Cocktail Science Book

[Kevin Liu]

Hi everyone,

I'm finally ready to share a project I've been secretly brewing for the last few months: a book covering the science of cocktails.

I've found some of the most cutting-edge work on cocktails right here on these forums and I'm hoping revive a few dormant threads. I'm really excited to see what awesome ideas you guys have cooking up. And I'll keep updating my progress right here as this project moves forward.

I would really appreciate it if you check out cocktailscience.posterous.com and let me know what additions you'd make or experiments you'd love to see tried.

Thanks in advance for your collective wisdom :-)

[Carolyn Phillips]

Sounds like a terrific idea! Do you need recipe testers?

[Kerry Beal]

An interesting start - you've tweaked my interest in trying to make some vermouth.

[Chris Amirault]

Can you tell us more about the project? What are you trying to accomplish that hasn't already been covered elsewhere? And why a book, of all things, given the rapidly changing nature of this information?

[KennethT]

Kevin, I'm sure you've read this already, but just in case you haven't the Cooking Issues guys have done extensive testing/writing on shaking vs stirring / dilution, effects of carbonation, etc...

[Kevin Liu]

@Carolyn Phillips-

Yes, please! If you would be so kind to fill out this form, I'll get in touch with recipes to test :-)

@Kerry Beal

Vermouth is super fascinating. The true expert on the subject would be bostonapothecary. His blog is a must-read and he's been giving me a lot of great input behind the scenes too. I'd love to hear what about what you've been working on. good recipes for Vermouth (and other aperitifs) are so hard to come by!

@Chris Amirault

I'm so glad you brought up these points. I wanted to write a book rather than start a new blog because I wanted these ideas to be presented as a package. It's kind of like the difference between searching the archives of cocktail virgin/slut and leafing through Gary Regan's Annual Manual for Bartenders. Or between digging through ideasinfood's website versus buy Alex and Aki's book. Both forms of media are valid and complimentary.

I definitely recognize that no book will beat the speed of innovation on blogs and forums, so I plan to offer whatever this ends up looking like in both print and online forms. I'm hoping to keep the online version under $10 to make it widely accessible. If this whole thing flops or I lose my nerve, then I'll post all the material I've collected so far either on here or somewhere else easily accessible.

Any feedback on those thoughts, Chris?

[Tri2Cook]

An interesting start - you've tweaked my interest in trying to make some vermouth.

Have you seen this Kerry? A Starchefs article on artisinal vermouths with a few recipes to go along with it. I bookmarked it a while back but have never done anything with it.

[Kerry Beal]

An interesting start - you've tweaked my interest in trying to make some vermouth.

Have you seen this Kerry? A Starchefs article on artisinal vermouths with a few recipes to go along with it. I bookmarked it a while back but have never done anything with it.

Thanks - a great place to start.

[Kevin Liu]

Wow - that's an awesome link, Tri2Cook. Thanks!

Kevin

[Shalmanese]

I found the visual style to be at odds with the level of content. The visual style seems to suggest a breezy, "intro to", generalist guide but the content seems aimed at advanced practitioners. IMHO, you should focus less on cutesy graphics and images and more on presenting information in a concise & legible format. It doesn't mean it has to be dull but stuff like http://cocktailscience.posterous.com/are-there-easier-ways-to-infuse-flavors hinder rather than help understanding. Modernist Cuisine is the gold standard for this of course.

[Kevin Liu]

Shalmanese - thanks for the insight. I've been getting that a lot so I think I will definitely change the approach for the book.