Good Friday Morning Everyone! Hope you are all well. I just wanted to take a minute to thank each and every one of you who have signed up for this newsletter and who continue to read it every week. We started it earlier this year and i have been blown away at the response to it. We are at almost 6,000 readers and every week we just keep growing! I hope this newsletter has been bringing you some entertainment, education and some more interesting little tidbits. I always wanted to create a space to talk about things in the cocktail / bartending space whether it be in the physical world or digital, that maybe didn’t fit into my regular content ideas. So thank you all!

Super Juice is Dead. Long Live Pseudo Citrus

If you remember a few years back, Super Juice was all over the internet. It seemed like every creator was talking about this magical citrus juice alternative. Kevin Kos made his own video explaining super juice which is almost at 2 million views, Leandro from the Educated Barfly made a video explaining what it was. Heck, I even had a video go viral where I made the incredible citrus juice alternative that got millions of views across all social media platforms.

But what the heck is it? Super Juice is a recipe for creating a citrus juice alternative developed by Nickle Morris in Louisville, Kentucky. You basically create an Oleo Saccharum (fancy word for letting citrus peels sit in sugar for a little bit, till it creates a slushy like consistency) with limes or lemons and citric and malic acid. Both citric and malic acid are naturally found in Lemons and Limes, and so its a way to deconstruct and reconstruct lime and lemon juices. You can hear Nickle speak about it on this Portland Cocktail Week video.

Super Juice is a way to combat insanely high citrus fruit prices, low shelf life of regular citrus juices and to create a more stable product. So a lot of people really gravitated to the concept of Super Juice.

But it wasn’t without its critics. Lots of people have criticized Super Juice for basically doing what we all made fun of old school bars and chain restaurants for using, my old nemesis: Sour Mix. While I don’t fully agree that Super Juice is just upgraded Sour mix, I think Super Juice is much better, there are a lot of people who think otherwise. This week a few bartending/cocktail meme accounts were making fun of super juice. I just cant find them anymore to link them here…. sorry.

Something fascinating that has happened recently though is Super Juice is evolving. Lots of bartenders and other folks have taken the base idea for Super Juice and have tried to build upon it and improve on it.

Steve the Bartender published a video on his channel this week where he showed how to make Pseudo Citrus, which is a variation on the super juice formula that he believes is even closer to real citrus juice and is (in his opinion) indistinguishable from real citrus juice.

Steve has always been such a huge inspiration for me and my content and this video is one of the most fascinating I’ve seen in a while. I have also now featured Steve two weeks in a row on here but that’s how the cookie crumbles. When you are an incredible content creator like he is, you deserve all of your flowers.

Our Take: Super Juice and Pseudo Citrus are incredible tools for bartenders to use, do i think they are right for every situation? Possibly not. but the truth is, as a bar owner myself the rising cost of food as a whole is something really hard to grapple with, so tools like this that can replicate citrus juice at a fraction of a cost should be explored and improved upon.

I have not tried Pseudo Citrus myself, and certainly will need to try it. As for Super Juice, while i think its really good, it just doesn’t work perfectly in Citrus forward cocktails where the Lime or Lemon make up a significant portion of the cocktail, but if its a cocktail that only uses like a half oz or 0.25 oz then you wont notice the difference, but for a Daiquiri or Margarita or Caipirinha, i found that while Super Juice makes a good version of those cocktails, fresh lime takes it from good to amazing. So ill hold out on hope for Pseudo Citrus to see how it compares. But I trust Steve’s judgement, so ill definitely give it a shot.

WTF is Baiju? Oh just the most consumed spirit on the planet.

With this newsletter, we love trying to introduce you guys to crazy spirits you may have never heard of and this week we wanted to talk about the worlds most consumed spirit, Baiju.

Baijiu is a grain-based liquor with a complex flavor profile that packs a punch (usually in the 35-60% ABV range, and all the way up to 68%). It's made from a variety of grains, including sorghum, rice, wheat, and barley, and is distilled multiple times to create a high-proof spirit. So in theory it would fall into the whiskey category broadly, though most people might dispute that classification.

Wootak Kim (@Barchemisty) describes baiju as tasting like a combination of wet socks and Skittles…not exactly a ringing endorsement.

While I’m sure there are die-hards out there that will disagree on the taste assessment (kind of like people who swear that Malort doesn’t actually taste like shit), what we can undoubtedly appreciate about baiju is the fact that its cultural significance is huge.

 So why is baiju so popular? It's more than just a beverage. It's more a deeply ingrained aspect of Chinese culture. a symbol of hospitality, respect, and pride—not to mention a great example of how a spirit can bring people together.

The Baiju Rules

Obviously, shots of a grain alcohol at 60% ABV a pop help loosen the room up a little bit, so it’s no coincidence that baiju is often served at gatherings, business meetings, and family dinners to foster relationships and create a sense of camaraderie.

Now, offering guests baiju is considered a strong gesture of respect and hospitality, so the LAST thing you want to do when someone offers you a pour of baiju is to decline the drink, even if politely. Also keep in mind that it’s also polite not to fill the glass up to the very top.

Toasting is another essential part of baiju drinking. When toasting, it's customary to look directly at the person you're toasting and say "ganbei" which means "dry the cup." So when somebody pours you a shot of baiju, you damn well better finish it.

Another big no-no is accepting a drink of baiju and not finishing it. It’s actually considered worse etiquette than declining the drink entirely. So no quitters allowed!

In the end, the experience comes down to respect. It’s finding time to spend with someone or a group of people where the focus is totally dedicated to each other’s company…while getting obliterated. In a lot of ways, it’s a mindful practice—you pour drinks for others rather than pouring for yourself, you let older guests poor your drink first and then you return the favor by waiting for them to start drinking before you do. The order and discipline are super important aspects of the custom.

So, while Baiju is a source of national pride for many Chinese people, the general sentiment behind the drinking experience—camaraderie, hospitality, and celebration—is something that people across cultures can relate to.

I mean, who doesn’t love a scenario where getting absolutely melted is a way of showing a sign of love or respect.

Best thing we saw on social media this week:

thelittle.ghost

View more on Instagram

Often times I share videos from the bigger cocktail content creators in this section but someone who has hit my radar recently is Troy Ali better known as @thelittle.ghost. Hes a local guy to Mass and I have been really digging his aesthetic recently. I love the lighting and the way he produces his content. While his account is no slouch by any means, almost 10,000 subs on Instagram, I think he deserves some more love!

This Chili Crisp sour cocktail is insanely inventive, and creative and I need to have 1 or 5. Not sure. But he had me at Chili Crisp infused Reposado tequila. Go give him a follow, or go comment on his video!