Saturday, January 26, 2013

Bourbon, Ginger, Orange: Cocktails and #TopChef

Sometimes a thought has to percolate in my mind for a while before the idea bubbles forward so I can grab it and use it.

In this case, it was all about the Top Chef challenge using ginger. One of the cheftestants (don't ask me which one - I deleted the episode already) used a soda siphon to infuse ginger flavor into something else that she had also put into the siphon.

It's a good idea. The pressure in the siphon makes the infusion process a lot faster. So she put the ingredients into the siphon (I think with some liquid, but I'm not sure what), charged it, let it rest for a few moments, and then released the pressure, dumped the liquid, and removed the ingredients from the siphon. So the other items in the siphon took on the flavor of the ginger.

I've done flash-infusing, where I've infused flavor into vodka to make cocktails, and it works pretty well. But then I started thinking about infusing ginger flavor into ... something. And the ideas muddled around in my head for a while.

And then I thought, well, gee, why not just make ginger-flavored fizzy water. Wouldn't this be the ideal "my tummy doesn't feel good" potion? I mean, you have the fizz, you have the ginger ... but you don't have the sugar. Which might or might not be an issue. It would be sort of like ginger ale, but with fresh ginger and not as sweet.

So that's what I did. I peeled a piece of ginger about the size of the first two joints of my little finger, and I popped that into my soda siphon. I added water, pressurized it, and waited a bit. Here's the deal. The longer you wait, the more ginger flavor you'll have.

And then.

I made a cocktail.

Wanna join me?

Bourbon, Ginger and Orange

1 ounce bourbon
1 ounce fresh squeezed orange juice
Ginger soda
Orange slice for garnish

Fill a short glass with ice. I don't have proper cocktail glasses. I use what I've got. Use what you've got. I won't judge.

Add the bourbon and orange juice. Fill the glass with the ginger soda. Add a slice of orange for garnish. Serve.



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