Better cocktails through science

The New York Times reports that contemporary mixology is truly an -ology in that it's full of Big Science.

Mr. Cantu uses a grade-school science trick — baking soda plus acid equals fizz — for his Fizzing & Foaming Hurricane and a very not-grade-school trick involving a Class 4 laser, typically used for military experiments and eye surgery, according to Mr. Cantu, and a vanilla bean to “caramelaserize” a wineglass — that is, to coat it with the flavor of vanilla — before filling it with red wine and pairing the altered wine with a beef course on his restaurant's tasting menu.

This reminds me of a legend about some mixologists at Los Alamos who were fond of very dry Martinis. They strapped a bottle of vermouth to an A-bomb that was being tested in the desert. Then for weeks after the explosion, they would make a shaker of just gin and ice, pour it into a cocktail glass, open a window, reach out the window with the glass in hand for a few moments, then drop an olive into the glass an announce that the Martini had just the right amount of vermouth.