Cointreau Spherification - Tiny Pearls of Booze

Last week, I went out to Sag Harbor to sample the highly exclusive Cointreau Pearls at Sen. The Pearls can only be made with a special kit designed by French mixologist Fernando Castellon. There are currently only 20 kits in the United States -- and only eight of them are behind bars (in the hands of very carefully selected bartenders) where they can be used to create scientifically delicious cocktails for the public.

The process of making the pearls, called "spherification," was designed specially for Cointreau as, due to its unique natural sugar content and pH level, it can be turned into "Cointreau caviar" (which is what it looks like) without the use of chemicals which would alter the flavor of not only the liqueur pearls, but of whatever cocktail they're dropped into. The pearls are made with just Cointreau, Evian (because it has the right calcium levels), and "sphere gel," which is vegan -- no gelatin like you find in other pearl formulas. Edible gold flakes can also be blended into the mix.

The formula is typically dropped from above into a calcite bath (shown), and then kept in water, where they get progressively harder. Depending on how firm you like your Cointreau roe, you might let the pearls sit longer in the water or your drink ... or you might drink all the faster.

From floating in champagne to sinking gracefully in pomegranate martinis, the pearls add a sophisticated orange zing to any cocktail -- and even hold up in hot drinks (so forget marshmallows!). Food coloring doesn't alter the flavor or inhibit the process, so bartenders can be very creative.

To read more about how they're made and how to serve them, check out the gallery below, and watch the video to see Sen mixologist Derek Neilsen creating Cointreau Pearls with a red pepper shaker!