Americran Harvest
This re-imagined Americano is designed to mimic the process of the cranberry harvest. The Campari in the drink is blended with Cranberry Juice and spherified to look like little cranberries that burst in your mouth with flavor. They start out resting at the bottom of the glass and as they begin to infuse with carbonation from the seltzer they rise to the top where they float on the surface just like during cranberry harvest.
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80 - 100 Cranberry Campari Spheres
2 oz Cocchi Americano
2 oz Cold Seltzer
Scoop spheres into the bottom of a wine glass.
Add Cocchi Americano and Seltzer and give a light stir.
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Spherified Cranberry Campari
Add 3.3 grams of Calcium Lactate Gluconate to 125g of Ocean Spray 100% Juice Cranberry Cocktail and whisk until calcium has fully dissolved. Fine strain to remove any remaining calcium bits that may not have dissolved and freeze in a .5" diameter half round ice/chocolate mold sheet.
Prepare a 7.5% Sodium Alginate bath by blending 7.5g of Sodium Alginate with 1kg of distilled water. Cover and let sit in fridge for 24 hours or until all bubbles are gone.
When cranberry solution has frozen and bubbles have dissipated from the Alginate bath, warm the alginate bath, prepare two cold filtered water baths, and fill an infusion jar half way with a 50/50 blend of Campari and 100% Juice Cranberry Cocktail.
Working in small batches, drop frozen hemispheres into warm alginate bath taking care to keep them from touching each other or the bowl right away as they will stick together or develop unsightly tails. As the hemispheres melt in the warm bath, a reaction occurs between the Sodium Alginate and the Calcium Lactate Gluconate that creates a gelatinous sphere encapsulating the liquid juice inside over the course of 15 - 30 seconds.
Once spheres have fully formed and the frozen juice inside has completely (or almost completely) melted, move the spheres to the first cold water bath with a perforated spoon to stop the reaction. Timing is important as removing them too soon will destroy the sphere and too late they become a bit tough or chewy.
After 30 seconds or so, move them again to the final bath to be rinsed and then placed in the prepared infusion jar. Repeat process until finished and then store jar in the fridge and let sit for at least 3 or 4 hours before using. The spheres are permeable to small molecules and thus subject to osmosis so they will end up a good blend of Cranberry and Campari flavor. They are also stable as long as the cranberry juice isn't allowed to ferment, but I highly recommend using them within 48 hrs of making them.
