Category: bar hacks
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Strawperol, Revisited
Following up to this and this. One fine afternoon in April of 2023, some chump behind a bar added some unwashed, organic strawberries from the Santa Monica Farmer’s Market to a jar with some Aperol, forgot about it, and then opened the jar to a surprising but familiar little pop and fizz. The result: Strawperol.…
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Bar Hack: Taking Passionfruit All the Way
When you’re indulging in the fruit named after Christ’s sacrifice, you’ve really got to take it all the way, right? I think Jesus would be happy. He was a carpenter after all, a blue collar working man with magical powers at his fingertips. It all makes sense due to the fact that passionfruit itself is…
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Bar Hack: Spiced Rum
Sailing with the Captain is quite easy if you’ve got just a few spices kicking around. Have we all gone through a Captain Morgan phase early in our life? Captain and coke seemed to be the big one back in the day. The highball of choice for my youth, at least until I discovered the…
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Notes on the Closed Loop Cocktail
Isn’t she lovely? Look up and you’ll see a “closed loop” method we’ve been working into the program a bunch during this nice wave of stone fruit and corn. It’s a whole system now and I’m ashamed we haven’t been as aware of it in the past. Although we’ve had similar techniques where we employ…
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Bar Hack: Orange Wine Syrup
Let’s be honest here, orange wine is so-so on its own. Luke warm at best. Right down the middle. Only trendy because it’s different and weird. Yeah, I said it, whatever. Cry two tears in a bucket. To be a little more nonpartisan I guess I can say there’s good and bad and mediocre in…
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Bar Hack: Alcoholic Atole
I’ve been an admirer of the non-acoholic Mexican street drinking culture for some time now. Yeah you heard that right. There’s a whole world of cool, traditional, more savory bevvys they do with a large amount of it based off some variation or incorporation of chocolate, corn, tamarind, cinnamon, clove, vanilla, piloncillo (unrefined cane sugar),…
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Bar Hack: Sesame Oil Washed Bourbon
So what you’ve got to do is find yourself some muppets and lure them into the biggest jar you can find, then pour in the booze and close the lid…Oh wait, sorry, wrong blog. This one is about fat washing. Yeah, I know, old news, big yawn, but sometimes, like in the present sesame case,…
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Bar Hack: Pamperol
Ah yes, pamperol. It does sound like something a baby’s dirty diaper has sat in for a moment, no? Alas, it’s just the name for another combination of two delicious alcoholic libations. Two is better than one. Bartenders often do this as a time saver. It’s easier to pour one bottle than two. It’s also…
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Bar Hack: A Better Army & Navy Cocktail
Why do it the old way? I say we do it Rustic Style instead. What does that even mean? My friends M&J are having themselves a wedding this Saturday and they wanted me to whip up a couple of their favorite concoctions, one of those said drinks being the Army & Navy. Ok. Ok. Not…
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Bar Hack: First Attempt at Corngeat
Yeah, corngeat. It tastes just like whey syrup but without the dairy. I may have unconsciously veganized my own cocktail list. I remember A.D. doing all sorts of cool shit with corn and koji. Corn is a funny one. It’s used for so many things. Think about it. The wrong feed for cows, whiskey, tortilla…
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Bar Hack: Salted Plum Honey
Fruit is weird. Salt with strawberries is a big no no but with plums we’re talking next level delicious. This one is cool because it’s easy and I’ve always found plums difficult to work with maybe because I’m not their biggest fan. Out in the real world, I don’t buy or eat them. I’m a…
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Bar Hack: Sour Amazake Pistachio “Orgeat”
I’ll preface this by saying I don’t really know what I’m doing. Yes, I read the damn book, Koji Alchemy, and yes, I understand why it’s happening, but a lot of this is just throwing a bunch of shit at the wall and seeing what sticks. Long story short, Koji is a fungi, aspergillus oryzae.…
The Aging Bartender 