The tasty discovery that molecular mixology’s not bollocks after all! Weird and wonderful drinks are being born every day.

It turns out a ‘molecular mixologist’ isn’t just a wanky new 21st century name for any old bartender who’ll knock up a gin and tonic, there’s a genuine science to it. It requires some heavy-duty equipment, a knowledge of chemistry and like all the best sciences, a desire to discover the unknown.

A regular barman will whip you up a margarita and see the ingredients as being tequila, triple sec, lime and salt. To a molecular mixologist, these things are lumps of other small and more fun things and need to be cracked open, played with and rearranged to create something utterly fresh. If you think there’s nothing new in the drinks world, think again and meet Antonio Lai, Finds bar manager and award winning molecular mixologist.

Antonio has been pushing the limits of flavour and sensation for the last year and a half of his 12 year career in bars, and he has no plans to stop pushing these rapidly shattering boundaries. When he’s showing you his creations there’s a glint in his eye that reveals you’re sat opposite a mad scientist with nothing but a bar of bizarre drinks between you.

An inconspicuous night led Brouhaha to Finds when a quick chat and a first taste of Antonio’s creation led us to see that we were in the presence of a man who cares about his art. An Earl Grey Tea Martini with a layer of bubble-bath bubbles resting on the lime-green liquid with unidentified floating blobs, proved to be the most refreshing cocktail money can buy. That was just a taster, however. Next up came a straight Coca-Cola, poured with another mysterious and surgical-looking device aimed in the glass. This drink, it turned out, was ‘Smokea- Cola’. On first taste it was a regular Coke.

After a second or two, however, a strong, smoky rustic oak flavour erupted from nowhere and all of a sudden this drink which can be accurately described as barbequed Coke lit the spark of realisation that here was a taste that we’d never experienced before. After years of drinking recognisable beverages, all of a sudden the door’s been kicked open by a man clutching some tools and flashing a grin. Who would have thought it? With molecular mixology, that’s just the beginning of this brave new world. The Smoke-a-Cola was pepped up with a little J&B Scotch and the whiskey’s already smoky and oaky flavour lifted it to another level. Antonio was on a roll and cracked out another whiskey treat. A shot glass, some dark orange liquid. A quick taste. Jack Daniel’s….a second later…bacon? Yep, bacon whiskey. Some of Antonio’s inventions are acquired tastes but there’s no denying they’re unique and most importantly, new.

The sensation of a new drink really is a surprisingly powerful one. After your however many years of living, you’ve pretty much tried every flavour; from here-on-in it’s just variations. It’s the sudden joy of a brand new sensation that makes this mixology worth seeking out and lifts it above being just a swish name designed in a marketing office. Antonio tinkers with every part of his drinks in a mission to find something new. Part chemist, part mathematician, part physicist and part alcoholic Willy Wonka, his skills have found him on the receiving end of numerous awards. Winning the Shanghai Championship Classic competition for his fresh approach to old drinks, he carted his custom Contreu mixology case, the only one in Asia, all the way to China; a short journey for the Star Wars and Adidas stickered metal box of wonder which has travelled all over the world. When Antonio opens up the case it’s a marvel in itself, looking like something from the future part of Back to the Future and an oversized doctor’s case. The first layer has scales, powders and potions, with a top that unhooks to reveal syringes and tubes and a whole host of unrecognisable things. The 22kg case travels with him and despite its appearance, has yet to cause a major disturbance at customs. “The dogs sniff it but these are not the powders they’re looking for,” he says with a smile and a hint of Obi-Wan at Mos-Eisley.

Our parting shot with this master of mixing is a tube of alcohol toothpaste. It’s one of the nicest toothpastes we’ve ever tasted and it serves as the perfect stealth hair of the dogthe morning after.

When molecular mixology first reared its head it sounded like the most pompous drinks experience since P Diddy’s branded vodka and anything with slips of gold in, but on application it’s a whole new world and thanks to explorers like Antonio, one that’s being forged, charted and mapped as we speak.

Words: Tom Cassidy

Tags: mixing, mixology, Remix
Posted in Features