New Scientist - USA (2019-12-21)

21/28 December 2019 | New Scientist | 79

Rowan Hooper is head

of features at New

Scientist. He is pan

galactic gargle blasted

PROVENANCE:

THE LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS

BY URSULA LE GUIN

DESCRIPTION:

To mimic the drinking habits of the inhabitants of

Gethen, Burgess has created a crème brûlée-style

drink, with a malty beer-soup under a crust of sugar

sealed by gently heating with a blowtorch. The drink

itself isn’t hot, but a paprika tincture provides a

warming sensation.

INGREDIENTS (SERVES 4):

300g double cream

36g full fat milk

7g black treacle

2 egg yolks

60g caster sugar

200ml beer, choose something with a good

malty flavour

0.5ml per glass of hot paprika tincture

20g isomalt sugar

METHOD:

Add the cream, milk and treacle to a pan and bring

to a simmer. In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks with

the caster sugar to form a paste. Slowly add

the hot cream mixture to the egg sugar, stirring

constantly. Add the beer and stir to combine.

Pour the mixture into a glass, adding the paprika

tincture. Put in the fridge to chill; the liquid will be

semi-set. To finish the drink, sprinkle isomalt sugar

on the surface of the liquid and melt very gently with

a blowtorch. You want the sugar to liquify and set,

but ideally not to brown.

TASTING NOTES:

“Heavenly”, “Amazing”, “I’m definitely

making this one at home”, “More

of a pudding than a drink”

GETHEN BEER

10/10

PROVENANCE:
THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY
BY DOUGLAS ADAMS

DESCRIPTION:
As might be expected from a drink invented by
Galactic President Zaphod Beeblebrox, this is a
complex concoction with many components, not all
available in this universe. To make it easier to work
with at home, Burgess has distilled the recipe down
into a delicious and punchy gin and tonic. Patchouli
shares flavour compounds with mint, making it the
perfect choice to give extra impact to the mint notes.

INGREDIENTS (SERVES 4):
4 patchouli ice cubes (made from water and
10 microlitres of food-grade patchouli oil)
or 4 ice cubes infused with lemon juice
50ml gin such as Hayman’s Old Tom
120ml tonic water
1.25ml hypermint float (combine 50ml
Fernet Branca Menta with 100 microlitres
of food-grade birch oil)
Almonds pickled overnight with lemons (if
Algolian suntiger teeth remain unavailable)

METHOD:
To make the ice cubes, combine the two ingredients
in a centrifuge flask. Spin at 4500rpm for 10 minutes,
then strain using a coffee filter to remove the oil from
the water. The resulting water will now be flavoured
with the patchouli oil. Add this to an ice cube tray and
freeze. For those sadly lacking a home centrifuge,
substitute this with an ice cube infused with lemon
juice. Add the ice cube to a highball glass, followed by
the gin, then tonic, and stir gently. Add the hypermint
float and serve with pickled almonds on the side.

TASTING NOTES:
“Wow”, “My god”, “That’s a beast”, “Feels like my
brain’s been smashed out by a bottle of Listerine”

PAN GALACTIC

GARGLE BLASTER

6/10

For footage of this cocktail event,

see newscientist.com/scifi-drinks