Are There Any Good Reasons to Drop That Twist?

[Jaymes]

We were discussing this very thing - zest without pith - over in Limoncello, and the general consensus is that one absolutely must have a Messermeister Serrated Peeler to do the job.

[Chris Amirault]

That thing is fantastic for making punch peels as well.

[daisy17]

Sometimes (when in the throes of an OCD flare-up) I can't help but think that twists are just adding dirt (and maybe worse - have you been in a walk in?)to my cocktail.

[Chris Hennes]

Fortunately most of our drinks contain suitable quantities of a disinfecting agent...

[EvergreenDan]

My plain-old OXO vegetable peeler makes nice swaths of peel with no pith. The swats are covered in oil, and more squirts out when squeezed over the glass. After squeezing, the peel is glistening with oil. It's hard for me to believe that there isn't enough left on the peel to flavor the drink -- at least a mildly-flavored one like a Martini or simple whiskey drink.

[Kent Wang]

We were discussing this very thing - zest without pith - over in Limoncello, and the general consensus is that one absolutely must have a Messermeister Serrated Peeler to do the job.

This looks nice. But is it easy to get thin strips? I have a zester from Target that has an additional, um, large zesting hole that only removes a perfectly wide strip, but also takes out quite a bit of the pith too. It's very easy to use though.

[Frederic]

Aesthetics - garnish can differentiate one murky brown (or crystal clear) cocktail from another and give it something for the drinker to focus on beside the monotony of the liquid. There is also variation in peel shape - from coins to curly coils to wide swaths - that can change the presentation of the drink, besides whether it is floated, part on the edge and part in the drink, or on the rim of the glass (i.e. a notch cut into the peel). Imagine if you were taking a photo -- which would have better composition, the one with a peel or the one that was just liquid?

Aroma - twist oils float on the surface and can dissipate after a few sips. The drink I had last night where the bartender dropped in the grapefruit twist contained the aroma of the oil through out the whole drink.

[A drinker's Peace]

I always thought this passage from Wm. Boothby was interesting:

Some of my recipes for the manufacture of cocktails order the dispenser to twist a piece of lemon peel into the glass in which the drink is to be served; in some establishments this is forbidden, the bartenders being ordered to twist and drop the peel into the mixing glass and strain the peel with the ice when putting the drink into the mixing glass. This is merely a matter of form, however, as the flavor is the same in both cases.

Also interesting are drinks like The Dandy, Newbury and Temptation, where multiple twists are included in the ingredient list rather than as a garnish.

Boy, it's hard to find a decent peeler, though, that doesn't take too much pith along with the zest.

Likewise Ensslin has many recipes where the peels are put in the mixer glass and shaken (though that includes many recipes where current conventional wisdom would be to stir). I've tried it in a few recipes and you do get citrus oil flavours but of course much less aromatics on top.

I have to say my preference for twist and discard vs. twist and drop is dependent both on drink and mood.

[12BottleBar]

On the side of keeping the twist -- they help in photographs. Unbroken liquid can not only be a bit dull, it can be hard to focus on, camera-wise.

Edited December 16, 2010 by 12BottleBar (log)

[Kohai]

With two bartenders and a coffee professional last night I did a double-blind taste test very similar to one that someone described upthread. I tried to eliminate all other flavor variables by using vodka: I stirred with ice and strained into two rocks glasses. Then I zested lemon over both of them. Into one I dropped the lemon coin. Into the other I did not. I kept them in the refrigerator for four hours, then pulled out the coin and labelled the underside of the glasses with masking tape.

The unanimous, emphatic preference was for the glass that had the twist dropped into it. We all felt that it was much more citrusy, which makes sense since it's been observed above that more oils remain on the skin than are expelled.

I deliberately left a fat slice of pith on the skin but we detected none of the astringency and bitterness that we expected from it. In fact, the coffee guy challenged the idea that there were any bitter compounds at all present in lemons, and when we trimmed the pith off of the skin and ate it, it was, if anything, sweet.

The upshot is that I will probably be throwing my twist into everything now. It tastes better.

Edited December 22, 2010 by Kohai (log)

[slkinsey]

Nicely done.

When you have a chance, it would be interesting for you to re-do the test without the 4-hour rest.

[Chris Amirault]

Nicely done indeed! I have started to come to a similar conclusion at home; the waft of the twist rises for even that very last drink. I believe I stand corrected.

[eje]

"In fact, the coffee guy challenged the idea that there were any bitter compounds at all present in lemons, and when we trimmed the pith off of the skin and ate it, it was, if anything, sweet."

Well, he is a coffee guy, his tolerance for bitterness must be off the charts. ;-)

Not sure the reason for the 4 hour rest, but I agree with Sam (slkinsey), the test needs to be done without it.

I'd also like to see it done with the twists stirred in the drink and strained out.

[Kohai]

Yes. The 4-hour infuse time was for one practical reason: I was working and I got slammed. It was only as I was packing up at the end of the night that I remembered the little glasses in the fridge. I imagine that the main material effect of such a long wait time was that the difference was intensified.

There are a lot of places this could go next. Varying times (5 minutes, 10 minutes, 20). Allowing the drink to come to room temperature. Not using vodka. Using orange, grapefruit, etc. With pith/without.

[EvergreenDan]

Well, he is a coffee guy, his tolerance for bitterness must be off the charts. ;-)

(Pot): Hey, Kettle, ...

[Mark Muller]

"In fact, the coffee guy challenged the idea that there were any bitter compounds at all present in lemons, and when we trimmed the pith off of the skin and ate it, it was, if anything, sweet."

Well, he is a coffee guy, his tolerance for bitterness must be off the charts. ;-)

In my experience, lemon pith is about the least bitter citrus pith there is. It is certainly less bitter than lime or grapefruit pith. Gabrielle Hamilton (the chef at Prune) has a fantastic recipe for "pickled" shrimp that uses whole (ie rind and all) lemons sliced thin and the bitterness is pretty minimal. When made with limes, it is a bitter mess.

Edited December 22, 2010 by Mark Muller (log)

[EvergreenDan]

This sounds right. I routinely make baked apples topped with an extremely thin slice of lemon, topped with a bit of sugar to caramelize. Baste with apple syrup that forms in the bottom of the pan. Crunchy, brown, not particularly bitter, and heavenly.

If it weren't so much work, they would make killer garnishes for a Calvados sour or something.