Let's be real here. The Little Mermaid had a collection of misidentified cutlery. Dave Arnold's the one with gadgets and gizmos aplenty. Which is why Booker and Dax, Arnold's new home, is the only place in New York City you'll find the combined powers of, say, a giant tank of liquid nitrogen and a cartoonishly awesome hand-crank Japanese ice machine. Part of the Momofuku dynasty, Booker and Dax is the tech-fantastic playground where Arnold and team pursue high-quality mixology with high-tech gadgetry (centrifuge, rotary evaporator, endless iSi canisters, oh, and a home-welded hot poker that heats up cocktails faster than a sassy wink from Cyclops).
But unlike hoarder Ariel, these aren't gizmos for their own sake. Arnold is after quality and expedience. And if it means you get to use a lot of really fun equipment and employ the exactitude of science in modern mixology, all the better. Take their Julep, served to us as part of the Alliance Francaise's "Art de Vivre: Fabulous Flavors" program this spring. Along with his team, Arnold kicked off the FIAF-sponsored tour of flavors that went from Booker and Dax to The Flavor Lab of Le Skyroom, culminating with a meditation on "Sweet, Sour, Savory" with Eric Ripert and Christina Tosi.
The Booker and Dax crew launched it all in style, serving an array of "fabulous flavor" drinks like their Bellini, made with centrifuged canned (yes) peach juice, and the stoutly, suavely boozy, Pernod-rich French Columbian (given the aforementioned hot poker treatment). But The Julep was probably the most elegantly simple—and easily replicable. And like all the drinks at Booker and Dax, it was born out of a combined bear hug embrace of technology and a borderline obsessive respect for ingredients.
Flash-freezing tender little market fresh mint leaves might seem like a mixologists's exercise in sadism, but as Booker and DaxBar Manager Tristan Willey, explains, they do it out of love. "Herbs don't last very long, especially when they're warm," he says. "Even if we added liquid nitrogen [to the mint] and let it come back to room temperature, it'd be ruined." They could probably just muddle mint and bourbon along with the rest of the Kentucky Derby-watching world, but too much mint is lost—bruised and broken, but not extracted. Instead, they insta-freeze fresh herbs and immediately muddle them into a fine powder, not just capturing freshness but also shortening execution time. "We've increased the mint's surface area immeasurably, making the time it takes to infuse the mint flavor into the bourbon extremely short." Drinking time can also (but probably shouldn't) be extremely short: "Due to the tiny size of the mint particles, there's nothing to get stuck in your teeth," says Willey. "You can drink through a straw without it getting clogged up—a bonus."
The next step is sweetener, in this case Grade C maple syrup—"it has the most intense maple flavor," says Arnold, a flavor Willey calls "distinctly funky." "It's a hard flavor to harness," Willey says, "[but] the simplicity of The Julep is the perfect format for [the maple] to be the funky, wonderful flavor it is without overpowering everything else." Last comes the ice. Most recipes call for crushed ice, preferably ice that's been beaten mercilessly in a canvas sack. But as Booker and Dax is a toy box of new discoveries, their Julep has cotton-fine shaved ice, courtesy of the Hatsuyuki Manual Ice Shaver from Tokyo.
"Nastassia and I saw an ancient man making shaved ice on the street," says Arnold, referring to his most recent culinary education by fire. "I loved his machine and took a picture. Later, in the kitchen [Kappabashi] district, we saw one and I bought it. Carried it 10 blocks to the subway, made two transfers, and started carrying it from the station to the hotel, but we got horribly lost and had to take a bus." Fortunately for frosty Julep lovers everywhere, "getting it home was easier. My son Dax hadn't checked any luggage on the way," says Arnold, "so on the return trip he checked the ice shaver and my fancy new toilet seat," (which, as far as we know, has no place in the drinks repertoire of Booker and Dax).
Again, the focus shouldn't be the novelty of the machine (though that might be why Arnold noticed it). It's the utility. "It allows us to exactly control the texture and style of the ice with an extremely sharp, adjustable blade," says Willey, adding—with what we're coming to call Arnold-esque glee—"it's also an awesome contraption: whirling spikes, gears, and blades …" (And whoozits and whatsits galore.)
Place 8 to 10 fresh mint leaves into a muddling glass.
Carefully retrieve liquid nitrogen for service.
Pour in enough liquid nitrogen to freeze all of the leaves. (The Booker and Dax team makes regular trips to their giant liquid nitrogen tank to fill a camper thermos full of the stuff for use behind the bar, not to be mistaken for anyone's hot soup lunch.)
Muddle mint leaves into a powder.
Discard liquid nitrogen.
Double strain bourbon-infused mint into double rocks glass.
With the Hatsuyuki machine set to very fine (so shaved ice looks like cotton candy threads; test beforehand), shave ice directly into the glass so it's overflowing.
Pack ice down, being careful to avoid over-packing, and pour maple syrup over the top. Garnish with a smacked mint leaf.
The Julep
Dave Arnold and Tristan Willey of Booker and Dax
Mint Julep Technique:
Place 8 to 10 fresh mint leaves into a muddling glass.
Pour in enough liquid nitrogen to freeze all of the leaves. (The Booker and Dax team makes regular trips to their giant liquid nitrogen tank to fill a camper thermos full of the stuff for use behind the bar, not to be mistaken for anyone's hot soup lunch.)
Shake carefully to distribute liquid nitrogen and make sure all mint leaves are frozen.
Muddle mint leaves into a powder.
Add 2 ounces preferred bourbon or whiskey on top of muddled mint for instant infusion.
Double strain bourbon-infused mint into double rocks glass.
With the Hatsuyuki machine set to very fine (so shaved ice looks like cotton candy threads; test beforehand), shave ice directly into the glass so it's overflowing.
Pack ice down, being careful to avoid over-packing, and pour maple syrup over the top. Garnish with a smacked mint leaf.
Shannon Sturgis
