does anyone have recipes for asian vinegar beverages?

[grasswire]

The latest rage in my town is an Asian restaurant where mixed beverages made from vinegars are touted. A family member had one yesterday that was pomegranate flavored. No booze. Club soda, perhaps.

[Tab]

1. A vinegar beverage??

They'd have to be some mighty fine (and refined) vinegars. Vinegars do have a lovely taste, but as a bev? I guess you would have to mix it with club soda or something. I guess it could be good, but this is the first I've heard of it.

Not sure you need a recipe.

What you might try to start is buying a decent Mirin (a rice wine vinegar, from Japan) and mixing it with club soda. I'd start with that.

[grasswire]

2. I found an article about vinegar cocktails

The fact that the drinks here locally are at an Asian restaurant may not mean the drinks are Asian inspired, I realized. Check it out, it's a hot trend:

Trend report: vinegar cocktails
The type of acid trip that won’t get you arrested
By Nora Zelevansky, Special to Metromix
February 27, 2008

No longer just olive oil’s plaything, vinegar is now the toast of the town, the mixer du jour for the latest trend in cocktails.

The balsamic cocktail at Hotel Angeleno's West, called the Cupid’s Kiss, is one of the venue’s most popular concoctions. Raspberries, strawberries, balsamic vinegar and sugar macerate at least 30 minutes before getting a carbonated boost from champagne or vodka and soda.

Go blue at the Viceroy’s Cameo Bar where the Great 8 cocktail’s champagne base is fused with Saint Germain elderflower liquor, blueberry Stoli vodka, amaretto, blueberries, raspberries and two types of vinegar—apple cider and Minus 8.

Bubbly strikes again at the Beverly Hills Hotel’s Polo Lounge. The Cranvan Cracker champagne cocktail—created by head bartender and mixologist Matt Martinez and available even when bumped from the menu during Oscar season—includes a cranberry-and-vanilla puree made with balsamic vinegar, sugar, vanilla and cranberries.

Mixologist Vincenzo Marianella at Providence offers a more subtle and complex berry-vinegar surprise: Donato’s Painkiller. It’s made with muddled strawberries and basil, Bundaberg ginger beer, Copas Reposado tequila, lemon juice and champagne vinegar—yes, sometimes lemon and vinegar play nice.

Tequila and vinegar are also fast friends at Amaranta Cocina Mexicana, where a Sangre de Fresa (“blood of the strawberry”) margarita is winning awards. General Manager Frank Tognotti conceived this combo of balsamic syrup, basil leaves, strawberries, Cointreau and tequila because, he says, “The sweet yet tart flavor of the balsamic syrup reduction balances the fresh fruit and basil.”

Then there’s the Black Margarita at Kumo. Resident mixologist James Bobby embraces the salty and sour, as Patron Silver and Citronge are combined with black vinegar, house-made lime sour, and a lovely lavender salt rim. “In Japan, black vinegar is used to reduce the chances of heart disease and high blood pressure,” Bobby explains. “At Kumo, black vinegar adds a striking complexity of flavor and aroma to the traditional margarita, and faint notes of brown rice and barley synonymous with that of a European lager.”

Meanwhile, Jar’s Naughty Martini is straight-up savory. The classic dirty martini is subtly spruced up with Hangar One vodka, olive juice, two drops of balsamic and a blue-cheese-stuffed olive.

The price for these fermented cocktails ranges from $12 to $18 each. Vinegar will make you pucker up, but she’s no cheap date.

http://losangeles.metromix.com/bars-and-clubs/article/trend-report-vinegar-cocktails/304813/content

I wonder what black vinegar is made from.

[grasswire]

3. here's a long article -- very interesting

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BQE/is_4_19/ai_n25454362

[Tab]

4. Hmm. Very interesting.

The new frontier in food & drink?

Might as well be - food has changed a lot in the last 30 years, but nobody's really made any kind of headway in drinks. They've always been stagnant (as far as progress goes).

It'll be interesting to see where this leads.

[kestrel91316]

5. I sometimes make some old-timey beverages with vinegar.

There is one called switchel.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switchel

Judging from the taste of it, I think Coca Cola was trying to make a carbonated version of it and came fairly close.

On edit: Found this recipe for an Iranian beverage with vinegar.

"This is a delicious traditional Iranian summer drink.
3 kilos sugar - 7 lbs
2cups white vinegar
bunch of mint
5-6 tall glasses of water
METHOD: Mix sugar and water in saucepan. Boil well. Add mint. Boil 20 minutes. Strain thorougly. Return to pot. Add vinegar. Boil 5-10 minutes. Bottle.
TO SERVE: Pour 1" of syrup into glass. Add plenty of ice. Add sprig of mint. Option: Add grated cucumger. Top up with water."

[The empressof all]

6. I drink Apple Cider Vinegar every morning

I mix it with some cool water and a bit of lemon. Sometimes I add a teaspoon of local honey.

Unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar in particular has lots of health benefits.



I would think a lovely blend of a good balsamic with some muddled strawberries and some club soda would be terrific.

[LibertyLover]

7. Sekanjabin

It's a Persian drink made with vinegar, mint, sugar and water. I'm in the SCA and we drink a lot of this during the summer up at Pennsic. It's very refreshing.