Kevin Peterson

that right drink was intended to be served at 30F or 35F, and if it's at 70F, it's not the right drink anymore.

that right drink was intended to be served at 30F or 35F, and if it's at 70F, it's not the right drink anymore.

I have read about how taste buds work. You know, I've, I've done a little bit of testing. It didn't make it into the book, but you know, say what is the optimal sugar concentration at 30 F at 60 F at 90 F. But, but I think just anecdotally, you probably know the answers to a lot of these, like the amount of sugar and ice cream is great when the ice cream is frozen.

I have read about how taste buds work. You know, I've, I've done a little bit of testing. It didn't make it into the book, but you know, say what is the optimal sugar concentration at 30 F at 60 F at 90 F. But, but I think just anecdotally, you probably know the answers to a lot of these, like the amount of sugar and ice cream is great when the ice cream is frozen.

If you take, you know, once that ice cream melts and it's at, whatever, even 50, 60 F, it's like, oh my gosh, this is unbearably sweet. Or a can of Coke, you know, all the ratios are skewed once it's room temperature. The amount of sugar in the can hasn't changed, but the, you know, the way your brain or taste bud interprets that has changed a lot.

If you take, you know, once that ice cream melts and it's at, whatever, even 50, 60 F, it's like, oh my gosh, this is unbearably sweet. Or a can of Coke, you know, all the ratios are skewed once it's room temperature. The amount of sugar in the can hasn't changed, but the, you know, the way your brain or taste bud interprets that has changed a lot.

A few hundred might be low thousands.

A few hundred might be low thousands.

Sure. A distinction I do want to make, there's the frozen daiquiri, which a lot of modern bartenders would consider a bit of an abomination. The classic daiquiri is rum, lime, and sugar shaken with ice. And if you look in 10 different cocktail books, you're probably going to see 10 different recommendations of should it be two ounces of rum? Should it be an ounce and a half of rum?

Sure. A distinction I do want to make, there's the frozen daiquiri, which a lot of modern bartenders would consider a bit of an abomination. The classic daiquiri is rum, lime, and sugar shaken with ice. And if you look in 10 different cocktail books, you're probably going to see 10 different recommendations of should it be two ounces of rum? Should it be an ounce and a half of rum?

Should it be half an ounce of lime? Should it be three quarters ounce of lime? You know, and they're all within a certain range, but... there's probably more disagreement than agreement on what exactly those numbers should be. So I said, well, let's just settle this once and for all. I'll just drink all of them and see where they're good. So I held two ounces of rum constant.

Should it be half an ounce of lime? Should it be three quarters ounce of lime? You know, and they're all within a certain range, but... there's probably more disagreement than agreement on what exactly those numbers should be. So I said, well, let's just settle this once and for all. I'll just drink all of them and see where they're good. So I held two ounces of rum constant.

So I'm looking at a ratio now and not necessarily an absolute number. But I said, okay, we'll do a quarter ounce lime, quarter ounce sugar, and then we'll vary everything in quarter ounce amounts until the drink is terrible in some direction. And I wound up with a range where I said, okay, you know, kind of the ideal is two ounces of rum, three quarter lime, three quarter simple syrup.

So I'm looking at a ratio now and not necessarily an absolute number. But I said, okay, we'll do a quarter ounce lime, quarter ounce sugar, and then we'll vary everything in quarter ounce amounts until the drink is terrible in some direction. And I wound up with a range where I said, okay, you know, kind of the ideal is two ounces of rum, three quarter lime, three quarter simple syrup.

But there's a little bit of wiggle room on either side, a little bit more in this direction, a little bit less in that direction. I then did again with temperature and said, okay, where is it ideal? I did it again with dilution. So as you're shaking the drink, that ice is melting, right? When you pour everything into the tin initially, we would call that 0% dilution.

But there's a little bit of wiggle room on either side, a little bit more in this direction, a little bit less in that direction. I then did again with temperature and said, okay, where is it ideal? I did it again with dilution. So as you're shaking the drink, that ice is melting, right? When you pour everything into the tin initially, we would call that 0% dilution.

As you're shaking, if you just shake a normal drink for 10 to 12 seconds, you're going to get about 30% dilution. So it's considerable. Yeah, which is surprising. It's like, hey, I paid 15 bucks for this and 30% is water? Yeah. Can you charge me 30% less, please? But yeah, so within all those variables, there are some acceptable ranges.

As you're shaking, if you just shake a normal drink for 10 to 12 seconds, you're going to get about 30% dilution. So it's considerable. Yeah, which is surprising. It's like, hey, I paid 15 bucks for this and 30% is water? Yeah. Can you charge me 30% less, please? But yeah, so within all those variables, there are some acceptable ranges.

And yeah, what was intriguing to me was some anecdotal wisdom did actually point towards the thing that empirically said, hey, we're right in the middle of where we wanna be. There were some other points where I was like, oh boy, we're right on the edge here. So when you normally shake a cocktail, turns out about 35% dilution is where you kind of fall off that cliff.

And yeah, what was intriguing to me was some anecdotal wisdom did actually point towards the thing that empirically said, hey, we're right in the middle of where we wanna be. There were some other points where I was like, oh boy, we're right on the edge here. So when you normally shake a cocktail, turns out about 35% dilution is where you kind of fall off that cliff.