Backstory: go read this McGee article - http://j.mp/9AFtRz - but long->short: there's a trendy technique for creating intensely flavored drinks called vacuum distillation/infusion. Temperature and pressure are obviously closely related; by messing with pressure, you can distill flavored alcohols at much lower temperatures, which greatly intensifies flavor.
This article, by the Dir/Technology at the French Culinary Institute, gets results that are often comparable to what people are getting with $2k-$5k vac machines --- using a cheap ISI cream whipper you can get off Amazon (or, I guess, at Williams-Sonoma) for $60. In one minute.
So for instance, if you wanted to make a mojito, you could infuse rum with lime zest and mint and start the cocktail with an intensely flavored perfectly clear liquid.
It apparently works with other (non-alcoholic) liquids too. I can't wait to try this. (Erin wants an ISI whipper anyways, to make aerated chocolate).
There's apparently even science involved! ---
Well done! You’ve rediscovered nitrogen cavitation and put it to novel use. Cavitation is used in cell biology labs to gently disrupt cells in a vessel ominously called a “nitrogen bomb” (as the gas here is nitrogen). The usual explanation is close to what you surmised: under pressure, gas penetrates the cells, then forms bubbles to disrupt the cells when the pressure is suddenly released. Your use of the technique looks a lot more interesting than my experiences with it in a lab.
Very neat. Although the science seems not quite right, the whole things is independent of nitrogen (you use N2O, after all) and cells (cocoa nibs seemed to work particularly well, perhaps in part because N2O is also very soluble in fats).
The comments section gets more sciency after more nerds than molecular biologists descend upon it.
I haven't tried the method described in the article yet (great post!), but I've done slower extraction methods. They works especially well for things that are either fatty or excellent fat/oil solvents. Quite a few flavors are oil-based, or have a significant oil component, and they don't mix as well in just water.
Vodka and cream are particularly easy bases for infusing flavors, so you're in luck if you're into cocktails and/or ice cream.
Butter works, too, but liquids are easier to work with. Sugar also holds flavors nicely - that may be the best route for iced tea, if you don't mind it being a bit sweet. Vanilla sugar is classic, but for iced tea, spearmint leaves may be better. (And mojitos, of course.)
Either steeping in vodka (for a few weeks) or gently heating in cream will extract flavors. For butter, just mix it with minced herbs or whatever. For sugar, chop/grind/mince whatever and keep it in a jar full of sugar for a few weeks.
I wasn't talking about extracting in oil, but extracting oil-soluble flavors: clove, mint, vanilla, rosemary, cardamom, garlic, bacon, coffee, capsaicin, etc. Cream and vodka both have plenty of water.
I haven't tried cavitation (yet!), but I've done extraction by slower processes.
Backstory: go read this McGee article - http://j.mp/9AFtRz - but long->short: there's a trendy technique for creating intensely flavored drinks called vacuum distillation/infusion. Temperature and pressure are obviously closely related; by messing with pressure, you can distill flavored alcohols at much lower temperatures, which greatly intensifies flavor.
This article, by the Dir/Technology at the French Culinary Institute, gets results that are often comparable to what people are getting with $2k-$5k vac machines --- using a cheap ISI cream whipper you can get off Amazon (or, I guess, at Williams-Sonoma) for $60. In one minute.
So for instance, if you wanted to make a mojito, you could infuse rum with lime zest and mint and start the cocktail with an intensely flavored perfectly clear liquid.
It apparently works with other (non-alcoholic) liquids too. I can't wait to try this. (Erin wants an ISI whipper anyways, to make aerated chocolate).
There's apparently even science involved! ---
Well done! You’ve rediscovered nitrogen cavitation and put it to novel use. Cavitation is used in cell biology labs to gently disrupt cells in a vessel ominously called a “nitrogen bomb” (as the gas here is nitrogen). The usual explanation is close to what you surmised: under pressure, gas penetrates the cells, then forms bubbles to disrupt the cells when the pressure is suddenly released. Your use of the technique looks a lot more interesting than my experiences with it in a lab.