Zero - a few of the cocktails

I started by not blogging, but I am glad I did. I will be able to recall which cocktails to make again, what changes I thought of, the reaction of my guests, and so on. I don’t journal or anything else, except for this.

Korean spicy margarita - with homemade ginger syrup, gochujang syrup and barley stock. Boy, am I glad I got a big bag of barley at the beginning of this project! However, it seems not all barley is created equal, since mine retained more water and I had to add some back in to get the required amount for the recipe. Mandarin puree was a bit of a challenge to make, I ended up using the food processor. The juicer would have given me juice only, and the food mill did not process the mandarin segments at all.

The ginger syrup is so worth doing, absolutely delicious. The rim chili powder mix is the bomb too.

I substituted agave for the maguey sweet sap.

The red yuzu kosho is a spicy red paste. This recipe uses about 1 teaspoon. It is fine but I would substitute in the future with a dash of sriracha or hot sauce. Of course, I now have a jar of the yuzu kosho, so I might as well use it…

The comments on the tasting were: “this is more like a sauce”, “spicy”. I thought it was good, the sweet spicy was enjoyable.

Also achieved today: Down to Earth.

So weird: mushroom juice, jicama juice, celery root juice, sugar, acid, salt. With a pretty orange peel on the side. It was earthy, like dirt. It smelled earthy, it tasted funky, mushroom, celery.

I don’t know that I would redo.

And: Paprika milk punch.

Do ahead: clarified milk punch needs to sit for 24 / 48 hours to settle. It is made with orange juice, red bell pepper juice, smoked paprika, citric acid and curdled milk. Very cool. Reminds me of a Swiss soda drink called Rivella, made with milk, but it’s clear like lemonade.

This was not a favorite. “Tastes like a soup” The red bell pepper flavor is forward.

To finish: Return of the Mac

A simple mixture of juices, like a punch, poured over spices and leaves.

Everyone loved it. The main flavor is apple. We went low budget and did not purchase a porthole, my wife is happy, and instead used the reliable kitchen quart container for the infusing. It does change color with time.

So, that’s 4 in one day, a personal best. However, I still need to do my day job, so off I am.