Sous-vide margarita? Don’t shoot the messenger.

[Anna N]

This morning on our local station CHCH a man demonstrated a sous vide margarita. He put fruit and liquor and juice into a sous vide bag, vacuum sealed it and then popped it into a sous vide bath. I don’t recall the temperature but I believe the time was about 20 minutes. 

 

 By the miracle of TV of course, he had one already prepared. And here’s the interesting part. He cut a very small slit into the bag, inserted a paper straw and voila—your very own cocktail box!  

 

 I am reporting not advocating.

 

 There is a recipe here that is similar. 

[btbyrd]

It's also made with coconut tequila and boxed lemonade. 

 

A sign of the apocalypse perhaps?

 

And thank God he's using a paper straw for that drink unnecessarily prepared in a plastic bag.

Edited November 8, 2018 by btbyrd (log)

[Anna N]

9 minutes ago, btbyrd said:

It's also made with coconut tequila and boxed lemonade. 

 

A sign of the apocalypse perhaps?

 

And thank God he's using a paper straw for that drink unnecessarily prepared in a plastic bag.

 

Thanks. Tried to find that link!

[lemniscate]

I made lime tequila using sous vide in mason jars about a month ago.  I used a cheaper silver tequila and a bunch of lime zest.  Turned out very well.  I also made a cilantro infused tequila at the same time, not impressed, the cilantro flavor tasted "cooked" to me and not the fresh flavor I was hoping for.   I would repeat the sous vide for citrus flavors, but not the cilantro.  I think I'd just put a couple of fresh cilantro sprigs in the drink for aroma.

[blue_dolphin]

45 minutes ago, lemniscate said:

I made lime tequila using sous vide in mason jars about a month ago.  I used a cheaper silver tequila and a bunch of lime zest.  Turned out very well.  I also made a cilantro infused tequila at the same time, not impressed, the cilantro flavor tasted "cooked" to me and not the fresh flavor I was hoping for.   I would repeat the sous vide for citrus flavors, but not the cilantro.  I think I'd just put a couple of fresh cilantro sprigs in the drink for aroma.

 

I do like the idea of making a tequila-based lime-cello for sipping.  I understand rapid infusions can be preferable for ingredients that would otherwise be too bitter or spicy for standard infusions but am wondering about the advantages of the sous vide method or an iSi whip instant infusion for something like lime zest that infuses quite nicely over time.

Have you compared the sous vide method to old fashioned days/weeks long infusions?

[lemniscate]

1 hour ago, blue_dolphin said:

 

I do like the idea of making a tequila-based lime-cello for sipping.  I understand rapid infusions can be preferable for ingredients that would otherwise be too bitter or spicy for standard infusions but am wondering about the advantages of the sous vide method or an iSi whip instant infusion for something like lime zest that infuses quite nicely over time.

Have you compared the sous vide method to old fashioned days/weeks long infusions?

 

Truth be told, I just read about this technique a few weeks back and saw it was a way to quicken up the infusion time.  I thought I'd give it a go.  I have made traditional limoncello ( I have a voracious lemon tree) and did the months long steep.  I had made a lime zest tequila long steep last year, I do find this quicker sous vide method comparable in flavor.  I have decided the sous vide infusion will be my go to for the near future.   I have never used an iSi for infusions.

Edited November 8, 2018 by lemniscate
grammar (log)

[btbyrd]

I can vouch for using a chamber vacuum machine and water bath to make sangria. FWIW, chamber vacuums can produce results similar to ISI rapid infusion, but at the other end of the pressure spectrum. The downside is that your yield will be lower because the liquid rushes into your product. Sometimes this is an upside. I discovered this when compressing watermelon with tequila; the result was not only delicious boozy watermelon, but also delicious watermelonny booze.

[kayb]

6 hours ago, btbyrd said:

I can vouch for using a chamber vacuum machine and water bath to make sangria. FWIW, chamber vacuums can produce results similar to ISI rapid infusion, but at the other end of the pressure spectrum. The downside is that your yield will be lower because the liquid rushes into your product. Sometimes this is an upside. I discovered this when compressing watermelon with tequila; the result was not only delicious boozy watermelon, but also delicious watermelonny booze.

 

Now THAT is a case of the whole being greater than the sum of the parts.

 

Would someone offer time/temps for SV limon/lime-cello?

 

[lemniscate]

10 hours ago, kayb said:

 

Now THAT is a case of the whole being greater than the sum of the parts.

 

Would someone offer time/temps for SV limon/lime-cello?

 

 

Pretty sure I used 135F for the lime tequila and triple sec I made.

[btbyrd]

I saw someone over at ChefSteps report success using 130F for 3 hours using mason jars.

[nickrey]

i suppose it has the added advantage that you could put the bag in the freezer and then agitate every so often until you had a slushy consistency to serve as a semi-freddo Margarita.

[Nancy in Pátzcuaro]

I like the idea of making a limoncello-style drink with the product of our "voracious" (thanks, limniscate) lime tree and tequila instead of vodka. My recipe calls for infusing the peels in the vodka/tequila for only 4 days at room temperature, which to my taste makes a nice after-dinner evening libation. I'm just about ready to harvest some of the limes for another batch, but this time I'll use tequila. I already have a variety of infusions in the back of the fridge--fig, quince, limoncello. Quince, by the way, is quite wonderful when it's young but doesn't mature as well as the others (gets a little too puckery).

 

Nancy in Pátzcuaro

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I say shoot the messenger.