Florence Siphon Coffee Brewing on Make: Live

I’ll be sharing the alchemy of my Florence Siphon Coffee Brewer tonight on Make: Live. Thanks to Becky and Matt for having me on the show.

Becky Stern says:

Make: Live airs tonight! Don’t miss our brewing episode where guests Diane Gilleland and John Park show us how to roast and brew coffee, DIY style. Douglas Amport and John LaPolla from City Brewshop stop by to teach us how to make beer and take your questions. We’ll also have special deals and giveaways for you makers in the live audience:• Digi-Key tool giveaway: Weller soldering station + component grab bag

• We’ll announce a special code to get a fantastic deal on Bay Area Maker Faire tickets

• Maker Shed discount code

• City Brewshop giveaway: 5 Gallon “Brewing Essentials” starter kit (with pale ale Ingredients kit)

Make: Live 08 – Brewing Beer and Coffee

Wednesday May 11th, 9pm ET/6pm PT

Watch at makezine.com/live or on UStream

What’s my name?

Prince Edgar

I hereby renounce everything else in favor of becoming Prince.

Blendophone: iPhone + Arduino + Blenders

My friend Usman Muzaffar and I are building a “musical” instrument using an iPhone, an Arduino, and a mess of blenders. Come to the Bay Area Maker Faire May 21 & 22 to see it in action.

Bottling the bitters

I created some labels for the small dasher top bottles, and then filled them up with J. Edgar’s Aromatic Bitters. They turned out very well, in my opinion, and have a particularly peppery thing going on that I really like. One hope is that I can further concentrate the flavors next time. I’ve been using them in most drinks you’d normally dash some Angostura into.

Aeropress bitters strainer

I needed to strain out all the little bits of bark, fruit, spices, and more from my bitters. There are a few ways to do this, including Buchner funnels from the chem lab, coffee filters, french presses, Brita filters and cheese cloth. I’ve tried some of those, but this is my new favorite method: the Aerobie Aeropress. Intended as a travel “espresso” machine (more like concentrated presspot coffee to be honest), it’s a handy filtration/extraction piston you can buy for around $30. Once strained, these bitters are ready for bottling.

Burnt sugar for bitters

The next step I took in making my aromatic bitters was to make some burnt sugar. Watch as the turbinado is magically transformed into frothy, caramelized loveliness.

Extracting flavor from solids for bitters

Me again, here to talk about my bitters. Here’s what happened after the two weeks of extraction. I strained the liquid into another vessel, then I put all of my solid ingredients in with some water on the stove to simmer out even more good stuff.

I then strained this brew through a fine mesh strainer, back into the liquor. This is to dilute the high-proof liquid back down a little bit.

Next up, crazy innovations in straining…

Making aromatic bitters

I would like you to enjoy some aromatic bitters in your next cocktail. So I’m compounding my own small batch, and bottling it for the holidays. All you have to do is be a friend of mine in need of a classic quaff.

I’m using the following ingredients: Quinine, lemon rind, cloves, allspice berries, peppercorns, cinnamon, ginger, and dried cherries. I have a second batch that adds wormwood for increased awesomeness. Both are being extracted into a base of 100-proof bourbon and 151-proof grain alcohol.

Adding 42 drops of quinine to the lemon rind.

In goes the bourbon.

Now I’m resting them for at least two weeks, shaking once a day. I have big plans for hand etching or laser etching amber dasher bottles for packaging.

Booooo to the new Boo Berry art

Is this progress?! The original Boo Berry mascot wasn’t the greatest ever, but come on! This new tone-mapped air-brush looking one is hideous. What’s up with the freaky flap of “skin” coming off of his cheek inside his mouth? Ew. At least the cereal still rocks.

Even last year’s art was pretty appealing and clear, by comparison. He still had the weird inner mouth flap, but is was less upsetting as vector art.