You could be forgiven for thinking there’s not a great deal that’s interesting about the chemistry of vodka. After all, isn’t it essentially just a mix of two compounds, ethanol and water? Though this is pretty much the case, there’s more to vodka than you might expect. Here we take a look at some of its chemical secrets.
Here’s the third and final entry in the series of graphics I’ve produced for my Pint of Science event at La Raza, Cambridge (UK). Today’s graphic looks at how chemistry can help to turn cocktails into jellies, and some of the different chemical agents that can be used.
Here’s the second in the series of graphics I’ve produced for my Pint of Science event at La Raza Cambridge (UK) in a few weeks’ time. Today’s graphic looks at how chemistry can help to make caviar and spheres in cocktails, and the chemical agents used to do it.
Ever wondered about the chemistry behind cocktails? If so, then this mini-series of graphics is for you! As part of the Pint of Science festival taking place in May, I’m running an event at La Raza in Cambridge (UK) looking at how chemistry can be used to make ‘molecular cocktails’. I’ve also created some graphics for it – here’s the first, looking at the chemistry behind creating foams and airs.
After yesterday’s New Year celebrations, you might well be nursing a sore head this morning after a few drinks too many. This is a chemical consequence of consuming alcoholic beverages, but it’s one that, surprisingly, we still don’t fully understand. There are, however, a number of chemical suspects that have been identified as contributing to the symptoms of a hangover; here, we take a look at each in turn and the evidence for their contribution.
For the latest in the alcohol chemistry series, we’re looking at a pirate’s favourite spirit: rum. It’s actually hard to describe what constitutes a rum, because there’s not really a fixed definition; different countries have different standards that rums have to meet. Still, despite the differences in types, there’s still a lot of chemistry in common.
