THE MAGICAL WORLD OF MOLECULAR COCKTAILS
The bases of molecular cocktails
It is a branch of molecular mixology based on making cocktails using scientific techniques. It is the new trend within the cocktail sector and focuses, above all, on highlighting the flavors while adding textures and colors to the drink.
It is the art of mixing and combining drinks and ingredients while using more advanced techniques such as flambéing or freezing. All with the aim of achieving an original cocktail, also transforming the textures through the use of proteins, acids and gelatins. It was born from the idea of offering customers new experiences.
The origin of molecular mixology
The term mixology comes from the English word mix, which translates as to mix. It was born in 1862 under the following definition: “art or skill of preparing mixed drinks to create cocktails.”
It was in 1862 when the word was first used. It appeared in the book The Bon Vivant's Companion or How to mix drinks” by Jerry Thomas. It is considered the first cocktail book in the world and its author is called the father of mixology.
However, they were Hervé This, scientist, and Nicholas Kurti, physicist; who applied the term mixology to the art of creating cocktails. These experts aimed to achieve nutritious and great-tasting mixtures while applying scientific techniques. To do this, they investigated the chemical mechanisms of food, giving rise to molecular gastronomy.
Features of molecular mixology and its preparation
Molecular mixology is characterized above all by going one step beyond cocktails in terms of the study of drinks and ingredients. Analyze scientific processes such as distillates to achieve the best blends.
Reinterpret classic cocktails by creating something groundbreaking and new for the customer. The mixologist chooses cocktails and modifies them using techniques that do not alter the original. For example, add spherifications to a traditional cocktail. That is, the classic cocktail is maintained, but small innovations are added that improve it without losing the essence.
Molecular cocktail techniques
Some of the most used techniques are:
- Spherification: consists of giving the ingredients a sphere shape. Simulates the shape of caviar. It is achieved through the use of products derived from algae and calcium chloride solutions. Chef Ferrán Adrià was the first to create a spherification like those known today.
- Liquid nitrogen: gives a fog appearance to the drink.
- Gelification: it is based on achieving a gelatinous texture. To do this, liquid solutions, emulsions and suspensions are thickened in foods. In addition, transparent sheets that dissolve are used.
- Thickeners: refer to those substances that increase the viscosity of the mixtures to which they are applied. They do not modify the properties of the products.
- Foams and airs: they provide new textures to cocktails, giving them a subtle touch of aroma and flavor.
- Caramelizing: it is based on the technique of the famous Catalan dessert crème brulée in which the top is caramelized with the help of a blowtorch.
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