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Until recently, if you fancied a break from the sweetness offered by the majority of cocktails, you’d really only have a couple of viable options. Either a Bloody Mary, with its spicy tomato punch, or a Gibson, which dials up the savoury element with its garnish of pickled onions.
If neither of those are to your liking, help is now at hand. A growing number of spirits producers and innovative bartenders are putting savoury-forward flavours at the forefront of everything they do, creating potential classics of the future.
Nothing is off the table. Think root vegetables, mushrooms, obscure spices, fat-washing and garden herbs. You can even incorporate these into your cocktails at home too. Just don’t add parmesan cheese to your Espresso Martini though, as some misguided TikTok influencers have suggested.
Global trend
Nico de Soto is founder of Danico in Paris and the newly opened Wacky Wombat in London’s Soho. Both bars feature a series of innovative savoury-focused drinks on their respective menus, including Wagyu fat-washed shochu, wasabi and sesame distillates, as well as root vegetables and aquavit. De Soto feels this is merely the starting point.
‘It’s definitely becoming more of a trend now all over the world, over classic cocktails, especially in Asia, where you will find the majority of bars base their menus on obscure ingredients and spices, which also link to their cuisine,’ he says.
Danico’s Shinkansen cocktail is made with Wagyu-fat-washed shochu and miso green tea
Speaking of aquavit, if you take a trip to Scandinavia you’ll be inundated by savoury flavours – especially charismatic herbs and spices such as dill and caraway seed. Norway’s Linie Aquavit has long been the national spirit and is now finding favour in some of the world’s most innovative bars, thanks to its savoury complexity.
Why savoury?
Maroš Dzurus is bar manager at the legendary Himkok bar in Oslo, which has long championed off-the-beaten-track flavours such as aquavit. He thinks that savoury drinks are becoming more popular for several reasons.
‘Firstly, consumers are increasingly seeking unique and adventurous flavour experiences. Savoury drinks provide a departure from traditional sweet and fruity flavours, offering a more complex taste profile. Additionally, there is a growing interest in incorporating healthier ingredients into beverages,’ he explains.
Himkok’s Parsnip cocktail made with parsnip, cocoa bitters and aquavit
‘We’re also seeing ingredients like fresh herbs and root vegetables, which bridge the gap between the bar and the kitchen,’ explains Paul Aguilar, Himkok’s head of flavour research and development. ‘Our focus on seasonal and locally sourced ingredients complements this trend, enabling us to create drinks that are both innovative and reflective of our Nordic surroundings.’
Culinary revolution
Closer to home, Michele Mariotti, head of bars at The American Bar at Gleneagles hotel in Scotland feels that savoury flavours are helping to inspire a culinary revolution in drinks.
‘One of the learnings we had from the Book of Berries, our menu here at The American Bar, is that often, different parts of a fruit or a vegetable can deliver wildly different flavours,’ he says. ‘In the case of the Bell Pepper [recipe below], we use the core and seeds of a pepper, which have a warm and grassy flavour, and lots of residual sweetness. I find working with different parts of a savoury ingredient very exciting.’
Meanwhile, Ryan Chetiyawardana, aka Mr Lyan, and his team have created bespoke savoury ingredients for the latest menu at award-winning Lyaness bar at Sea Containers London. The 3.0 Cookbook includes ingredients such as carrot vermouth, peated parsnip amazake, Szechuan sauce and two types of potato extract. Tattie Gold is made from confit potatoes and saffron; while ‘excellent potato goodness’ is made by fermenting potatoes with probiotics. The latter is…
[ad_2]Source : https://www.decanter.com/spirits/savoury-spirits-savour-the-flavour-525958/
