The NYTimes has an article on bartenders using some science tricks. I have a new favorite drink:
For the martini, they blend olive juice, vermouth and gin with xanthan gum and calcium chloride and drop it into a sodium alginate and water solution to form stable olive-shaped blobs. It is served as a lone olive in an empty glass; it reverts to a liquid state when popped into the mouth.
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Today I decided to play with some chemicals I ordered to try to spherify V-8. It's the molecular gastronomy thing where you mix a liquid with sodium alginate, then drip it into an aqueous solution of calcium chloride to get the juice-alginate mixture to gel, forming a skin around a liquid center.…
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Alginic acid is a simple polysaccharide. What makes it neat is that it will form gels in the presence of divalent cations (e.g., calcium and magnesium).
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Excellent article, except for the comment about liquid nitrogen and scotch at the end--potable scotch should be drunk at room temperature. I've had minibar's mojito and passionfruit whiskey sour, both are lots of fun. The technique with the calcium chloride creates a gelatin-like film around a liquid core. The blob pops in your mouth as soon as you slurp it up, and the flavor washes over your mouth all at once, unlike a normal sip or bite. Hopefully the trend won't get abused.