Flash Blending

What is flash blending?

Flash blending is the flash in the bar: the drink goes into the blender for only a few seconds, usually with a few cubes of ice, just long enough to whip in cold and air. What comes out is a drink with a fluffy texture and a hint of frost, without becoming a frozen drink.

What makes a flash blend

• Short: seconds instead of minutes, flash means exactly that
• Fluffy: the blender whips in more air than the shaker, the texture becomes denser and finer
• Fibers: fresh pineapple and other fibrous fruity candidates get finer in a blender than a shaker ever could manage
• Not frozen: the drink stays liquid, just with fluff inside

Distinction: flash blend, shaker and frozen

The shaker makes texture, the blender makes fluff, and the frozen drink travels through the ice entirely: three levels, each with its own drinks. Caution with dilution: the blender breaks down ice faster than the shaker, so the balance wants to be kept tighter, more on that in our dilution entry. Many Japanese bars swear by the flash blend, and the texture of their drinks speaks for them.

Remember: stirring makes silk, batching makes stock, flash blending makes fluff, the whip shake does half the work, the reverse dry shake makes the foam.

At our lounge

If you order a drink with a particularly fine texture, you might catch a flash: a few seconds, a lot of effect. Feel free to ask, flash blending is the show that lasts only seconds.