Molecular mixology

Molecular Mixology is the term applied to the process of creating cocktails using the scientific equipment and techniques of molecular gastronomy. These methods enable the creation of greater intensities and varieties of flavour and different ways of presenting drinks, for example using gels, powders, foams, atomised sprays etc., as well as affecting the appearance of the cocktail.

The equipment used in molecular mixology can range from comparatively simple items such as blowtorches (frequently used in restaurant cooking) to more specialised items such as the sous-vide, a device for combining and infusing ingredients in a vacuum and thus preserving their flavours and enhancing the finished product.

These infusions allow unexpected combinations of flavours, including flavourings from non-edible substances, such as tobacco, leather and perfume.

The Art of Drink website suggests that the earliest example of what we now call molecular mixology is the long-established bartending practice of layering ingredients in cocktails. This experimentation with the density and viscosity of fluids uses the principles of scientific investigation that are fundamental to molecular mixology[1].

One of the main proponents of molecular mixology is Tony Conigliaro, a bartender and mixologist who collaborated with pioneering molecular gastronomist Heston Blumenthal at the award-winning Fat Duck restaurant in Berkshire. Other names associated with molecular mixology are Eben Klemm, molecular biologist-turned-bartender and Eben Freeman, a New York based mixologist.