Molecular Mixology - Raising the bar??

A Martini sorbet with olive caviar by Jamie Boudreau.

As we all know the cocktail/mixology industry is forever evolving. Cocktails have advanced from the shaken or stirred method to something a little more exciting. Behind bars around the world a certain technique of producing cocktails is fast coming into fashion. Molecular Mixology (MM) is the latest craze which has hit the bar scene worldwide and is impressing and intriguing people in and out of the industry. Foams, gels, mists and the use of liquid nitrogen are just some of the methods being used by mixologists to design and create a new category of cocktails. The technique (MM) is basically the manipulation of ingredients on a molecular level using kits that you can purchase on the internet, the results you can get from these kits are impressive however the process is quite tricky to master as I found out myself.  (MM) is a very modern, quirky way of jazzing up cocktails, the same process is used in some restaurants (Molecular Gastronomy) as Heston Blumenthal has shown us on his T.V series Heston's Feasts, however this methods in both (MM) and (GM) can be a little over the top and gimmicky which can put some people off and maybe tarnish the reputation of the food and drink industry, I however believe that if done in the right way and not over done this method can produce flamboyant elegant drinks.
If you are interested in finding out more about (MM) and how to accomplish these weird and wonderful techniques there are some videos on-line by Robert Hess and well known mixologist Jamie Boudreau. Follow the links below and check them out.

http://www.smallscreennetwork.com/

http://www.smallscreennetwork.com/show/raising_the_bar/

Champagne cocktail with Cointreau pearls

Published

On Monday 30th August 2010 I had my first cocktail recipe published in my local newspaper The Echo.

The East Meets West cocktail which I posted in my blog last week was featured in The Echo's supplement Taste.This supplement covers everything from restaurants reviews to recipes so my cocktail fitted in nicely. After approaching the Echo a few weeks ago and getting the nod to do a feature recipe I then got to work creating this cocktail and sent it off to Gavin Haines who heads up the department, from there he replied instantly telling me that the drink and image I sent was fine and that would I be interested in featuring in the supplement on a weekly basis, to which i jumped at the chance of!

So if you follow my blog recipes on here you can also check me out every week in the Bournemouth and Poole Echo.

My Recipe

Full page (bottom right)

Watermelon Fizz

Watermelon Fizz

Watermelon Fizz


Here is the next instalment of my cocktail recipes for you the reader. The Watermelon Fizz is a simple, effective, and tasty cocktail which can be made easily at home, or if you are a mixologist, at work. Below I will give you the ingredients and method so that this cocktail can be whipped up and ready to drink in 5 minutes. Happy Mixing!

Ingredients - 50ml Kettel One vodka, 1/2 teaspoon white sugar, 50ml cranberry juice, 0.25ml lemon juice, 4 tbl spoons of fresh watermelon, 0.5ml elderflower cordial and a dash of soda.

Method - Muddle the fresh watermelon into your mixing glass till all the lumps are out. Add in you sugar, 50ml of Kettel One vodka, lemon juice, elderflower cordial and cranberry juice. Fill your mixing glass with ice and shake vigorously for 30 seconds till ice cold (if you don't have a cocktail shaker you can stir this drink, however you may not get the drink as cold!) Once shaken pour ingredients into a high ball or sling glass, add crushed ice to the top and churn all the ingredients together.Add a dash of soda and crown the drink with crushed ice and garnish with a melon ball and  a watermelon fan (as seen in my picture).

Tasting notes - The Watermelon Fizz cocktail should be a fine balance of sweet and sour. The drink should be fairly mellow and not too over powered by vodka. The elderflower cordial is added to give the cocktail a floral note with a fresh vibrant kick to its body and taste. The watermelon should be predominant in taste and rise above most of the other ingredients. Overall this drink should be fresh and tasty and easy to drink.The Watermelon Fizz is a crowd pleaser and a great cocktail for a hot summers day (if we get one in the UK).

Calorie count - (roughly) 285

Event Hospitality

Me at a lavish 50th Birthday Party

With the ever rising popularity of cocktails and mixology over the past 5 years, there has been a high demand and rise in interest in having cocktails designed and made for you the consumer outside of the bar/restaurant setting. By this I mean event hospitality, the idea of having a mixologist/bartender visiting your very own home or event and shaking their stuff for you, producing fantastic cocktails and wowing friends and family in a specialized setting, all with a bit of showmanship to go with.
Arranging a mixologist to come and work for you in the comfort of your own home has become more and more popular and increasingly easy to accomplish due to this idea exploding onto the scene in the last few years. I have personally been involved in and worked at many of these functions, everything ranging from offering my services at grand birthday parties to intimate hen parties out in the countryside. I've experienced first hand the success and enjoyment this event hospitality can bring to the customer, with impressive drinks, bespoke menus, well trained staff and a little finesse this service goes a long way in creating a fantastic, unique night for all.
In Bournemouth the event hospitality industry in regards to mixology is fairly quiet, although there are a handful of good premises in town which deliver quality cocktails and good service there is a lack of these services offered to the customer for their very own event. I only know of one company whom offer this service inside a premises and out. Eau de Vie is a company recently set up by my good friend and local business man James Edis. Eau de Vie which translates to  "water of life" specialize in event hospitality as well as having their own eatery/cocktail bar soon to be on the map. Myself and James have worked shoulder to shoulder for many a year now freelancing for events and setting a high standard on the south coast, and raising the cocktail event hospitality profile dramatically. Working at these events has opened my eyes to this niche in the market in this small little town we live in and given me a sense of satisfaction knowing that the service we have offered and supplied has brought happiness and success to many of peoples events.

If you are interested in working in event hospitality, or interested in having your event catered for (no matter how big or small) do not hesitate to get in contact with myself by emailing me at - 1man1drink@gmail.com. Or to find out what James Edis is up to - james@the-eaudevie.com

Me and James at a Beach event

James at 50th Birthday Party

A couple enjoying their freshly made Cosmopolitans

The Eau de Vie logo. James Edis's latest brand and business

Fresh Bellini's and Cosmopolitans being served outside at a friends wedding.

What's this

Kumquat fruit

What is the Kumquat fruit? If you read my last post you will be aware that it is used in my East Meets West cocktail, but is anyone aware of it or know much about this small delight? Well if you don't know about the Kumquat ill give you a little insight into what it is, where it originates from and its tasting notes.


Brief history - The Kumquat is a small fruit closely resembling the all familiar Orange. The Kumquat is an oval shaped fruit roughly the size of an olive or prune.They are slow-growing evergreen shrubs or short trees, from 2.5 to 4.5 metres (8 to 15 ft) tall, with sparse branches, sometimes bearing small thorns. The leaves are dark glossy green, and the flowers pure yellow, similar to other citrus flowers, borne singly or clustered in the leaf-axils. The kumquat tree produces 30 to 50 fruit each year. The tree can be hydrophytic, with the fruit often found floating on water near shore during the ripe season.


The plant is native to south Asia and the Asia-Pacific. The earliest historical reference to kumquats appears in literature of China in the 12th century. They have long been cultivated in Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines and south-east Asia. They were introduced to Europe in 1846 by Robert Fortune.


Uses - Kumquats are often eaten raw. As the rind is sweet and the juicy centre is sour and salty, the raw fruit is usually consumed either whole to savour the contrast or only the rind is eaten. The fruit is considered ripe when it reaches a yellowish-orange stage and has just shed the last tint of green.

Culinary uses include candying and kumquat preserves, marmalade, and jelly. Kumquats can also be sliced and added to salads. In recent years kumquats have gained popularity as a garnish for cocktail beverages, including the Martini as a replacement for the more familiar olive. A kumquat liqueur mixes the fruit with vodka or other clear spirit.

Tasting notes - Sweet, tangy, bitter, sharp orange flavours.

Mouth feel - Crunchy, crisp and juicy.

East Meets West

East Meets West

Week 1


As we all know there are many classic cocktails which have held their own over the period of a couple of century's. The cocktail industry is always reinventing itself with new signature cocktail designs and variations on classics, this is all good but how much do people really know about classic cocktails and about the ingredients that makes theses drinks timeless and highly respected in the cocktail/mixology industry.


Myself, I am in awe of classic cocktails and how well they have served us the consumer over the years, everything from Singapore Slings to Daiquiris, simple cocktails but drinks that have made a big impression around the world and have stood their own over the course of time. THESE DRINKS SHOULD BE RESPECTED!


Like anything in this life everything goes full circle, so the cocktails of the past come back into fashion and are reinvented by a variation of its former self, this is good for the industry and the cocktails itself as it keeps these classics in the limelight (not that they should be out of it). But there is only a certain amount of tinkering that can be done to theses cocktails before they loose their identity all together. As long as there basic generic make-up which makes them what they are is kept not too much harm can be done I guess


If you follow my blog (which I hope you do) I will take you on a journey through the life and origins of cocktails, I will introduce to the spirits and ingredients that make these drinks, and the reasons behind why these ingredients complement each other resulting in a tasty, classy drink known as a COCKTAIL. I will also be designing and creating my own cocktails to which I will post on my blog 1man1drink enabling you the reader to view, create, taste and comment on. My designs will be original and created by myself, I will also be doing some variations on classic with my very own 1man1drink twist put on them. As well as this I will be giving a brief background on the spirits and ingredients I will be using in the cocktail I post, so the you the reader don't just experience the taste of the drink but appreciate and educate yourselves about what you are putting inside your body, and the history and the journey of these products through time.


Cocktail name - East Meets West


Ingredients - 2 whole Kumquats, 1 fresh Passion fruit, 1/2 fresh Lime, 1 Teaspoon sugar, 50ml Grey Goose, 15ml Cranberry juice.


Method - Half and muddle the kumquats into a highball glass, half the passionfruit and scoop the pulp into the glass, squeeze in the lime juice, add a teaspoon of sugar and 50ml of Grey Goose vodka and stir. Half fill the glass with crushed ice and churn all the ingredients allowing them to marry. Fill to the top with crushed ice and crown, add a dash of cranberry juice over the top and garnish with two caramelized kumquats. DONE!


Calorie count - (roughly) 210.2kcal

                        

Welcome

Hi all!

Welcome to my blog 1man1drink. My name is Liam Savage and I hail from sunny sunny Bournemouth on the south coast of England.

I have been working in the hospitality industry for the last 10 years and have fulfilled many different working roles, ranging from pot scrubbing as kitchen porter, silver service waiting in a 5 star hotel, to then entering the wonderful world of mixology and cocktails, in which I am still heavily involved.

I am currently the General Manger of a local bar restaurant which allows me to tap into my skills of front of house service, gained from working in previous bars and restaurants. However, a love of cocktails and spirits is what still drives me in my career, and hence I have created this blog. This blog allows me to share my experiences, knowledge and opinions of the industry with the purpose of educating and communicating to people interested in this weird and wonderful world.

Many of my posts will be heavily related to mixology and the cocktail industry. I will also be posting cocktail recipes and a brief introduction to their spirits on a weekly basis, with the aim of allowing you the reader to then educate yourself about what your drinking, and then experience the drink itself by becoming your own mixologist in the presence of you own home.

Happy reading BLOGGERS!

1man1drink.