One seemingly indisputable fact of nature of human taste is that, as we mature, we gradually progress from the love of the sweet to the appreciation of the savory. Think about it: We move from sugary candy treats to dark, cocoa-rich chocolate, from sweet sodas to bitter beers, from pushing away our broccoli to devouring arugula and from sweet and bubbly “training wheel” wines to brut Champagne. Sure, we never quite lose our fondness for sugar, but neither do we let it cloud our judgement when non-sweet flavors are presented.
And so it is, or should be, with cocktails. There’s nothing wrong with a Cosmo now and again, but there also comes a time to move beyond DayGlo pink and orange liquid confections to drier, more complex and—dare I say it?—sophisticated tastes. Martinis and Manhattans are where most of us begin this journey, lured as we are by the siren call of the familiar and revered, but that needn’t be where we both start and finish our voyage.
Savories, after all, do include everything from herbs and spices to grains and vegetables, any of which may be combined with spirits in a most agreeable fashion.
“Concocting food-forward cocktails is for the bold soul who loves the thrill of invention and the goal of surprising the most guarded palates,” writes Lucy Brennan of Mint and 820 in Portland, Ore., in her book, “Hip Sips.”
For restaurant and bar operators, it is the second part of Lucy’s observation that should resonate, since there’s nothing quite like pleasant surprise for building customer loyalty and encouraging word-of-mouth marketing.
Of course, for budding mixologists and bartenders who are not quite the “bold souls” Brennan champions, the idea of muddling sage or saffron or some similar ingredient into a cocktail can be a trifle intimidating. Which is why a new generation of savory-infused vodkas and other spirits are so useful, since they make the creation of an unusual and attention-grabbing cocktail as simple as substituting a tarragon vodka for a plain one or reaching for a spruce-flavored gin in place of a more common juniper-driven one.
On the topic of herb-infused vodkas, Jamie Boudreau, a creative if temporarily unemployed mixologist who blogs at spiritsandcocktails.com, suggests they are sufficiently innovative and complex that “a new category of spirit is going to have to be created” to define them.
Bolder souls, on the other hand, may wish to heed the words of Jeff Hollinger, manager of restaurant operations at the Absinthe Brasserie and Bar in San Francisco. Expounding upon the growing popularity of savory drinks, Hollinger notes that one strength of such cocktails is their ability to pair well with food.
“That’s the goal with savory cocktails,” he says. “Bartenders are starting to think about cocktails the same way you think about food. There’s a culinary quality to it.”
Mushroom Hunter Recipe courtesy of Jeff Hollinger, Absinthe Brasserie & Bar, San Francisco 2 ounces candy cap mushroom infused rye whiskey (Recipe follows) 0.5 ounces Rainwater style Madeira 0.5 ounces orange-flavored Italian amaro 1 dash orange bitters 1 flamed orange twist, for garnish In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, combine the first four ingredients and stir for 20 to 30 seconds, or until well chilled. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with flamed orange twist. Candy cap mushroom infusion: In a large, airtight, glass container, steep one-third of a cup of dried candy cap mushrooms in 1 liter of rye for 1 to 2 days. Taste the rye after about 24 hours to see if the desired mushroom flavor has been achieved. If you want more mushroom flavor, allow the rye to sit longer and then strain it through cheesecloth.
That’s something Hollinger means quite literally: The key, he says, to crafting these cocktails is to approach their creation the same way you would the development of a dish in the kitchen.
“If I’m thinking about creating a cocktail that incorporates a savory element such as beets, for example, I’m going to start by thinking about beet dishes that I’ve had in the past, and I’m going to look at the other elements of those dishes that helped enhance the flavor of the beets,” Hollinger says. “I’m going to rely on at least some of these tried and true elements in the cocktail that I’m developing. An herbal component may come from a particularly herbaceous gin, for instance, or the salty element may come from a particularly ‘briny’ tequila, rather than actually adding a pinch of salt to the drink.
“It means coming at the cocktail from a different perspective. You need to pick a savory ingredient you want to use and then decide on the other ingredients, including, of course, a spirit that will work in harmony with the principle ingredient.”
Hollinger’s advice may even be expanded to include elements of dishes that work well within the context of a principle ingredient that has no place in the final cocktail. So because rosemary and juniper both flavor roast lamb well, it stands to figure that the herb will harmonize with gin, which it does. Similarly, tomato and basil in a pasta sauce, or with vodka in an herbaceous riff on the Bloody Mary.
It’s all part of an approach to cocktail making that is as logical as it is surprising and flavorful.