Cocktailing - Outland

Succumbing to Content Creation

OK, that’s a fairly glum title, but it’s true: I finally decided to start a proper YouTube channel. And I have mixed feelings about it. 😄 I have actually wanted to make some cocktail-related videos for a long time now, but time management, procrastination, and self-doubt kept it on the back burner… until now. Except somehow I ended up talking about non-alcoholic stuff instead! 🤷‍♂️ It’s something I’ve been getting more into and it feels like an interesting niche.

It takes a lot of time, and I’m not totally happy with the results yet. I’m also still working through that “OK but who am I to have an opinion on the internet?” impostor syndrome feeling. But hey, I’m doing it! And it does feel good to do something, you know? I have felt a sort of pent up desire to “create” for a while, so I had to try.

Having said all that, hopefully you still want to check it out! Please do, and let me know what you think.

https://www.youtube.com/@zeroproofhomebar

Is “Science of Cocktails” more about brands than science?

Last year I went to The Exploratorium‘s “Science of Cocktails” fundraising event for the first time. It’s been running since at least 2014, and from what I’ve heard it has had some great demos and cocktails in the past. However I found my 2019 experience to be fairly disappointing. I’ve been to a number of other cocktail events around the Bay Area and the best of them were generally focused on specific bars and bartenders, featuring particular ingredients or products. But the product reps were not generally the ones developing or mixing the cocktails. However, in the case of Science of Cocktails 2019, I found it almost entirely dominated by brands, and the cocktails were on average mediocre at best (with some a bit unpalatable to me, to be frank). Worse still, there was only minimal science, which feels like a bigger issue given the billing of the event.

After the event I got an email thanking me for my attendance, with the contact info of Akemi Yamaguchi, Philanthropic Engagement Manager at The Exploratorium for any “questions about Science of the Cocktails”. I had some thoughts to share so I sent her a fairly lengthy email. Unfortunately I never heard back. I started to get notifications about the 2020 Science of Cocktails event just recently and after my previous experience I was a bit hesitant to go again, so I emailed asking if anything had changed from last year. Again, no response.

When Stencils Come to Town

I’ve recently been experimenting with colorful, edible powders, inspired by the idea of a Holi-themed cocktail. Holi, you know, the festival of colors? Right, so I got a bunch of brightly-colored and edible things in powder form, like dragon fruit, matcha, turmeric, etc. and have mostly been chucking them around over the top of egg white drinks and having some good fun.

Left-to-right: Turmeric, Matcha, Spirulina, Butterfly Pea Flower, Beet

Dealer’s Choice #2 – The Reboozening

Recently I held the second iteration of an improv cocktail event I created, which I’m currently calling “Dealer’s Choice”. People come to my house and I make them random drinks based on ideas I’ve had in mind or have been playing with. I had a couple of infusions made from backyard herbs, rose geranium, lemon-balm, fig+dill vermouth, and had also procured some candy caps which were fun to play with. Continue reading “Dealer’s Choice #2 – The Reboozening”