Today marks the launch of “Rocket Science,” a new section on Cielo’s cocktail menu. Rocket Science drinks are pre-batched elixirs made by infusing alcohol through the process of sous-vide. Cielo bar manager Cory Cuff mimics the flavor profile of classic cocktails by combining a base spirit with a combination of flavoring agents, sealing them together in an airtight bag, and heating the bag in an immersion circulator. After it spends three hours in a 145-degree hot water bath, Cuff cools and bottles the concoction.
Why go through the extra step of heating the mixture instead of just letting it infuse at room temperature? “Just letting it sit gives it a good flavor, but when you heat things up, it gives it a much deeper flavor,” Cuff explained. The sous-vide machine, he noted, presents a “much more controlled environment” for heating the alcohol without boiling it.
The first two Rocket Science drinks Cielo is offering are the Unusual Zombie and Unusual Negroni. The recipe for a basic Zombie (pictured, left) calls for light and dark rums, lime, orange and grapefruit juices, and an over-proof rum float. Cuff’s version (pictured, right) of the tropical drink uses Plantation Grande Reserve 5-year rum, grapefruit, orange and lemon peels, a half-pound of unpeeled almonds and a sugar cube. The Unusual Zombie is noticeably darker in color than its counterpart, and its flavor is terrifically balanced and multi-dimensional with pronounced warm spice notes – especially cinnamon.
Cuff’s other sci-fi try, his Unusual Negroni, involves heating Tanqueray gin with nine botanicals: ginseng, gentian, bitter orange peels, fresh orange peels, fresh bing cherries, dried shiitake mushrooms, sage, rosemary, burnt sugar and a sugar cube. A regular Negroni is usually just a simple trio of gin, Campari and sweet vermouth. “The idea is to imitate the mix-ins,” he reminded, pointing out that he selected the mushrooms and gentian to duplicate the bitterness that would normally come from Campari. The concoction is crystal clear before it bathes in the circulator. After three hours, it emerges a couple shades lighter than a normal ruby-red Negroni with a flavor that’s more floral and less bitter. Drinkers who deem a Negroni unpalatably bitter might just be won over by Cuff’s reinvention.
This article appears in September 2012.