad idea. You have the added benefit of feeling the carbonation by pressing on the side of the bottle.
By: Mark Sexauer
