Liquor for Flaming Drinks: A Comparison - Tiki Drinks and Food

JB Jeff Bannow Tiki Socialite Detroit, MI Joined: May 14, 2015 Posts: 284	JB Jeff Bannow Posted posted on Sat, Mar 26, 2016 9:23 AM I couldn't find a comparison of flame quality between alcohols, and I'm always looking for an excuse to light things on fire, so I did a side by side last night. We used shot glasses turned upside down, with about 1/2 oz. of each alcohol. This was shot in subdued light, with all the alcohol at about 60F in temperature. Here's the cast, from left to right: McCormick Lemon Extract Green Chartreuse Vieux Carre Absinthe Wray & Nephew Overproof Hamilton 151 Bacardi 151 Everclear 151 Clear Spring 190 As expected, anything under 150 proof was pretty unimpressive. The Chartreuse, absinthe, and W&N Overproof were barely visible in room light. In my opinion, there's little point in using these as the flame was too dim. They also left residue in the glass after burning out, potentially affecting the flavor of your drink. The 151s burned very blue, and would be usable in low light. Surprisingly, the Hamilton burned a little brighter than the Bacardi & Everclear, despite the fact that they are all 151 proof. Any of these would be acceptable. The real standouts, though. were the Clear Spring 190, and even more so, the lemon extract. Both were impressive even in room light. The lemon extract was the strongest by far, burning bright and strong. Here's a second comparison with the lemon extract and the Clear Spring. This was done with fresh shot glasses and fresh pours of alcohol. Here's my final thoughts on the experiment: The lemon extract is going to be my go-to flame for any situation where the extract can't end up in the drink. Communal volcano bowls, etc. You can buy it in 8 & 16 oz. bottles at baking and food service stores (for much cheaper than the 1 oz. bottles at the grocery.) For drinks where I am floating the alcohol in the drink, I'll use the Clear Spring 190. This way, if some ends up in the drink, it won't significantly affect the taste. Hope this helps someone else out there. Some additional notes I'm adding in to the experiment: Some pricing info for everyone. I found large bottles of lemon extract at my local Gordon Food Services for pretty cheap. Clear Spring 190 proof alcohol: Cost for 1 liter (34 ounce) bottle: $16 Cost per ounce: $0.47 McCormick Lemon Extract: Cost for 1 ounce bottle from grocery store: $3.50 Cost per ounce: $3.50 McCormick Lemon Extract: Cost for 8 ounce bottle from Sam's Club: $5.88 Cost per ounce: $0.73 Gordon Food Services store brand lemon extract (not recommended - see note below): Cost for 32 ounce bottle: $19 Cost per ounce: $0.59 Here's a comparison of McCormick's Lemon Extract (left) and Gordon Food Service Lemon Extract (right). As you can see, the GFS Lemon Extract is no better than the Clear Spring 190. I will be skipping the GFS and continuing to use the McCormick. Found some info online stating that the McCormick is 166 proof (83%). Tested out sprinkling both cinnamon and nutmeg over the flames. Sorry, I tried to get a photo of it but wasn't too successful. The effect was similar to this video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ct9VVOYcbyc The nutmeg was a dud for me - no noticeable sparks. I produce my nutmeg from a whole nut, run over a microplane to generate powder as needed. The nutmeg wasn't as fine as my cinnamon, so that may have some effect on this. The cinnamon made some cool sparks though as expected. I tried shaking the cinnamon onto the fire directly from the shaker, and a lot of the cinnamon ended up on my bar. It would have ruined any drink with excess cinnamon. I had better luck taking off the shaker top and using my fingers to sprinkle a pinch directly over the flame. Ran some more tests tonight. All were filled using GFS lemon extract. While this isn't my favorite for burning (see notes above), I wanted to use some of it up. And, it burns OK enough for the comparison. The limes were on the small side, and all juiced using a handheld citrus squeezer. We had to be careful when squeezing the limes - if you squeeze too hard, the side can split out on the lime shell. If that happens, it won't float properly. Compared the following vessels: From left to right: Spent lime shell, with alcohol poured directly inside (in order to get it to burn nice, it needs lots of alcohol to completely fill the lime shell) Spent lime shell, with alcohol soaked sugar cube (2 dashes) (didn't burn very bright & didn't last very long) Spent lime shell, with alcohol soaked home-made crouton (4 dashes) (burned bright, lasted long, but smelled like burnt toast or charcoal at the end) We weren't really happy with any of the above options. My wife struck on the idea of using a cap of some kind to hold the alcohol. Bottle cap with alcohol poured directly inside (worked well, but the cap hugged the side of the glass, making it dangerously hot) Spent lime shell, with bottle cap with alcohol poured inside (burned bright and long, no smell) Our conclusions: The only option we liked was the cap floating on a lime shell. I think with a more shallow cap, and maybe even using a hand reamer to juice out the lime, the cap could even be hidden inside the lime shell. We will be playing with different style caps, maybe even using a beer bottle cap. The only thing to watch would be any kind of plastic insert or liner that some manufacturer's place inside their caps. (The one we used here had a styrofoam piece stuck in the bottom of the cap, that we had to pry out.) I forgot to mention my homemade "crouton" recipe: Take a slice of white bread and cut off the crust so that it is square. Cut the bread in a 3x3 grid, so that you have 9 pieces about 1 inch square. Leave out to dry for 24 hours. Seemed to work very well, and there are so many preservatives in white bread that I would doubt it will ever rot, as long as it stays dry. And, almost forgot to mention, big thanks to AceExplorer for the "crouton" recipe! Final test (for now at least): First attempt was a complete failure - tried to float the lemon extract on top of the water, using the back of a spoon, but it mixed right in anyway. This could in theory work, but is quite a bit of hassle. Tried out our vegetable cutters on the bread - makes some cool little flower shaped bread pieces. They are between the size of a nickel and a quarter, I would say. Happy Sales Stainless Steel Vegetable Cutters - $4.75 on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Happy-Sales-Stainless-Vegetable-Cutters/dp/B00095VK7S Second attempt at the crouton method. I was able to get about 45 seconds of burning out of it before I started to smell burnt toast. This was by far the most impressive flame so far, but I'm afraid the odor is going to be a turn-off for us. You're mileage may vary though - if someone has a trick here, please let me know. I'd love to find a way to make this last a bit longer without the smell. Here's the beer cap, floating on a lime shell. I filled the cap to near the top, and it burned nicely without any off smells. It naturally extinguished itself after about 2 minutes. I think, with some larger limes, (this one was really tiny - less than 2 inches across) the cap could be set right into the lime itself. For me, that's the winner. Within 10 seconds of it extinguishing it was cool to the touch, and it rinsed right off, ready for the next round. The next phase of this project for me is testing both in front of the guests at our next tiki event. I'll try to get some 3rd party opinions on them. On 2016-04-11 20:12, PalmtreePat wrote: Christening my new tiki bowl with Porp's scorpion. To make the ice mold I put a metal shot glass at the bottom of a pint glass (any glass with a flat bottom that's wider at the top than the bottom will do) and put shaved ice in one scoop at a time, packing it down as hard as I could in between scoops and making sure the top (what would be the bottom when freed from the mold) was as flat as possible. After an overnight stint in the freezer I took the glass out and let it sit and warm slightly while I made up the scorpion. When the drink was ready I popped the mold out, put it in the bowl, filled the shotglass with lemon extract and set it on fire, and served it up. Thanks for PalmtreePat for the idea above, originally from this thread: http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=31307&forum=10&vpost=762274 In a comparison that will surprise no one, the store bought McCormick's 1 ounce bottle and the Sam's Club McCormick's 8 ounce bottle both burned identically. I'll be sourcing my lemon extract from Sam's from now on. About $0.75 out the door per ounce. [ Edited by: Jeff Bannow 2016-04-13 05:12 ]

I couldn't find a comparison of flame quality between alcohols, and I'm always looking for an excuse to light things on fire, so I did a side by side last night. We used shot glasses turned upside down, with about 1/2 oz. of each alcohol.

This was shot in subdued light, with all the alcohol at about 60F in temperature.

Here's the cast, from left to right:

McCormick Lemon Extract
Green Chartreuse
Vieux Carre Absinthe
Wray & Nephew Overproof
Hamilton 151
Bacardi 151
Everclear 151
Clear Spring 190

As expected, anything under 150 proof was pretty unimpressive. The Chartreuse, absinthe, and W&N Overproof were barely visible in room light. In my opinion, there's little point in using these as the flame was too dim. They also left residue in the glass after burning out, potentially affecting the flavor of your drink.

The 151s burned very blue, and would be usable in low light. Surprisingly, the Hamilton burned a little brighter than the Bacardi & Everclear, despite the fact that they are all 151 proof. Any of these would be acceptable.

The real standouts, though. were the Clear Spring 190, and even more so, the lemon extract. Both were impressive even in room light. The lemon extract was the strongest by far, burning bright and strong.

Here's a second comparison with the lemon extract and the Clear Spring. This was done with fresh shot glasses and fresh pours of alcohol.

Here's my final thoughts on the experiment:
The lemon extract is going to be my go-to flame for any situation where the extract can't end up in the drink. Communal volcano bowls, etc. You can buy it in 8 & 16 oz. bottles at baking and food service stores (for much cheaper than the 1 oz. bottles at the grocery.)

For drinks where I am floating the alcohol in the drink, I'll use the Clear Spring 190. This way, if some ends up in the drink, it won't significantly affect the taste.

Hope this helps someone else out there.

Some additional notes I'm adding in to the experiment:

Some pricing info for everyone. I found large bottles of lemon extract at my local Gordon Food Services for pretty cheap.

Clear Spring 190 proof alcohol:
Cost for 1 liter (34 ounce) bottle: $16
Cost per ounce: $0.47

McCormick Lemon Extract:
Cost for 1 ounce bottle from grocery store: $3.50
Cost per ounce: $3.50

McCormick Lemon Extract:
Cost for 8 ounce bottle from Sam's Club: $5.88
Cost per ounce: $0.73

Gordon Food Services store brand lemon extract (not recommended - see note below):
Cost for 32 ounce bottle: $19
Cost per ounce: $0.59

Here's a comparison of McCormick's Lemon Extract (left) and Gordon Food Service Lemon Extract (right).

As you can see, the GFS Lemon Extract is no better than the Clear Spring 190. I will be skipping the GFS and continuing to use the McCormick.

Found some info online stating that the McCormick is 166 proof (83%).

Tested out sprinkling both cinnamon and nutmeg over the flames. Sorry, I tried to get a photo of it but wasn't too successful. The effect was similar to this video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ct9VVOYcbyc

The nutmeg was a dud for me - no noticeable sparks. I produce my nutmeg from a whole nut, run over a microplane to generate powder as needed. The nutmeg wasn't as fine as my cinnamon, so that may have some effect on this.

The cinnamon made some cool sparks though as expected. I tried shaking the cinnamon onto the fire directly from the shaker, and a lot of the cinnamon ended up on my bar. It would have ruined any drink with excess cinnamon. I had better luck taking off the shaker top and using my fingers to sprinkle a pinch directly over the flame.

Ran some more tests tonight. All were filled using GFS lemon extract. While this isn't my favorite for burning (see notes above), I wanted to use some of it up. And, it burns OK enough for the comparison. The limes were on the small side, and all juiced using a handheld citrus squeezer. We had to be careful when squeezing the limes - if you squeeze too hard, the side can split out on the lime shell. If that happens, it won't float properly.

Compared the following vessels:

From left to right:
Spent lime shell, with alcohol poured directly inside (in order to get it to burn nice, it needs lots of alcohol to completely fill the lime shell)
Spent lime shell, with alcohol soaked sugar cube (2 dashes) (didn't burn very bright & didn't last very long)
Spent lime shell, with alcohol soaked home-made crouton (4 dashes) (burned bright, lasted long, but smelled like burnt toast or charcoal at the end)

We weren't really happy with any of the above options. My wife struck on the idea of using a cap of some kind to hold the alcohol.

Bottle cap with alcohol poured directly inside (worked well, but the cap hugged the side of the glass, making it dangerously hot)

Spent lime shell, with bottle cap with alcohol poured inside (burned bright and long, no smell)

Our conclusions:
The only option we liked was the cap floating on a lime shell. I think with a more shallow cap, and maybe even using a hand reamer to juice out the lime, the cap could even be hidden inside the lime shell.

We will be playing with different style caps, maybe even using a beer bottle cap. The only thing to watch would be any kind of plastic insert or liner that some manufacturer's place inside their caps. (The one we used here had a styrofoam piece stuck in the bottom of the cap, that we had to pry out.)

I forgot to mention my homemade "crouton" recipe:

Take a slice of white bread and cut off the crust so that it is square.
Cut the bread in a 3x3 grid, so that you have 9 pieces about 1 inch square.
Leave out to dry for 24 hours.

Seemed to work very well, and there are so many preservatives in white bread that I would doubt it will ever rot, as long as it stays dry.

And, almost forgot to mention, big thanks to AceExplorer for the "crouton" recipe!

Final test (for now at least):

First attempt was a complete failure - tried to float the lemon extract on top of the water, using the back of a spoon, but it mixed right in anyway. This could in theory work, but is quite a bit of hassle.

Tried out our vegetable cutters on the bread - makes some cool little flower shaped bread pieces. They are between the size of a nickel and a quarter, I would say.

Happy Sales Stainless Steel Vegetable Cutters - $4.75 on Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Happy-Sales-Stainless-Vegetable-Cutters/dp/B00095VK7S

Second attempt at the crouton method. I was able to get about 45 seconds of burning out of it before I started to smell burnt toast. This was by far the most impressive flame so far, but I'm afraid the odor is going to be a turn-off for us. You're mileage may vary though - if someone has a trick here, please let me know. I'd love to find a way to make this last a bit longer without the smell.

Here's the beer cap, floating on a lime shell. I filled the cap to near the top, and it burned nicely without any off smells. It naturally extinguished itself after about 2 minutes. I think, with some larger limes, (this one was really tiny - less than 2 inches across) the cap could be set right into the lime itself.

For me, that's the winner. Within 10 seconds of it extinguishing it was cool to the touch, and it rinsed right off, ready for the next round.

The next phase of this project for me is testing both in front of the guests at our next tiki event. I'll try to get some 3rd party opinions on them.

On 2016-04-11 20:12, PalmtreePat wrote:

Christening my new tiki bowl with Porp's scorpion.

To make the ice mold I put a metal shot glass at the bottom of a pint glass (any glass with a flat bottom that's wider at the top than the bottom will do) and put shaved ice in one scoop at a time, packing it down as hard as I could in between scoops and making sure the top (what would be the bottom when freed from the mold) was as flat as possible. After an overnight stint in the freezer I took the glass out and let it sit and warm slightly while I made up the scorpion. When the drink was ready I popped the mold out, put it in the bowl, filled the shotglass with lemon extract and set it on fire, and served it up.

Thanks for PalmtreePat for the idea above, originally from this thread:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=31307&forum=10&vpost=762274

In a comparison that will surprise no one, the store bought McCormick's 1 ounce bottle and the Sam's Club McCormick's 8 ounce bottle both burned identically.

I'll be sourcing my lemon extract from Sam's from now on. About $0.75 out the door per ounce.

[ Edited by: Jeff Bannow 2016-04-13 05:12 ]

Post #761469 by Jeff Bannow on Sat, Mar 26, 2016 9:23 AM