Ninety percent of the submissions B.O.N.P.R. receives pertain to this guy. There’s too much pressure to think of an awesome caption, so we’ll just leave you with this picture of NPR mega babe and host of This American Life, Ira Glass.
What really makes this for me is the number of people saying it isn’t funny.
No. You need a solvent (water) to get the extraction to work well –- there’s more surface contact with a solvent extraction than a dry grind, which is essentially what would happen in a citrus + sugar grind.
If “dry grind” is a specific term I’m unfamiliar with it, but having made oleo-saccharum I can say that the result of muddling the citrus peel and sugar is indeed quite moist. But you also add hot water to dissolve the sugar after an hour, and that presumably would pick up anything water-soluble that didn’t leech into the sugar.
(Source: tbridge)
dennymayo replied to your post: What would the A-B test look like? I have more limes…
As I read it, the oil won’t go into water/booze without sugar - hence the need for the simple syrup. Simple syrup is less polar than booze, making a better solvent for the oils.This man should know - he is a Professional Chemist.
So, does that mean we should muddle the citrus with sugar before doing the soaking?
I’m neither Italian nor a professional chemist, but I have read enough on booze to know that mumble-mumble oil sugar mumble (“less polar … yeah. That.”). My empirical results with punch with and without oleo-saccharum do show that there’s something to the practice. In general some things are soluble in water, some are soluble in alcohol, and some aren’t really soluble in either, but the sugar helps (while sugar itself is more soluble in water than in alcohol, which is why you make syrup in the first place).
That said, I just googled and essentially every recipe I found for a ‘cello said to combine the peel (or the zest) with the booze and let it sit for some amount of time (minimum of a couple weeks, in general), and so if nothing else the way you’re doing it is the way countless Italians have done it, and thus certainly Not Wrong.
The A-B test I’d design would probably be something like an A-B-C test, in the end: A) do what you’re doing; B) using the same amount of sugar you’d use, first make an oleo-saccharum, then add the same amount of hot water, stir to dissolve the sugar, let cool, add booze, steep the whole mess for however long; C) make the oleo-saccharum, add the hot water, stir to dissolve sugars, cool, strain, add booze. Or, if you’re feeling truly ambitious, strain out the peels, add a shot of booze to the syrup (to prevent spoilage), then combine the somewhat-spent peels and the booze and steep that mess for however long (storing the syrup in the fridge for as long as that takes).
So, four tests. Are you America’s Test Kitchen?
Oh, Vonage transcriptions of wrong number calls, where would I be without you?
P.S. The audio doesn’t make much more sense than that. Something about an RV.
Sloshed: How to Order a Proper Drink in Any Bar, Anywhere — Grub Street New York
I disagree with his categorization of a martini or a Manhattan as foolproof, though. Sometimes the bar has rotten vermouth or no bitters at all.
Previously, in this space, my own drink ordering flowchart.
Monkey vs Robot needs no reason. Monkey vs Robot responds to no reason.
You know you’re a regular when you show up in a local blog’s photo of the bar.
Christopher Hitchens on New York City’s Petty Policies | Politics | Vanity Fair
Hitchens sets out to break as many unfollowable and ill-conceived laws as possible. The whole thing is fantastic, but I especially liked this bit of bad advice he uses to contrast London with New York.
“Drillmaster,” he said, “this is not alagai’sharak as we were taught it.” -The Desert Spear
I think I win this one.
“The quality of laughter is so incredible and deep and real and serious.”
Nope, I do!
“He can’t look at me — his eyes are closed, his fave is all scrunched up.”
:(
“Define Task-Based Audience Segments.”
I think the only way to do this meme with professional books.
“Carved stone reliefs at the palace do not show him sipping beer through a straw; instead, he is depicted elegantly balancing a shallow bowl, probably made of gold, on the tips of the fingers of his right hand, so that it is level with his face.”
I’ll take it. From A History of the World in 6 Glasses. At least, that’s what’s at the top of what my Kindle says is page 45.
(Source: meme-meme)
