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Monday, February 25, 2008
Cocktail caviar from Cointreau
Cointreau has unveiled something they are calling “Cointreau Caviar.” Here’s what a press release sent out on this had to say:
“Cointreau Caviar is the result of nearly 12 months of experimentation, and was originally perfected in the Cointreaupolitan cocktail (Cointreau, cranberry juice and fresh lime juice). Cointreau developed the cocktail with renowned mixologist Fernando Castellon, applying molecular gastronomy techniques used in cutting edge food preparation to the transformation of Cointreau liqueur from a liquid into a solid.
The launch of the Cointreau Caviar, and the offering of the highly-specialized tool kits used to create the “pearls,” places Cointreau at the forefront of spirits innovation, transforming the complex world of mixology and science into a reality that sets a new benchmark in the cocktail world.
Launching simultaneously and exclusively in London, Paris and New York to international leading barmen and mixologists, the Cointreau Caviar will quickly find its way into the most luxurious and trendy bars of the world’s major capitals and into the hearts of the boldest trend-setters this spring.”
Basically they are turning Cointreau into solid “pearl” of the beverage that can be served suspended within a cocktail. The basic way it works is Cointreau is mixed with an alginate and then drops via a syringe are but into a calcium bath. It sounds like a boozy tapioca to me, but I’ll reserve my final verdict for the day I try it if it actually manages to trickle down from the major markets. What do you think of this and have you ever heard of anything like this in a cocktail? Remember that horrible mid-’90s soda Orbitz that has since been discontinuted that had little lumps of starch floating in it? If this is anything like that I’m thinking it won’t be around for long …
Here’s a story the New York Times ran on it with a little more information about the process involved. What are your thoughts on this?
