4 ms·

I have found kombucha to be unreasonably good at adding an interesting mouthfeel to cocktails. It's reminiscent of alcohol, but definitely not a perfect imitati

I have found kombucha to be unreasonably good at adding an interesting mouthfeel to cocktails. It's reminiscent of alcohol, but definitely not a perfect imitation. Grapefruit juice is also a regular ingredient of mine.

blinded 2y ago
Agreed.
Etheryte 2y ago
Grapefruit has a flavor kick for sure, but I would strongly advise against putting it into cocktails, at least without being very upfront and clear about it. Grapefruit has very strong interactions with such a large number of drugs, that even just the interactions themselves have a separate page on Wikipedia [0]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grapefruit%E2%80%93drug_interactions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grapefruit%E2%80%93drug_intera...
echelon 2y ago
> mouthfeel This word is so gross I find any foods described using it as immediately and viscerally less palatable. I love kombucha, but my sense memory did a gross little convolution for a second. The concept of this word is important and otherwise hard to convey, but it's such a weird word.
- Y_Y 2y ago
  On the subject of words, I was really expecting "convulsion" rather than "convolution" there.
- maxwell 2y ago
  You can just call it "texture," but it's a fun term d'art. As with "automatic memory collection" for those grossed out by "garbage collection."
TylerE 2y ago
Typical commercial kombucha is about 0.5% ABV. Not exactly not alcohol.
- dmoy 2y ago
  A lot of "NA" beers are also 0.5%. Incidentally, freshly baked bread is also often around 0.5% depending on the type of bread, as are very ripe bananas. If you want a not-really-beer that's trivially easy to make at home, I suggest kalja Just mash 100% dark rye (weyermanns chocolate rye) for.... some arbitrary time period (hours, and you don't even really need to keep temp up), maybe with some sugar for speed, and then ferment for... days (? 2 days? whatever), strain, and bottle (if you don't care about carbonation, just use mason jars), and stick it into the fridge for another couple days. It's anywhere between 0.1-0.7% ABV depending on temperature, length of fermentation, etc. Bonus, compared to kombucha, it doesn't look like some alien growth thing while fermenting
  - lostlogin 2y ago
    > 5%. Incidentally, freshly baked bread is also often around 0.5% depending on the type of bread, as are very ripe bananas. I’ve heard this before, but how can it be true? Bread is baked at a high temperature, I do it as 250C, but would go higher if I could. My father bakes at 500-600 degrees. How would alcohol stay in the bread? Or is the measure taken pre baking?
    - xhkkffbf 2y ago
      This makes sense to me. Most of the water leaves as vapor too.
    - zajio1am 2y ago
      I guess it is contained and cannot leave easily. Water also stays in the bread as water vapor, so it is not completely dry after baking.
    - nilram 2y ago
      "Does the booze really cook off?" No, not all of it. Even a long-cooking stew can have 5% of the alcohol that was added at the start. https://www.isu.edu/news/2019-fall/no-worries-the-alcohol-burns-off-during-cookingbut-does-it-really.html https://www.isu.edu/news/2019-fall/no-worries-the-alcohol-bu... And, somehow, the smell of my mom's fresh-baked bread ties in with my adult sense of the odor of alcohol to say--yeah, there was some alcohol there, even if a small amount.
ErigmolCt 2y ago
Are there any specific combinations you’ve found that really work well together?
- zamalek 2y ago
  Roughly, I don't really keep track of precise amounts: 1 cup of water, 1 cup sugar, 1 tbsp salt, a few sprigs of lavender (dried lavender works almost as well). Bring to boil and simmer for 15min to form a simple syrup. This will keep in the fridge for about two weeks. This simple syrup is a pretty fantastic ingredient overall. 40:30:10:20 mango juice:kombucha:grape fruit:soda. Simple syrup: 1.5 fl oz (shot/tot glass) per glass is a good starting point. Something acidic like yuzu vinegar (or whatever clear vinegar you have on hand): a few tbsp. In a tall glass with ice. I use flavored kombucha, I have found Trilogy by Synergy (available basically everywhere in US) works well with this recipe - but experiment with whatever you have. Pineapple juice also works really well.
  - ErigmolCt 2y ago
    Thanks for sharing! The lavender syrup caught my attention; I never would have thought to use that in a drink

blinded 2y ago

Agreed.

Etheryte 2y ago

Grapefruit has a flavor kick for sure, but I would strongly advise against putting it into cocktails, at least without being very upfront and clear about it. Grapefruit has very strong interactions with such a large number of drugs, that even just the interactions themselves have a separate page on Wikipedia [0]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grapefruit%E2%80%93drug_interactions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grapefruit%E2%80%93drug_intera...

echelon 2y ago

> mouthfeel This word is so gross I find any foods described using it as immediately and viscerally less palatable. I love kombucha, but my sense memory did a gross little convolution for a second. The concept of this word is important and otherwise hard to convey, but it's such a weird word.

Y_Y 2y ago
On the subject of words, I was really expecting "convulsion" rather than "convolution" there.
maxwell 2y ago
You can just call it "texture," but it's a fun term d'art. As with "automatic memory collection" for those grossed out by "garbage collection."

TylerE 2y ago

Typical commercial kombucha is about 0.5% ABV. Not exactly not alcohol.

dmoy 2y ago
A lot of "NA" beers are also 0.5%. Incidentally, freshly baked bread is also often around 0.5% depending on the type of bread, as are very ripe bananas. If you want a not-really-beer that's trivially easy to make at home, I suggest kalja Just mash 100% dark rye (weyermanns chocolate rye) for.... some arbitrary time period (hours, and you don't even really need to keep temp up), maybe with some sugar for speed, and then ferment for... days (? 2 days? whatever), strain, and bottle (if you don't care about carbonation, just use mason jars), and stick it into the fridge for another couple days. It's anywhere between 0.1-0.7% ABV depending on temperature, length of fermentation, etc. Bonus, compared to kombucha, it doesn't look like some alien growth thing while fermenting
- lostlogin 2y ago
  > 5%. Incidentally, freshly baked bread is also often around 0.5% depending on the type of bread, as are very ripe bananas. I’ve heard this before, but how can it be true? Bread is baked at a high temperature, I do it as 250C, but would go higher if I could. My father bakes at 500-600 degrees. How would alcohol stay in the bread? Or is the measure taken pre baking?
  - xhkkffbf 2y ago
    This makes sense to me. Most of the water leaves as vapor too.
  - zajio1am 2y ago
    I guess it is contained and cannot leave easily. Water also stays in the bread as water vapor, so it is not completely dry after baking.
  - nilram 2y ago
    "Does the booze really cook off?" No, not all of it. Even a long-cooking stew can have 5% of the alcohol that was added at the start. https://www.isu.edu/news/2019-fall/no-worries-the-alcohol-burns-off-during-cookingbut-does-it-really.html https://www.isu.edu/news/2019-fall/no-worries-the-alcohol-bu... And, somehow, the smell of my mom's fresh-baked bread ties in with my adult sense of the odor of alcohol to say--yeah, there was some alcohol there, even if a small amount.

ErigmolCt 2y ago

Are there any specific combinations you’ve found that really work well together?

zamalek 2y ago
Roughly, I don't really keep track of precise amounts: 1 cup of water, 1 cup sugar, 1 tbsp salt, a few sprigs of lavender (dried lavender works almost as well). Bring to boil and simmer for 15min to form a simple syrup. This will keep in the fridge for about two weeks. This simple syrup is a pretty fantastic ingredient overall. 40:30:10:20 mango juice:kombucha:grape fruit:soda. Simple syrup: 1.5 fl oz (shot/tot glass) per glass is a good starting point. Something acidic like yuzu vinegar (or whatever clear vinegar you have on hand): a few tbsp. In a tall glass with ice. I use flavored kombucha, I have found Trilogy by Synergy (available basically everywhere in US) works well with this recipe - but experiment with whatever you have. Pineapple juice also works really well.
- ErigmolCt 2y ago
  Thanks for sharing! The lavender syrup caught my attention; I never would have thought to use that in a drink