A few weeks ago, my husband and I cruised the Caribbean with several friends to celebrate a milestone birthday. Of course, drinking was involved. I spent a week at sea sipping various cocktails to determine a favorite. During the day, I’d opt for fruity frozen drinks. At dinner, I stuck with a simple gin and tonic. But at night, I discovered espresso martinis. These were the perfect elixir to help me stay up past my normal bedtime of 9 p.m. (I was dubbed Grandma Traci after the first night).
After a week of drinking, it was back to reality. I was knee-deep in emails trying to catch up when I opened a message from Managing Editor Amanda Joshi. We’ve worked together for years, so she gets me. Her short note: “Some potential blog fodder for you.” She included a link to an American Chemical Society (ACS) Reactions video “Using chemistry and a 300-year-old technique to reinvent a drink.” The technique: milk washing. The drink: espresso martini.
According to the ACS release, “Adding milk to an alcoholic drink and then curdling that milk is a 300-year-old preservation technique that was used by none other than Ben Franklin.”
The process is said to leave you with a clearer, less bitter, rounder-tasting drink. I highly doubt this is how the bartenders on my cruise made my espresso martini. But now I am in the market for a used centrifuge, peanut butter and vodka (the last two items I will purchase new) to see if my latest favorite drink can make me even happier.
The three keys to this process would have kept Little Miss Muffet on her tuffet a lot longer:
1. Curds – these solids collect flavor and color.
2. Fat washing – It’s the same chemistry as curd washing but in reverse.
3. Whey – this is the secret ingredient that makes libations even more luxurious.
This nearly 17-minute video explains the science behind milk washing and has ACS Reactions host George Zaidan drinking at 9 a.m. and shouting out “Chemistry works, man,” after tasting his creation.
While it’s a complicated process, in the name of science, it’s brilliant. Cheers!
