Agar Cocktail Shots

[12BottleBar]

I'd like to make some agar margarita, daiquiri, etc shots (with clarified citrus juice) for Halloween. One thing I'm pondering is adding tonic to the mix to get the shots to glow under backlight.

Anyone have experience using tonic in this manner? Can/should I allow it to go flat first, or is there a way to "extract" the luminescent properties so I'm not adding liquid volume or tonic flavor to the mix? I considered g&t shots, but they didn't sound as appealing (we'll see if the others work)..

[KatieLoeb]

You're going to an awful lot of trouble to make high class Jello shots, which is quite oxymoronic in and of itself. As for extracting luminescence, you'll need a real scientist for that answer. And again, seems like an absurd amount of fuss. Why not stir in some edible gold or silver leaf dust once it's partially set?

Why not mix the cocktail as you wish and then add the appropriate amount of unflavored gelatin or agar and just call it a day? Or use flavored Jello and add booze and water/tonic/other liquid to volume. Seems a lot simpler.

[12BottleBar]

I find the fuzz -- the discovery and mad science -- the fun part. Cocktail jello shots are easy enough, although agar may not be the right way to go, after all. I prefer its rigidity and its ability to be cut with an oddly shaped cookie cutter, but sheet gelatin appears to be more cocktail friendly. I'm going to try blooming sheet gelatin in tonic to see what happens.

In a professional environment, I agree with you that it doesn't fit a reasonable investment/reward model, but at home, it's quite fun.

[Stephen D]

It sounds like you are attempting to make Eben Freeman's solid Gin and Tonic, with the bubbles suspended in the shot. Why not try to reach him at Tailor Restaurant, NYC and see if he could give you the recipe?

I've done a lot of work with agar in cocktails and the texture tends to throw some people. You'll probably find a combination of agar and sheet gelatin more well-recieved.

I was thinking of the same gold flake idea as Katie, btw. It would catch the light, quite well. Or you can make 1/4 of the batch, let it set, run it through a microplane (elBulli's 'shark fin' technique) and then incorporate it into the main mixture during the setting process. This would inevitably give you some striations which would catch light. You could even choose another color, say pommegranate drinking vinegar as a base, for a more dramatic presentation.

[Tri2Cook]

It sounds like you are attempting to make Eben Freeman's solid Gin and Tonic, with the bubbles suspended in the shot. Why not try to reach him at Tailor Restaurant, NYC and see if he could give you the recipe?

Reaching him at Tailor is going to be extremely difficult but the recipe is all over the internet.

[rmillman]

Once you get your ratios worked out, go here for inspiration:

http://myjelloamericans.blogspot.com/

[thirtyoneknots]

To the best of my knowledge, it is the quinine itself that glows under a black light, so any number of other quinine-containing ingredients should do the same trick (Lillet, et al.) without contributing potentially undesired dilution/clashing flavor that tonic can have.

[12BottleBar]

rmillman - great link -- thanks. And thanks for all the others suggestions. Time to start playing...