Corney
Harness the sweetness of corn - and even use the corn cobs.
While we tend to think of corn as a savoury food, particularly sweet corn is quite sweet, as its name suggests.
Replacing the water in whiskey with juice from fresh corn adds a sweet element to the drink. The process of replacing the water in alcohol is called switching, which can be done either via freezing or redistilling. Even leftover corn cobs are utilized to make a cute jelly bear as a garnish.
This recipe is from The Cocktail Balance 2.0 by Stan Harciník, available in our shop as a beautiful hardcover or in ebook format, where you can find more information about clarification and switching.
CLARIFIED CORN WATER
500 g Corn Kernels
500 g Mineral Water
2 g Agar (0.2% of total weight)
Cut the corn kernels from the cob and juice through a slow juicer. Pour corn juice into a pot with mineral water and bring to a boil. Add the agar, whisking constantly to sufficiently hydrate and activate the agar. Cook at medium heat for about 5 minutes to allow the agar to hydrate sufficiently.
After cooking, pour the liquid into a jug and let the gel set in the fridge. Do not move it. When the surface of the fluid is a soft gel texture, gently break the gelatin with a whisk and filter through a chesesecloth. Refrain from pressing or squeezing the cloth with force.
SWITCHING OR REDISTILLING AND REDILUTING THE SPIRIT
1000 g Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel
Clarified Corn Water
Variant 1: Switching via Freezing Method
Pour whiskey into an insulated cool box and set in a freezer, leaving the lid off for “directional freezing”. Set the temperature of the ultra-low temperature freezer at the freezing point of the spirit, ideally –30°C for 46% ABV; check for the freezing point of the specific alcohol you are using.
Let the whiskey freeze for about 30–35 hours, after which the alcohol will still be in liquid form while the water will be frozen. When the water is frozen, strain the spirit through a fine mesh sieve to get rid of the frozen water crystals; leave the liquid in the freezer as it strains so the water doesn’t melt.
Measure the alcohol content of the water-stripped spirit and dilute it back to 35% using clarified corn water. Let the switched spirit harmonize for 24 hours before using.
Variant 2: Redistilling via Heating Method
Set a water bath at 45 °C and a chiller to 5 °C. Pour whiskey into an evaporating flask. Immerse the flask in the hot bath. Start the distillation process with rotation of the flask, which helps evenly distribute the liquid and increases the surface area for evaporation.
Slowly start the vacuum pump to reduce the pressure to 70 millibars until the liquid has almost evaporated on the cooling coils and can be collected in a separate flask.
Measure the alcohol content in the redistilled product and dilute it back to 35% using clarified corn water. Let the rediluted spirit harmonize 24 hours before using. The leftovers in the flask that contains the stripped whiskey can still be used.
CORN COB JELLY BEARS
500 g Corn Cobs
1500 g Filtered Water
After cutting the corn kernels from the cobs for the clarified corn water, put the cobs into a pot, cover with water and simmer over medium heat for 20 minutes to extract the flavor from the cobs. Strain the liquid and filter through a cheesecloth. Set the liquid aside to cool.
100 g Corn Cob Water
50 g Corn Syrup
0.5 g Citric Acid
12 g Gelatin
Add gelatin to a bowl of water and let sit for 15 minutes to hydrate. Combine the remaining ingredients in a pot, bring to a boil over medium heat and simmer while stirring until the sugar completely dissolves. Lower the temperature and add the hydrated gelatin to the mixture and stir until completely dissolved. Heat gently for about 2 minutes.
Gradually pour the gelatin mixture into a silicone mold of any desired shape — in this case bear shapes. You can brush the mold with plant oil beforehand in order to take them out easier. Let cool and place in the fridge for 10–12 hours.
When the gelatin stabilizes, carefully heat the lower part of the silicone mold in a warm water bath to allow the jelly to come out of the mold by itself. Store in a refrigerator in an airtight container with a silica gel sachet.
CORNEY
50 ml Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel rediluted with Clarified Corn Water
METHOD: Pour over ice block
GARNISH: Corn Cob Jelly Bear
GLASSWARE: Eva Polgary
