GOING FOR CLARITY

What’s more theatrical than being served a crystal clear drink and discovering that it’s packed with flavour? Clarification involves removing opaque matter from cocktail components and turning mixtures like juices into cleaner-tasting and flavourful ingredients. There are several ways to achieve this – from just putting things through a coffee filter to spinning the liquid in a lab-grade centrifuge. One standout method that gives a clear liquid for relatively little equipment capital is to set the liquid you want clarified with agar-agar, freeze it and later thaw it at room temperature before running it through a paper filter or cheesecloth. The agar-agar consists of long molecule chains that form a web, which traps solids so the liquid passes through particle-free.