Whether youâre a silicon-minded tech head or a sensuous foodie, the great British summer is an open invitation to put your feet up and relax with your beverage of choice. On a beautiful day, few pleasures rival the company of good friends and a couple of well-chosen cocktails.
As our 3D food printer moves rapidly through its development process, we often find ourselves, purely in the interests of science, having to experiment with its multitude of applications. Recently, purely in the interests of science, weâve been taking a look at what the nÅ«food printer can do to add the finishing touches to all manner of classic and contemporary cocktails.
âŠPurely in the interests of science, you understand.
Adding a nūfood flavour twist
Adding fresh berries and herbs to cocktails to give them a unique twist is nothing new. For a classic mojito, you need to press mint leaves into granulated sugar and grind them up a bit to release the flavour using a process called muddling. Weâve been having a great time perfecting a sweet-mint-berry to drop into a glass beneath ice, soda water, lime juice and white rum for a muddle-free mojito!
Adding tart, sweet syrups known as shrubs to cocktails is a way to add depth to classic drinks. Shrubs are actually made from vinegar and, while their presence is great for building an appetite and quenching the thirst, they can be an acquired taste.
With a shrub-filled strawberry from our printer dropped into your drink, you get to enjoy your favourite cocktail just as nature intended, but with that extra hit of flavour waiting for you at the end to cleanse the palate. Weâve also been using citrus-infused versions to round off heavier, richer tipples and liqueur cherries to give lighter drinks more body.
Play with texture in your cocktails this summer
Taste is one thing, a very important thing, but only part of the cocktail experience. Weâre pleased to report that the unique way the nÅ«food printer creates garnishes for your favourite drinks means weâve been having loads of fun with texture as well.
The humble olive is a staple of Bond, James Bondâs favourite vodka Martini. The fact is, however, that the salty crunch just isnât to everyoneâs taste. Our printed olives produce the same burst of flavour, but as a seamless part of the drinking experience which melts in your mouth from crispness to salty sharpness.
The same principle applies to the G&T, one of the nationâs favourite highball cocktails. With the drink boasting such a history, itâs found itself subject to many tweaks and refinements over the years. Weâre happy to add to this pedigree.
Adding the extra crispness of the usual lemon or lime twist in a smoother format is great, but an addition that often gets overlooked is cucumber. Typically served with Hendrickâs gin, cucumber adds that extra hit of refreshment and our printed cumberberry does so with extra smoothness and less hassle.
While on the topic of gin, weâd be cheating you out of a genius discovery if we didnât share our recipe for a winning summer cocktail. Combining the crisp sweetness of cranberry juice with the light, floral aroma of Bombay Sapphire, we throw in some of our 3D printed creations and what you have isâŠ
The Future Perfect
Ingredients:
50ml Bombay Sapphire gin
Cranberry juice
Crushed ice
Two nūfood lime berries
Method:
Place the crushed ice into a highball glass and pour in your gin. Drop in two 3D printed lime berries and top up with cranberry juice. Stir, serve and enjoy.
nÅ«foodâs cocktail party of the future
Exploring the colour, flavour and texture options opened up by printing the garnishes for our favourite drinks has been a blast! Enjoying cocktails with friends is a shared experience and setting our printer to work creating the finishing touches to drinks as we mix them is proving easy, quick and fun to watch.
The only thing missing from the party is you. For more information on our upcoming events, as well as more blogs and insights into what makes us tick, join our mailing list, follow us on Twitter, Instagram or connect on LinkedIn.