A Marmite Margarita? A Porcini Punch? You won’t know until you try it, but flavoursome cocktails are all the rage right now. The world’s best bartenders are experimenting with unusual combinations, fusing the worlds of food and drink and pushing the boundaries of cocktail menus.
Drinks trends for 2024: Flavourful cocktails
Of course, this isn’t an entirely new trend: The Bloody Mary, made with tomato juice, Tabasco, and Worcestershire sauce, has been a staple on cocktail menus for decades. Egg whites have long been used to add foamy texture to drinks like the Pisco Sour. And who can forget a martini with an olive garnished in the glass?
But lately, bartenders are getting bolder and venturing into the world of umami cocktails by taking familiar flavors into uncharted territory. Nothing’s off limits: use root vegetables, cheese, salmon, beef and more to create salty flavors, and move away from the sweet, syrupy libations that have long dominated. Some are even experimenting with their own concoctions at home: Last year, the Parmesan Espresso Martini went viral on TikTok (though not necessarily with the approval of bartenders).
“People are becoming more familiar with a wider range of ingredients,” says Ryan Chetiyawardana, founder and head bartender at Lyaness. “As they become more aware of more ingredients in their cuisine and local establishments, they’re becoming more interested in trying these more flavorful ingredients in their drinks. We’re also seeing bartenders working more closely with suppliers, which has expanded the range of flavors they can incorporate into cocktails.”
One of the most popular drinks at Lianes is the Goose & Gander, made with Grey Goose vodka and house-made Szechuan sauce, apricots and aromatic herbs, while the Forbidden Cola is made with cornflake liqueur and the Unfiltered Martini has potatoes in it (really).
But it’s not just Lyaness: Flavourful cocktails are popping up all over the world: French bartender Nico de Soto uses ingredients like shochu washed with Wagyu beef tallow at Paris favourite Danico, while acclaimed New York bar Double Chicken Please (named one of the World’s 50 Best Bars) serves up a pizza cocktail. “Some of these cocktails offer new tastes and textures, but they also offer a balance of flavours, giving guests a new experience,” says Chetiyawardena.
Fancy a drink or two? Chetiyawardena has some advice for those mixing their own drinks at home.Different ingredients have different thresholds, so you need to find the right combination to achieve balance. But the good thing is that you can often bring out different flavors by how you treat an ingredient – for example, soaking it in cold water or roasting it. For a more complex example, Lyaness makes potatoes taste like vanilla ice cream. The best way to do this is to think about how you use or love an ingredient in a dish. Then you’ll have a better understanding of how to combine or use the ingredient.”
Or leave it to the experts. Here are some Some of London’s weirdest and most wonderfully flavoursome cocktails.
Park Chinois
London’s best flavoursome cocktails
- Smokey Maria at Scarfes Bar: Scarves Bar at Rosewood London serves tequila.A cocktail made with Marmite, caper leaves and smoked Clamato. Scarfess Bar
- The Goose and Gander of Lianes: The aforementioned Lyaness vodka cocktail is made with Szechuan sauce, giving it a tangy flavor. lyaness.com
- Double Standard Bloody MaryThe restaurant at Kings Cross Hotel The Standard has its own DIY Bloody Mary station, where, if you’re feeling brave, you can garnish your drink with anything you like, from cucumber to bacon. Standard Hotels
- Aubrey’s Salome: Love a Dirty Martini? Served at The Aubrey, a dining room at Mandarin Oriental, this umami-packed drink is a twist on the classic cocktail made with tomato liqueur, sake and rice shochu. Mandarin Oriental
- Corn and truffles at a crossroads: This experimental bar in Camden serves up a truffle-flavored drink made with corn, bourbon, and sherry. Crossroads Bar
- Wacky Wombat V+P: A traditional Pisco Sour with the addition of Marmite, this drink is one you’ll either love or hate. darocoo.com
- Park Chinois Porcini Old Fashioned: At glamorous Mayfair restaurant Park Chinois, you can sip mushroom-infused whiskey. home page
