Down a test-tube cocktail

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Fit for a royalty: Mahiki's guests include Prince Harry

The iceman cometh: molecular mixologist Giacomo at Schochu Lounge prepares a round of cocktails

Chemical reaction: Luis at the Fifth Floor Bar at Harvey Nichols creates his melon and jasmine tea cocktail

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Remember chemistry lessons — an introductory flash of magnesium followed by years of interminable double periods? Well, despite what you may have thought, it hasn't all been a waste of time. Welcome to the world of molecular mixology.

Molecular mixology is all about the appliance of science, à la Heston Blumenthal, but it takes place in the cocktail bar instead of the kitchen. We're talking a dazzling array of previously unthinkable flavours, from a Chanel No 5 champagne cocktail to a bubblegum pina colada, and a gallery of gadgetry out of Frankenstein's laboratory.

It's difficult to say exactly where the movement started, but the consensus is that New York's superstar mixologist, Eben Freeman (of deeply stylish Soho bar Tailor), is the Heston of the cocktail shaker.

“Molecular mixology is a matter of expanding the vocabulary of drink,” explains Freeman. “You can really play with people's preconceptions. For example, imagine the most sublime Black Russian you've ever had, but as a crystal-clear liquid. Instead of having set cocktails, you can start with an idea about a flavour (any flavour) and then think how you'd use it in an ideal world. You can really push the boundaries.”

But Freeman is eager to correct the impression that all this is completely new. “Many of these methods were used in the 19th century at the birth of the cocktail,” he says, “but the Prohibition killed off much of the art and creativity of it, and it has taken us nearly a century to recover.”

However, you don't need a time machine or a transatlantic flight to experience the art of molecular mixology for yourselves. The phenomenon is a growing part of London's cocktail scene.

The Fifth Floor Bar at Harvey Nichols, Mahiki and the Shochu Lounge beneath Roka are among the elite who are leading the way.

Like Freeman, Shochu's Tony Conigliaro is one of mixology's global poster boys. It was he who concocted the Chanel champagne cocktail “with a hint of No 5 on th nose ,” says Conigliaro.

“These new methods transform the cocktail into an experience that affects all your senses:there's the sound of the cocktail being made, the visual hit, the smell, the taste and the texture. I've even worked with perfumiers to help me translate the smell of some perfumes into cocktails — we're taking the craft of bartending to a whole new level.”

Now, here's the science bit. These creations require considerable knowledge of chemistry, and once you get talking to London's top mixologists you soon realise they share a geeky passion for technology.

The tools of their trade would generally be considered more at home in a laboratory than behind a bar: some mixologists even use a “sous vide” — the slow-cooker so beloved of Heston Blumenthal. For others, a particular must-have is a rotary evaporator — this creates a vacuum in which you can boil at far lower temperatures than normal, thereby allowing you fully to harness the flavours of otherwise fragile ingredients such as strawberries.

Those who experience these new cocktails are rendered speechless. Then they gabble deliriously as they attempt to explain a delightful but brain-scrambling experience.

Venues serving up science with their booze include:

FIFTH FLOOR BAR
The melon with jasmine tea (£10.95) is a must. The melon has been infused into a clear vodka solution, caviar beads of jasmine and melon bejewel the mix. Luis the barman adds the final touch: a burst from his especially created jasmine atom-iser sprayed over the top.
Harvey Nichols, 109-125 Knightsbridge, SW1 (020 7235 5250, harveynichols.com)

SHOCHU LOUNGE
This is Tony Conigliaro's haunt. His technologically engineered chamomile cooler (£8.90), topped off with a fizzing foam — made by putting a gelatine solution through a siphon of nitrous oxide — will transport you to a higher plane.
37 Charlotte Street, W1 (020 7580 9666, shochulounge.com)

MAHIKI
Paris Hilton and Prince Harry are reportedly fans of the fabled £100 treasure chest cocktail. Ask Gregor the barman, pictured, for a DNA daiquiri (£9): rum gelatine chilled to exactly 3C, topped with sweet and sour foam at a bracing –32C and steaming dry ice.
1 Dover Street, W1 (020 7493 9529, mahiki.com)

 

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