The Scientific Method is a process for experimentation used to explore observations and answer questions. It follows laws of logic first defined by Aristotle. It was used by Watson and Crick to determine the double-helix structure of DNA. And it was what Barbara and I used to uncover some insights into the cosmos.
Step One: Ask a Question
Since Mary will not get off the Triple Sec train, how can we use Triple Sec to make a cosmo Barbara will like?
Step Two: Background Research
Sweetness is Barbara's issue; we looked into elements of the drink that impart sweetness and thought about how to counterbalance that. We researched what kinds of bottled lime juice would provide the convenience of Rose's without the added sugar and investigated unsweetened cranberry juice. We found unsweeted key lime juice and, as Barbara had previously discovered, a tart Trader Joe's cranberry juice.
Step Three: Construct Hypothesis
If we use no-sugar-added Trader Joe's cranberry juice and either fresh lime juice or unsweetened bottled key lime juice to mitigate the sweetness factor, then we'll have a just-tart-enough version of the classic Rose's-Cointreau version.
Step Four: Test Your Hypothesis by Doing an Experiment
We filled one cocktail shaker using a recipe involving two shots of gin, one shot of Triple Sec, a shot of fresh lime and a short shot of unsweetened cranberry juice. At the same time under the same exact conditions we filled another shaker using the same recipe, but replacing fresh lime juice with bottled key lime juice.
Step Five: Analyze Your Data and Draw a Conclusion
The hypothesis was false. The distinctive taste of ReaLemon that makes it an unpleasant substitute for fresh lemon juice is also found in bottled lime juice and was present and overwhelming in the drink. Fresh lime juice was better, but both drinks were mouth-puckering tart almost to the point of being undrinkable. Of course we drank them, in the interest of science.
Step Six: Communicate Your Results
That's what this blog is for.
Clearly more work needs to be done. We are laundering our lab coats and getting ready for the next round.
3 comments:
this really is very funny. I've been reading your blogs for many months and the two of you really make me laugh. I especially love the pink shirts from the summer. Keep writing, keep riding, keep drawing, keep drinking. And yes, Barbara, your cosmos are absolutely yummy!
Ahh, Watson and Crick. I actually worked with a man (an accomplished chemist) who had a chemistry lab down the hall, and he told me they had no idea what they had until they brought in a biologist.
Also, serendipity plays a large role in science. Consider penicillin.
The story of Alexander Fleming's upbringing and education is a legend, and I won't repeat it here, but if you don't know it, look it up!
Fleming had the good fortune to leave his lab window open one day, and a curious thing happened: one of the petri dishes he'd prepared with bacteria was "infected" by something that inhibited the growth of the bacteria! It was a simple airborne mold.
Cut to 1940: World at war, soldiers dying from infection and worse. Fleming brings his precious mold to the US to find a way to produce it in large quantities. Three drug companies and one "special chemicals" company took on the task.
The company that eventually won was Pfizer, now a pharmaceutical giant, which figured out how to make the drug in 10,000 gallon vats, rather than in petri dishes as the drug companies wanted.
Penicillin crossed the English Channel on D-Day. The first patient to receive penicillin was a young girl in Brooklyn named Ann Miller, who became a famous dancer.
Sorry to go on.
Hi Brian, Please, go on! We love comments.
My friend Judy and I used to cater tea parties, and Watson's wife hired us to throw one for her husband at their house at Cold Spring Harbor Labs. As I was cutting a three-layer chocolate cake, it slid off the cake stand and landed almost in his lap. I just said, "Whoops," scooped it up off Mrs. Watson's white lace table cloth, sort of smushed it back together and started cutting slices.
I don't think Judy has recovered yet.
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