Of all the techniques I love, one of the closest to my heart is what you would call ‘fat washing’, which essentially is utilising fat’s excellent ability to carry flavour. Much like alcohol, it has the power to lock in flavour and transport it; but unlike alcohol at times, it preserves the more volatile and delicate nuances that I’m often trying to express in my drinks.

Historically, fat has always been recognised for its ability to ‘absorb’ flavour or fragrant compounds. From being infused with things like chilli and herbs to make flavoured oils for the kitchen, to ‘enfleurage’, a process invented in the South of France and traditionally used by the perfume industry to extract fragrant compounds from delicate flowers such as jasmine and tuberose.

There are many reasons why we choose to use fat washing as a technique, some more obvious than others, so let me get right into it.

Adding flavour

This might sound boringly obvious, but I’ve always been fascinated with oils (olive oil and various kinds of nut oils such as hazelnut, walnut or coconut) because they all add their own distinctive flavour to the spirits you infuse them with. I’m sure I’m not the only bartender who, when tasting a really high-quality virgin olive oil, has thought, “Wow, that’s amazing – how can I make that into a drink?”. Of course, the answer is you can. It just requires a bit of work, because you only really want the flavour of the oil, not necessarily the oil itself, which means you need to add a few more steps to your prep.

In short, it goes like this: Mix chosen oil and spirit, let infuse for desired time, place in freezer overnight, strain through paper (coffee) filter until spirit is (again) clear. It will now more or less look the same, but once you taste it, it will be completely transformed. If you started with olive oil and gin, you would now have a gin that also tastes of the oil it was infused with – but with none of the fat and heaviness.

There are of course more ways of adding flavour using oils, the most common perhaps being to use the oil itself to carry the desired flavour, be it herbs, spices, chilli, or other aromatic ingredients. It adds yet another step to your prep – infusing the oil first – but the rest goes pretty much the same as above. Any time you work with fragile ingredients, such as flowers or herbs, I find it super effective.

Adding texture

This is perhaps one of my most favourite ‘manipulations’. Personally, I’ve only ever managed to do this with fats that are solid at room temperature – butter, duck fat, beef dripping, etc. Yes, they add flavour, but the main reason why I love this is that they also seem to magically wrap the spirit in a veil of indulgence, richness and softness.

It’s almost like they neutralise the sharp edges, and what is left is this rounded, mellow and moreish version of the spirit you started with. My personal favourite is butter because, let’s be honest, the only thing better than butter is more butter. And for me, cultured butter is the butter of choice. It also conveniently leads me to my last point…

Adding acidity

When using cultured butter, it’s almost like the perfect hat trick: you get the rich creamy flavours, the decadent and soft texture and, last but not least, the tangy finish from the lactic acid. For a martini for example, in my opinion, it is the perfect evolution – and not far away from the perfect drink!

Actually, it wasn’t my last point. Because there is one more way we use it quite often – to tame heat, aka, when you want to showcase the flavour profile of a hot chilli like aji amarillo or habanero, but without all the heat. Aji Amarillo, for example, is a wonderful Peruvian chilli which is super fruity with mango and passionfruit notes, but it’s also quite pungent with a registered 30,000 to 50,000 on the Scoville scale. By first infusing it in the oil, and then fat washing the spirit, you keep all the fruity notes, whilst controlling the heat – and it allows you to showcase the different sides to the fruit but not burn your palate. And trust me, it does burn.

I’m sure there are endless more ways to use fat in drinks, and I’m having a lot of fun playing around with this technique, so to finish off, I’ll share one last personal preference that took a while to figure out: I never use heat when working with fats. I find beauty in the subtle nuances, and it’s my opinion that heat often kills this.

1 – UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA
While an online presence is not something you must include in your professional life, it can help you expand your horizons. As Natalie Migliarini, author of Beautiful Booze and Instagram drinks personality, advises: “I don’t think [Instagram] is essential for a bartender to be appreciated for the work that they do on a local level, but if a bartender is looking to hit a national or global stage it is recommended. Most businesses and brands have a presence on social media so it’s a great way to connect with others in the industry.” Migliarini also highlights the importance of social media as some sort of megaphone for the industry, being “able to bring awareness to what’s happening… on a global and community level, as well as serve as a platform for sharing information globally.” Fougner also points out that Instagram can be akin to a visual CV: “With nearly 90% of organisations using social media for hiring and recruiting, creating your own personal brand on social media opens up important channels for professional opportunities.”

2 – DO THE MATH
Taking a snap and posting it is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to understanding how Instagram can work for your business, especially in the hospitality world, explains Glaberson: “First off, [you need to be] playing the Instagram algorithm game by showing up as an active page, posting regularly and engaging with other accounts.” Not a piece of cake: according to Instagram itself, each corner of the app is ruled by a specific algorithm. The ‘Feed’ algorithm (based more on who you are following) works differently than the ‘Explore’ page algorithm (based also on pages people with the same interests as you are interacting with), which also uses a different algorithm than ‘Reels’ (which is based on factors like the user’s interaction history).

3 – SCAN YOUR CROWD
However, upskilling yourself and your team on how this all works can pay off: “This should push your posts up in the news feed so they’re seen by more people,” says Glaberson. And those people are potentially more guests at your bar. But, be careful – not every watering hole is for everyone. “If you’re not resonating with your key audience you won’t gain much traction,” admits Glaberson. “This is why it’s important to really work out what your niche is, who you’re speaking to and when they’re most active online.”

4 – BE ACTIVE AND INVOLVE THE TEAM
Once you’ve identified your target followers (and wrapped your head around how stories, reels and DMs react) it’s time to actually be present. However, this is no small task for a bartender or a bar team. “We find for many bartenders, time is a big obstacle when it comes to managing their social successfully,” says Glaberson. “If they’re managing it all in-house (rather than with support by an agency or other party) they need to think creatively on how they can keep active on a regular basis. Maybe one way around this would be to split tasks up among various team members. And I always recommend platforms like Later for scheduling posts in advance, so you don’t have to juggle posting with mixing drinks.”

5 – DON’T GO OVER THE TOP
It is not uncommon to see bar professionals integrate their working schedule with some content creation for their personal or professional accounts. However, try not to get overwhelmed, suggests Glaberson: “Don’t be fooled into thinking you always need snazzy imagery to be able to post something. Often, we find a quick phone snap during service or short, fun videos perform far better than professional shots.” This, she says, is because people now crave authentic imagery and captions in place of polished photography. For reels, “shorter videos tend to actually perform better as they loop and therefore count as more views.”

6 – ESTABLISH A RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR POTENTIAL GUESTS
Now you’ve managed to boost your Instagram footprint, it’s time to convert followers into actual guests, and the formula for doing so can vary, big time. “In general, good social success is a mix,” says Glaberson who lists building up your community, keeping that community interested and active, and building up trust within your audience, as good ways to convert followers into real-life customers. It’s no secret that people are likely to visit (and come back to) establishments that mirror their own personalities or make them feel at ease; this is also true of any kind of Instagram content your bar will send out. From a technical point of view, you could also have a few tricks up your sleeve, explains Glaberson: “We’ve found that the new link in stories is working really well for clicks to website or direct bookings. And, if you have the budget, Facebook ads – when done strategically – can really drive results in terms of website traffic, purchases and bookings.”

7 – BE TRUE TO WHAT YOU CLAIM TO BE AND STEER AWAY FROM PERFECTION
As powerful as it is, Instagram can also be the front door for entering some major disappointment, for both the bar and the guests. According to Patrick Pistolesi, owner of Drink Kong in Rome: “The biggest risk comes from non-delivery. If you provide the online crowd with information about your bar – the menu you offer, the vibe you portray – they will eventually come to check all this out. They expect to feel and taste what you’ve been teasing them with, and if you don’t [deliver] it can lead to huge delusion.” Drink Kong relies on a professional social media management team, though Patrick underlines that “the final result depends on the bar team. Pictures and videos could be the best possible, but if the people working at the bar don’t play up to the standards you showcase, you are on the verge of failing.” Fougner drives home how fundamental it is to realise the importance of also being true to ourselves: “There can be tremendous pressure on social media to present perfection, but perfection is a myth, it doesn’t exist… If we understand [that], we can strive for excellence instead of succumbing to the pressure of creating the perfect social media presence.”

8 – COVER EVERY ASPECT OF BAR LIFE AND BE COHESIVE
Although privacy is important, allowing a sneak peek of what happens behind-the-curtains can be a good idea. “People tend to be more and more curious,” Pistolesi says. “They will want to know more about the bar behind-the-scenes, to really feel in-touch with their favourite [bars]. There is a lot to tell and to explain in a bar routine, so why not try to show all of it?” He’s also big on suggesting you showcase the human side of the bar, by doing things like posting a picture of the whole bar team, or even videos of some down-time post-shift. “It’s also nice to take your followers for a spin into the bar business, so don’t forget some content about brands you do collaborations with, the how and why of your menus and so on.” And keep in mind the previous point: your visual language should always match your actual one.

9 – KEEP YOURSELF UP-TO-DATE
Instagram is changing all the time, so you should always be on the lookout for fresh tools or trends to keep your followers engaged. “As you’ve likely seen, we’re witnessing a huge shift towards video,” says Glaberson, “so whether you like it or not, this type of content is here to stay (for a good while anyway). Now is definitely the time to embrace it – those that don’t go with the big new social trends tend to see a drop in following and engagement over time,” she warns.
Also keep in mind that presentation can be more powerful than the drinks themselves, at least for a spectator: a guest will be much more likely to jump to booking if they see a genuine and homely vibe flowing out from your posts.

10 – RECOGNISE THE EFFORT IT TAKES
Being able to handle social media, Instagram particularly, can visibly improve your bar’s performances in terms of guests coming in. But for it to work properly, a big effort is needed and you’d better be aware of that. “It’s going to be an investment, whether it’s your time (running it yourself) or finance (outsourcing it). If you have very clear ideas about your brand from day one (so your audience, your USPs, your tone of voice and so on) things will run far smoother and efficiently,” advises Glaberson.
Social media pages are also where the majority of your guests will rant, in the (hopefully) unlikely case of a bad night at your bar – and it’s probably the biggest downside of it. Cold blood and flexibility are the perfect recipe to deal with online backlash: “Being active on DMs and reviews will ensure that you can be on the case for any negativity and respond before anything escalates,” Glaberson explains.
Also take that as an opportunity, Fougner suggests: “Accountability is something we can all do a better job at in this industry. If someone experiences backlash on social media, it can present an important learning opportunity for them to ask themselves one of the crucial questions: ‘Why?’.”

Carlo Carnevale

And when I say suffer I don’t just mean operationally – but financially too. “The needs of the modern cocktail bar demand way more thought when it comes to back of house and technical operations,” continues Velasquez on the topic of what needs to be considered when designing a bar for success. So, what should you be thinking about at the beginning of your design process?

Flow is key

Both behind and in front of the bar, how you organise your space will be key to save time and in turn maximise on your customer spending opportunity, especially during peak hours. Having multiple exits and entrances  behind the bar, easily accessible and well-placed service stations for floor staff and a logical flow to your main room will make moving around it far more efficient in those busier periods. “When bartenders are working in peak or rush hours, if the bar is not properly designed it could take two or three trips to refill the ice or the glassware, so a cocktail that takes three minutes to make tops [with a bartender fully equipped], could take up to 15 minutes,” Charly Aguinsky, co-owner of Buenos Aires’ Tres Monos points out. One those metrics, if you’re charging £12 per cocktails, that could be a potential loss of £192 per hour.

Even something as simple as where your water station is situated can save both your floor staff and bartenders time. At Velasquez’s Candelaria, it sits outside of the bar area to save service staff moving into the bar space and also eradicates the leaning on bartenders to actually serve the water while making cocktails too: “Avoiding overlapping of people behind the bar is key.” That demarcation of ‘what happens where’ in the bar is an overarching consideration. Where your staff are pulling glasses from, service stations and where your guests sit can all impact how efficient your service is and help you serve tables more quickly. Over in Chicago and The Aviary – which operates in more of a restaurant style than a traditional bar setting – and beverage director Micah Melton explains the intricacies of how his team operate around the space. 

“Our bar doesn’t have any seats at it as it is inside the kitchen so nobody is sitting at the bar and while there is chat with the guests that are seated close to the bar, we leave that all to the service staff so they can answer those. The drinks on the menu are broken out into each station so the same person will be making the same drinks all night for speed and for backbar stuff like the spirits menu, we have all of those bottles in the service pass so the wait staff actually pour those themselves.”

Storage wars

Of course, what you equip your bar with will also be determined not just by need but by space as well. As Velasquez previously pointed out, the industry has changed a lot in the last 10 or so years and so in turn has the equipment needed: “I never thought about putting my glasses in a freezer 11 years ago – today it is a must.” Making sure you have enough room for storage – be that of glassware, stock, ingredients or tools – can sometimes mean cannibalising your customer space and lowering your potential headcount. Saying that, hiring another space for storage means another rent to pay. “We have a second space on the same street where we store things for Candelaria and Mary Celeste but that is another rent,” Velasquez tells me.

Aguinsky says that if he was opening another bar, storage would be first on his list of considerations. “I would definitely look for a place with enough room for storage and production. When we opened Tres Monos we only had a tiny room for storage so we had to look for another place outside our venue.” He suggests looking for a place with another room at least as big as the bar for storage, freezers, fridges and more. He also makes the good point that brands can often pay bars in product – if you’re paying for extra space to store that product, you’re not really being paid at all. 

Ergonomics equals efficiency

Making sure your bar is working hard for its bartenders is a huge consideration and ergonomics is a word that continues to be used by bar owners who are designing their bars and their work stations from scratch. “If you have someone standing there for seven hours that space needs to be functional but needs to feel comfortable,” says Velasquez. Ergonomics is something that is becoming increasingly spoken about when it comes to bar stations, pioneered by the teams at Tayer + Elementary and Behind Bars when the east London bar opened with its own custom-built hexagonal bar, taking cues from restaurants usually operate by giving each bartender the flexibility to work in a set up that suits them.

It’s a similar approach over at Double Chicken Please where each bartender has their own three-drawer fridge, a rarity in the US bar industry. “It gives you a lot of efficiency to quickly access all your ingredients, which really helps for speed as the layout means you can see what’s where and you have a clear view of everything to understand what your next move is,” explains Chan. The bar rail is also moveable so bartenders can adjust it depending on whether they are left- or right-handed. 

Over at The Aviary and Melton’s bartenders barely have to leave their workstation during service. “Each station has its own kind of cockpit,” he explains. “On top of the station are wells for all your bottles as we’re batching a majority of drinks ahead of time. There is running water for all of your bar tools right next to you so you can use it if you’re right- or left-handed and we also have a tin dispenser as we don’t wash tins between drinks.”

Making them pay

It might sound simple but how your customers pay is also an integral design element of your overall operations. Lag time with untrustworthy equipment, endless trips to the till, cash vs card are all elements at play when it comes to remunerating your bar. Pre-paying can be an option but often in more formal settings like The Aviary, where Melton explains that tables are booked for pretty tight turn arounds and customers book with a deposit on a booking app while also being given the option to pre-pay for their set menu – that way once they’re finished they just get up and leave.

A country or region’s reliance on cash however can make this option a no-goer – and as Velasquez points out, France is still heavily reliant on cash unlike, in comparison, the UK. In Buenos Aires, Tres Monos takes both card and cash, with Aguinsky arguing that neither is quicker than the other: “With cash it takes a little more time counting the money but with cards sometimes they split the bill.” Double Chicken Please now uses a hand-held Ipad for payments and adds the customer’s chosen tip percentage once the customer has finished paying. “It isn’t my favourite way,” laments Chan. “It’s too techy and I like analogue, but we cannot afford that as we need the speed.”

Millie Milliken

In this series which will span over several weeks, we’ll look at some of the most common ways to extract flavour from an ingredient – and some less common – all with the aim of making delicious drinks.

Let’s start with one of the most frequently used methods – infusion.

But before we start, let’s get the technicalities out of the way: infusion, maceration, decoction – when talking about these in culinary terms but with creating drinks as the goal, they are in (almost) every practical sense, the same. Yes, there are minor variances and nuances, but to keep this easy and understandable, let’s agree to call them all ‘infusions’. At least, for now.

The main purpose of infusions (meaning to steep or soak something, whether it is a herb, a fruit or a botanical, in a liquid) is to extract flavour. It is often the first advanced technique many of us encounter when we start our bartender journeys, but keeping it simple is far from being stupid. As someone who worked in the midst of the anything-goes, infused-Martini craze (passionfruit, green apple or rhubarb Martinis were definitely the biggest hitters back in my club days) the method was pretty straight-forward: infuse whatever ingredient you wanted into vodka, then mix with liqueur, fruit juice and (maybe) some citrus, shake and voila.

Since then, obviously, I’ve learned a lot more when it comes to technique; about layering flavour and being more purposeful in the way I extract flavours – but what remains the same is that this is still one of my favourite ways to capture the true nature of any ingredient.

So let me take you through my thinkings and tinkerings on the topic of infusions – which, I might add, are only my personal opinions, and will be quite different from many others.

The three Ts

When tackling infusions, there are three things you simply cannot ignore: time, texture and temperature. These three elements will deeply impact your end result and, more often than not, you need to utilise or conquer all three (often together) to get the best result.

Let’s start with time. We often say that time is a luxury, and I think this is very true when it comes to prep – and sometimes if you have a prep that’s not going in the direction you want, the best thing to do is to leave it and see how it develops. My shortest infusions often last no longer than a few hours (when using ingredients like coffee beans or other very potent ingredients) whilst other times I can leave ingredients to infuse for months or even years.

If you want to infuse strawberries into something, time will be important because how long you infuse something will impact how much flavour you get. However, this can be manipulated if you change the ratio between strawberries and liquid by adding more strawberries to shorten the time needed to infuse. Looking at the reverse, if you have less strawberries to liquid, then the time you infuse needs to be longer to get a similar result.

You can also influence the process by maximising the surface ratio. For example, by cutting the strawberries into smaller pieces you get more surface area, or you can put everything into a blender and puree it, which will create maximum integration between the two ingredients, but will add to the prep time as you now need to strain it back to a clear liquid (the harsh treatment in the process can also lose you some of the more volatile aromatics of the strawberry).

Now, moving on to texture. Alcohol and fat are both excellent carriers of flavour, and when you understand how they work, it makes it easier to let them do the hard work for you. If, for example, you infuse strawberries into milk versus heavy cream, the end result will be different because the texture of the liquid will react differently to the strawberry and carry over different elements. Similarly, you can say this is the case when we infuse strawberries into alcoholic liquids, as the ABV will not only impact the texture of the liquid but, more importantly, effect how much water is present in the liquid, and different strengths will impact what flavours gets extracted in the process.

If you imagine the fresh strawberry on its own as a 360-degree picture of the flavour profile you want to capture, then all these infusions and preparations we do are different angles or isolated parts of that picture – and to get the full image, we need to puzzle them back together. This, in a way, is how I look at an ingredient when I taste it and deconstruct it in my mind in order to know what techniques to use to reassemble it back together into a finished cocktail.

In practical terms, this means that if you do a strawberry infusion in vodka, gin or any other high(er)-ABV product, you will get a one-dimensional picture of what a strawberry looks like; but if you were to also do an infusion in a lower-ABV liquid like vermouth or fortified wine, and then combine the two together in your drink, your strawberry universe will start to look a little bit more real and complex.

Lastly, you have temperature. This is perhaps the most controversial of the three for me. As I mentioned before, I use infusions mostly to help capture what the true essence of an ingredient is, and this means I’m always chasing those delicate nuances.

If you’ve ever bitten into a perfect summer strawberry, it starts off with that juicy brightness, followed by the mellow fruity sweetness that lingers almost until the end, before it finishes with a tiny, almost unnoticeable, hit of acidity. What it doesn’t mean is the jammy, almost candy-like flavours you often get when you add heat to it – which is why I never do.

Obviously, there are no rules without exceptions, and I do add heat when working with dried ingredients, or ingredients such as spices and seeds where you want to access the essential oils, etc – but, more often than not, I work in what you so often unscientifically call ‘room temperature’. When working with fresh fruits or vegetables at their natural, seasonal peak, I never use heat. If the fruit is very bruised or damaged, I’d argue that using it for infusion might not be the way to go – fermentation could be a better option.

Simplicity conquers all

I’m always an advocate for less AND more, meaning less technique applied, but more focus on the raw material, because by working with the best ingredients you don’t have to do much to make it taste delicious.

In the end, there are many techniques you can choose to use when infusing: traditional steeping with or without heat, rapid infusion using iSi, vacuum sealed, sous vide or supersonic – they all have pros and cons. But I think the biggest question is the cost. For example, some say it’s timesaving and efficient to use the iSi chargers to rapidly infuse a liquid by using pressure, but in the bigger picture, you’ll need to factor the cost of those cartridges into the final drink, which can make it quite expensive and wasteful. Likewise with equipment like a vacuum sealer or a supersonic, the initial cost for the machine is quite high and it takes up a lot (!) of space, so you’ll need to factor in how many drinks you’ll need to make to justify the investment.

Infusions, when used cleverly, can really help you diversify your drinks, and just because it’s seemingly simple, don’t let anyone fool you into thinking it’s easy. Used correctly it will outshine all the more ‘advanced’ techniques, any day.

The story of this now ubiquitous cocktail, crowned as The World’s Best Selling Classic Cocktail of 2022 by Drinks International, is well known, but it’s always a great feeling to dive back into the glorious beginning of the Twentieth Century. A young and rebellious descendant from a Florentine noble family, Count Camillo Negroni, had returned to Italy after a few years of adventures and thrilling escapades overseas. He had ridden as a cowboy through the North American grasslands, hustled as a gambler on the road across the United Kingdom and, of course, had his fair share of bottoms up, being a more than respectable barfly. In 1919, Count Camillo, in his native Florence’s Bar Casoni , asked his good bartender friend, Fosco Scarselli, to strengthen his Americano. To do so, he requested him to add a splash of gin in place of soda water to the Campari and vermouth concoction, which he had learned to appreciate in London, one of his favourite cities.

Scarselli silently nodded and did as asked, thus forever changing the local (and subsequently the world’s) aperitivo habits. Simple, intense, timeless, the new recipe took Florence high society by storm, becoming even more recognizable with Scarselli’s final touch of an orange slice delicately resting in the glass. Fosco used this to differentiate the drink from Americano, which shares the same colour, and this sail-shaped, citrusy addition was the ultimate signature on the iconic Negroni appearance.

Very little time went by before patrons would ask for a drink à la Negroni, then shortened to the surname only, to identify the new, revolutionary mix. Fifty years later or so, brilliantly withstanding the test of time, the Negroni managed to overcome a dark pocket of its existence, when cocktails were considered to be something to drink exclusively for the purpose of getting drunk, with taste or enjoyment of the cocktail culture completely disregarded. Instead, it became a must-try of the golden clubbing era: perfectly playing its part in the glamorous and roaring scene of the Seventies, it was on the menus of venues (Studio 54 above others) and witnessed the explosion of club culture all over the world.

Technology, education and fresh pairs of eyes went on to finally put the drink in the spotlight. The re-discovery of original products such as Italian vermouth (originating in n Turin in the 1700s), led by talented and courageous bartenders in the early 2000s, coupled with the extensive research carried out by drinks historians and writers (books and essays such The Negroni: Drinking to La Dolce Vita, with Recipes & Lore from Gary “gaz” Regan ,) allowed the bar industry to finally free classic cocktails from the cobwebs of time, and bring the correct measures and flavours back to light.

Becoming a cult recipe for bartenders all over the world, the Negroni is synonymous with high quality drinks and some of the world’s greatest bars, pushing bartenders to find their perfect balance of the classic recipe, or the ultimate innovative twist. Drinks like Rosita, that the aforementioned Regan adapted from a 1978 book (with reposado tequila instead of gin, and the addition of dry vermouth and bitters), experiments like Jeffrey Morgenthaler’s 2010 barrel aged Negroni, and the non stop quest for the best White Negroni are all proof of the cocktail’s eternal allure on the drinking scene.

Together with the Negroni’s surge back to popularity came renewed attention from bartenders dedicated to the entire “Negroni category”, which demonstrates the versatility of the Count’s cocktail’s structure. Boulevardier (trademarked by Campari alongside Americano and Negroni of course) presents bourbon instead of gin; it becomes an Old Pal with rye whiskey, a Cardinale with dry vermouth instead of the sweet one (it originally saw Riesling wine in it, created in a Rome hotel by Giovanni Raimondo in the 1950s). Or the fortunate accidentat Bar Basso in Milan that led Mirko Stocchetto to substitute gin for Prosecco which gave birth to Negroni Sbagliato in 1972. The new enthusiasm about the Negroni made drinks enthusiasts and professionals appreciate a number of other concoctions.

The Negroni is also the protagonist of a remarkable initiative which is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year this year tallying its tenth edition: Negroni Week, launched by Imbibe Magazine in 2013. Over the course of a decade, this global celebration of the Italian staple grew beyond expectations, reaching out to thousands of venues worldwide and raising over three million dollars for charity associations. For its tenth anniversary, Negroni Week, taking place September 12th-18th, will join forces with Campari Group and Imbibe Magazine for one global, non-profit partner, Slow Food, an advocate for sustainability, equity, inclusivity which strives for better livelihoods and healthier community. Its global footprint is communicated through its manifesto of good, clean, and fair for all, and it aims to positively impact the many sectors of education, environment, biodiversity and culture. Negroni Week, with the help of the venues involved, will be a key part of this mission. Raise your tumblers to the never ending charm and values of Negroni.

Carlo Carnevale

Understanding flavour starts with understanding the senses: from what they are and how they work; to why they are so important when creating delicious drinks (or anything for that matter), and, of course, what we can do to fully take advantage of each sense to create better guest experiences.  

So, what are the senses? The most obvious one we use when consuming food or drink, is our sense of taste, which is basically anything that can be detected by our tongue. We categorise it by our five basic tastes (although it is widely accepted that there are more than just five): sweet, sour, salt, bitter and umami.  

For a drink to be great, there needs to be a balance between these, but surprising to many (!) is that for a drink to be delicious, it needs more than just balance – it also need flavour.  

Exploring the senses 

Despite common belief, around 70-80% of flavour comes from what we smell as opposed to what we taste. We separate ‘smells’ into two categories: aromas or smells picked up by the nose (orthonasal olfaction), and aromas picked up by the nose via our mouth (retronasal olfaction). It’s the last one which will influence how we experience flavour, and it is during exhalation that the olfaction contribution to flavour occurs, in contrast to that of smelling something, which occurs during the inhalation phase.  

“Understanding flavour starts with understanding the senses.”

Our sense of touch can also impact the drinking experience in many ways, both directly and indirectly: directly through elements like texture, temperature, and mouthfeel; and indirectly by choice of glassware, what type of material your bar top is made of, or how comfortable your chairs are. Together with our sense of taste and smell, touch makes up our three contact senses, whilst our last two – sight and sound – both work from a distance, but are equally important.  

Less obvious players 

Our sense of sight could be described as ‘the dictator’. It is the sense that will influence us the most when trying to figure out what we are tasting, but also when deciding if we like it. If it doesn’t look good, we are likely to not try it at all, but research has also shown that if it does indeed look good, we are more likely to think it will also taste good – even if it doesn’t. 

“When making drinks a lot can be revealed just by sound.”

Sound plays such a significant role in our work, but we often forget how vital it is. We think of it as instinct or second nature, whilst in reality, our hearing guides us, being so fine-tuned that we can even hear the difference between cold or warm coffee being poured into a mug. Chefs rely on their sense of sounds to tell if a steak is searing right, or chips are frying correctly –  and the same goes for bartenders.  

When making drinks a lot can be revealed just by sound: when shaking, the sound will change slightly as the drink’s temperature declines, and by listening to the shaker, you will know when the drink is ready. If you try to stir a cocktail without using enough ice, you can hear the (sad) sound of the ice cubes hitting the inside wall of the mixing glass.  

Put into practice 

In the past decades, there has been much research done in the field of experimental psychology and gastronomy – gastrophysics – looking at the ways in which we perceive flavour, and how we can maximise the use of our senses to create better eating and drinking experiences.  

This is also the topic of our next Perspectives episode, ‘How do we perceive flavour?, and for me it was super exciting to shoot with the amazing contributors we had in this round. In Seoul, we visited Yeonghwi ‘Hwi’ Yun, the bar manager at Bar Cham, situated in traditional surroundings, but with a modern take on South Korean flavours and ingredients. 

“For a drink to be delicious, it needs more than just balance – it also need flavour.”  

In Taipei, Seven Yi creates immersive bar experiences, challenging all the senses at Room by Le Kief with his creative approach to food and drinks; whilst back in London, we meet up with Niki Segnit, author of The Flavour Thesaurus, to discuss the importance of understanding your ingredients and flavours – but also why you should build your own ‘flavour library’ as a professional bartender.  
Lastly, we discuss the difference between something being cross modal and multisensory with Professor Charles Spence, as we take a closer look at our senses – and learn how a few ‘tests’ can help us understand their role when eating or drinking.  

We’ll be continuing to explore flavour and our senses over the next few months, and I hope you join us on this journey. See you at the bars!  

Monica Berg

1. The lawyer

Depending on where in the world you are, there are different types of lawyers needed if you want to open a bar – or licensed venue.

Firstly, you’ll need a good corporate lawyer to help you set up your business, and in my experience, when there are multiple stakeholders, having a good shareholders’ agreement in place from the beginning will save you a lot of (potential) trouble later. I started my first business when I was very young, but I still remember the advice I received from my father: Make sure you agree on the shareholders’ agreement while you still like each other. If you need to use it, it’s already too late to save the ‘relationship’ but at least you can make sure you get a fair ‘break up’.

I now fully appreciate the need to have legal support in any contract negotiation, because the slightest change in wording can be so significant in the end.

The next threshold you’ll often face is negotiating the lease, and this process often starts with negotiating the ‘heads of terms’ (also known as ‘letter of intent’) which is a document done pre-contract. This is not a legally binding document, but it does state the intentions of both sides, and is less costly than the contract negotiation process. This process was probably the most surprising part to me the first time I went through it – and if I’m completely honest, at the time it just felt like we were bleeding money. Retrospectively, I now fully appreciate the need to have legal support in any contract negotiation, because the slightest change in wording can be so significant in the end.

To learn how to read a legal document or contract is something I would highly advise to anyone – starting with your employment contract as a bartender. “A good lawyer will give you a better chance of fulfilling the potential of any deal. This can be by allowing you to benefit from any clever negotiating points as well as helping protect against downsides.” So says Rishi Malliwal, partner at SGM Law, who’s advised me on most of my contract negotiations over the recent years.

Then there’s licensing. This will vary too much depending on where you are in the world, but essentially this can be one licence to cover everything – food, drinks, alcohol and music – or it can be separate licenses, all of which you’ll need to apply for. Having a good licensing lawyer can help you better your terms, such as hours allowed to operate (not in all places), being allowed to serve outside, or what you can serve within the range of beverages (again, depending on where in the world you are).

2. The accountant

If you want to run a successful business, nothing is more important than having your finances in order. As a bar owner, we all dream of the day our bars will make a profit, but for a small business, perhaps even more important is to have a positive cash flow, because this will help ensure you can stay open not just today, but also in the future.

Being able to understand the ins-and-outs of your business financially is something that feels very empowering.

A great accountant will not only save you a lot of time, but potentially also save you a lot of money, especially if you aren’t too familiar with accounting principles. An accountant can also help you navigate and advise you, particularly in the beginning, until you become familiar with important financial reports such as P&L, balance sheets and cash flow statements.

It might not seem like a lot of fun, and maybe it isn’t: however being able to understand the ins-and-outs of your business financially is something that feels very empowering. It also makes you understand why you want creativity from your bartenders, not your accountant – but that’s a different article.

3. The broker

Ironically, you could say that one of the most frustrating parts of opening your own bar, is finding it. In the early stages of wanting to open Tayēr + Elementary, we struggled to find good locations, and at times, it seemed impossible.

One of the most frustrating parts of opening your own bar, is finding it.

Eventually, we were introduced to Nick Garston, MD of The Found Agency, a property broker who specialises in hospitality venues, and thanks to him, doors that we never even realised were closed, started to open: “Most properties aren’t visibly marketed and the broker, through connections, experience, and market know-how, will identify locations, sizes etc. with their clients, and search for options before assisting in negotiating the best deals, and provide advice and help until final completion,” is how he describes his role. As a grateful client, I can say his belief in us as rookie business owners, but not yet bar owners, was incredibly significant in us ending up where we are today – 152 Old Street.

4. The insurer

If I’m honest, for the longest time, I didn’t even know there was such a thing as insurance specifically aimed at different types of hospitality businesses. I also couldn’t imagine that when signing with an insurance company, they wouldn’t disclose that they were selling me a policy which wouldn’t provide the right financial protection for my bar. Some things you truly can only learn through experience, and this was one of those things.

As a bar, you will need cover for a wide range of things, starting from contents cover – meaning everything from fixtures, fittings and electric equipment – to product liability cover, in the case of illness caused by the food or drinks you serve. One thing worth mentioning here, is that when you do your contents cover, it’s really important to know that the stock – food and wet stock like spirits, wine and beer – does not fall into this category and needs to be addressed separately.

Insurance will never protect you completely, but at least it can help you reduce the monetary loss, if you are forced to close.

As an employer, you’ll need your employers’ liability cover, but also cover for operational risks such as theft, loss of licence, fire, vandalism or any other causes that temporarily prevent you from operation – and therefore result in a loss of revenue. Insurance will never protect you completely, but at least it can help you reduce the monetary loss, if you are forced to close for a period or if something unexpected happens.

5. The maintenance person

It doesn’t matter how careful or diligent you are when it comes to taking care of your venue or equipment: at some point, maintenance is unavoidable (not to mention, also a legal requirement for certain types of equipment and circumstances). Of course, smaller things like painting the walls, small touch ups on furniture, or unclogging a toilet you’ll be able to do yourself – but finding a good company to assist you with most or all major maintenance such as duct cleaning, emptying the grease trap or fixing a leak is as difficult as it is important!

The trick is to allocate time and money to constantly be doing smaller, preventative maintenance as you go, and hopefully you’ll be spared the bigger stuff. But when disaster strikes – and trust me, it will – you want to have someone picking up on the other side of your panicked call.

Allocate time and money to constantly be doing smaller, preventative maintenance as you go, and hopefully you’ll be spared the bigger stuff.

Bonus tip: Health & safety and HACCP

Let me just say this: If you want to be the best bar in the world, part of that ambition needs to include wanting to be the best when it comes to health & safety and HACCP (hazard analysis and critical control points) compliance.

Firstly, you need to have all your statutory documents in place, such as: HVAC (heater, ventilator and air conditioning) maintenance, annual fire drill, annual audit, insurance, legionella risk assessment, as well as all your risk assessments for specific activities – knife handling, equipment handling, ladder handling etc. – and you need to make sure they are maintained and up-to-date at any given time.

Then you’ll need to have in place a food safety policy and a HACCP plan: the HACCP plan keeps your food safe from biological, chemical and physical food safety hazards – and is a legal requirement.

Lastly is the daily compliance, such as opening and closing checklists, temperature logs and deliveries records. A few years ago, we decided to move from a paper-based system to an app called Hubl, to simplify our procedures and make it easier for everyone to keep records. It’s worked really well for us, but still, I see a lot of scepticism from the industry, mainly because you can’t go back and change the data – which, in my opinion, is one of the main advantages of making this shift.

As I said before, we need to raise the ambition, but raise it where it matters.

Where Georgia Georgakopoulou grew up in the mountainous region of Arcadia in Greece, she was surrounded by plum, pomegranate, pear and apple trees. In primary school, she would stamp on the grapes from the local vineyards to be turned into wine. Her family grew their own vegetables; and of course, they had olive trees. It rained – a lot – and the culture is still based on traditions that far outlive the advent of technology, all the way back to ancient times. Now, the bar manager of Athens’ The Clumsies brings these memories to her work: “My story before the industry is important to me – I haven’t let go or forgotten it.”

The smells and tastes of our lives play an intrinsic role in how we frame and describe ingredients. As bartenders who work in a global industry, showcasing flavours to guests in their bar from all over the world (and often traversing it in order to do so) how they present these flavours through drinks is a multi-layered, nuanced and complex challenge.

It is often tackled by using what are usually considered to be universal descriptors – floral, vegetal, tropical, for example. But how do the meanings of these words change based on our sense memories? “Describing drinks or writing a menu is so hard as you have to think behind the words – you have to think about the human beings that are your guests,” explains Georgakopoulou. “Depending on how we live and where we live, you have to go a step further.”

Sense, place, language

“I’ve lived a dual life, culture-wise,” says Hardeep Rehal, owner of Blume bar in Copenhagen and founder of Cocktail Solutions, collaborating with the likes of chefs, distillers and brewers to create custom cocktails, menus, products and events. He was born in the UK, moved to Denmark at a young age and grew up in an Indian home. “I’ve been exposed to two very different worlds – our relation to what food is and what taste is are two very different approaches… It’s been a very anthropological and interesting journey for me.”

Of his approach to learning more about Nordic ingredients, Rehal describes it as akin to learning a new language. “In the Nordics we have limited synonyms; if you go to India, for anything sensorial, language has a massive role to play,” he goes on to explain. “By explaining everything in English, we have to find this middle ground… Everything is essentially a story.”

Christina Veira, co-owner of Bar Mordecai in Toronto, also has a rich experience to pull from when it comes to her sensory memory. Her parents, both Jamaican, emigrated to Canada in the 1960s/70s, and while she grew up in a Caribbean household, the diversity surrounding her in Toronto saw her grow up with a multicultural experience (70% of people in her suburb hadn’t been born in Canada).

Looking locally, a lot of exotic flavours – mangoes and kiwis for example – are known more artificially, so Veira works more with layering fresh ingredients with barks, herbs and spices (taking the skills she learned growing up of cooking and baking) in order to create more of a mosaic of flavours, rather than showcasing one single ingredient.

Growing up in southern California, and with an Indigenous background, bartender-turned-writer and activist Chockie Tom has a vast pool of influences when it comes to her relationships with flavours, from Korean and Filipino, to Armenian and Mexican. “For me, growing up in that part of the world, with so many different types of flavour profiles and cuisines to pick from, has given me kind of an amazing reference point.”

For Tom, the concept of ‘land stewardship’ – where everything from the food you grow up with, to the house you build, and the land you live on is all interconnected – has been an important reference point for her explaining flavours.

So, how do the tastes and smells we are most familiar with impact how we describe flavour? We asked our four experts to explain what they associate with five different descriptors.

Floral

Perhaps one of the most used flavour descriptors used universally across cocktail menus, ‘floral’ is one of the more unifying of the terms presented to our four experts when it comes to ingredient associations. Georgakopoulou’s memory plays a large role in her interpretation: “The first thing that comes to mind from my childhood are roses and jasmine… Growing up we had rose geranium, and in spring really intense aromas of orange blossom.”

For Rehal, ‘floral’ isn’t just associated with flavour – in the Nordics we’re talking geranium, rosehip, jasmine, lavender – but also the style of the drink. “You can find floral notes in heavy drinks, but I’d expect it to be very bright and light, maybe in a highball, or a coupe – there are also floral notes in Champagne, and sparkling things.”

Veira takes a similar approach: “Sometimes ‘floral’ is almost more a perception of body or flavour intensity, so when I use ‘floral’ it won’t be a flavour bomb, it will be elegant.” She does tend to shy away from it as a descriptor though as flavours guests associate with it – violet, lavender – often don’t coincide with the ingredients Veira tends to lean towards – hibiscus, orange blossom, rose water.

Tom also adds another less obvious ingredient to the conversation – toasted coconut: “There’s something floral about that.”

She also points out that sometimes what’s associated with ‘floral’ in certain countries isn’t always the most accurate when it comes to that ingredient’s heritage. “You also have to take into account that people have moved places and brought things from different parts of the world; they bring in their outside ingredients, so that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s even accurate.”

Vegetal

As more and more bars lean towards savoury serves, the term ‘vegetal’ also becomes more widespread – but it isn’t always associated with just vegetables. “‘Vegetal’ would be where I’m thinking probably something greener – pepper, tomatoes, spinach, kale, could be onions,” says Veira, but she also sees fruits like gooseberries and herbs as ingredients that could be classed in the ‘vegetal’ camp.

Over in Greece and Georgakopoulou explains how, while more obvious things like cucumber, bell pepper, Greek olives and tomatoes are used in a lot of drinks, less likely flavours such as zucchini (courgette), potato skin and sweet potato might also be used in vegetal drinks.

Rehal’s approach looks more at different stages of ingredients when it comes to ascertaining whether something is ‘vegetal’: “It could be something floral that has shifted, been cooked, turned brown or matured,” he explains. “The same thing that is floral in spring can be vegetal in autumn… It depends on its ripeness – it could be super floral and crisp at the beginning, but if you let it sit it can become more vegetal. It depends on where it is in its cycle.”

Forest

‘Forest’ is the descriptor that our experts all agree hugely depends on where you are when it comes to the flavours it’s associated with. “The forests that I would have in California, where my people come from, are going to be very different from the forests in Canada, or a rainforest in South America,” explains Tom.

Pine, birch, moss, wild herbs, nettles and dandelions all come to mind for Rehal when he thinks about Nordic forests; yet someone more familiar with the rainforest would cite completely different ingredients. While ‘forest’ might give you more of a mood of a drink, he says, its vastness in meaning makes it far less precise than, say, ‘floral’.

“Mushroom and dirt and all of that damp mulch – wet and lush,” says Veira.

Mineral

Undoubtedly the most divisive for Tom, Veira, Georgakopoulou and Rehal is ‘mineral’ – a word you hear more when describing wine rather than cocktails, but one which conjures a vast and complex range of associations.

“I have a strong opinion on ‘mineral’,” says Rehal. “There are controversies around minerality scientifically as it isn’t something you can taste on its own, but we can perceive a mouthfeel… I would see minerality if you’re new to it as salty, but also dry, associated with calcium which exists in egg and oyster shells (calcium has a drying effect on your mouth) … It would lead me to chalk and also stones – limestone, rocks, asphalt.”

Veira doesn’t use it much to describe cocktails either, but likens it to “salinity but with a much lower threshold, a lighter version of herbaciousness”.

For Tom, it all starts with water: “Being a fan of sparkling water, I’m interested in the differences between, like, Topo Chico and Scottish mineral water. Again, it’s tied into the land and what might be a mineral for me in Nevada would be different from somewhere in the UK.”

Maritime

Finally, ‘maritime’ is arguably the most unifying of the descriptors. “It’s probably the only one that’s the easiest to communicate,” says Tom, “because you’re going to get salinity and seaweed; you’re going get like that fresh, kind of like, sea air.”

These are indeed the common themes that spring to mind for our experts. In Greece, Georgakopoulou speaks of saltiness, seaweed, and the texture of eating mussel.

Rehal’s first thoughts also lean towards sea-related things (including seaweed and sea herbs), but specifically seafood-related ingredients like oyster shell and oyster powder. ‘Maritime’ also means texture: “I would work with saline and saltiness which does effect mouthfeel.”

Veira has a slightly different take on it, looking more at ingredients more directly related to rainy, coast-line ingredients, like fish, potatoes, and something smoky.

I’m beyond excited to start the new year with a topic that is so close to my heart. In many ways, the subject of ‘Raw Materials and Flavour’ is the very essence of what we do. Yes, you can make excellent drinks at home; no, you don’t have to be a bartender to create delicious cocktails – but at the same time, this is where you truly can see a bartender’s uniqueness and personality shine.

Over the years I, like many other bartenders, have played around with the way I express myself through flavour: for a minute I was quite into Tiki (but make it Nordic), then I had my elderflower-everything phase like everyone else, and I love foraging as much as the next Scandi (except I live in London now).

I have come to learn my strengths and weaknesses, but more importantly my likes and dislikes. As you mature as a bartender, you start to pay attention to the details that previously escaped you; where your ingredients come from, who makes or grows them, why they taste the way they do – and when (if there’s a variance) they taste their best.

As bartenders, a large proportion of our resources are non-seasonal: spirits, liqueurs, fortified wines, bitters, beers and wines (sure, vintages will vary, but in this instance, let’s go ahead with wine as a non-seasonal product). This means that for the most part, regardless of where you are in the world and what time of the year it is, they will each taste the same.

This is a sharp contrast to the reality of our chef counterparts, whose raw materials are often hypersensitive to time and place – just think of a strawberry or a cherry. Whether we are at an advantage or a disadvantage, that purely depends on the eye of the beholder, but what it does often result in is a disconnect when it comes to understanding supply and demand.

When your ‘ingredients’ often come in bottles, ready to be consumed, it’s easy to forget that whiskies or mezcals are an agricultural product that took a lot of effort to make before you’re able to open it behind your bar. I’m not talking about the packaging, nor the distilling, nor the fermentation – or anything that is related to the production of this liquid – I am in fact talking about the work that went into the raw material: the farming of the grain, the harvesting of the agave, and so on.

Only when you start to look at the bigger picture do you start to see the direct link between agriculture and the back bar, farmers and bartenders, and most importantly the choices we make and the future we’ll have. When you start to look at the ecology of it all, you start to understand why sourcing matters, why seasonality matters and why flavour matters.

This is why in this episode we speak to Natoora which started out almost 20 years ago as the first online farmers market in the UK. Founder Franco Fubini identified that the food system was broken, with the biggest looser being flavour, and wanted to do something about it. Over the years, the business has grown to become a sizeable wholesaler present in multiple countries across Europe as well as the USA and Australia, supplying some of the top restaurants and bars around the world.

What makes Natoora so unique is that they have committed to only sourcing radically seasonal produce, meaning nutritionally dense crops full of flavour in their natural season from small-scale producers dedicated to farming in a way that protects the land from soil depletion. They do so by demanding a transparent and sustainable supply chain, which highlights the true cost of farming – and they do this at scale!

One of the most common criticisms of the idea of an attainable ethical supply chain is that it works very well on a local basis or in smaller quantities, but it would never work if you had to scale it. Well, here is proof that it does. Does it require a shift in mindset? Yes, it does – one that stops relying on convenience and all-year availability in favour of what now can only be described as revolutionary, flavourful ingredients, sourced within their real seasonal growth window.

Further exploration of regional seasonality takes us to Tokyo where we meet Tea Master Shinya Sakurai, owner of Sakurai Japanese Tea Experience. He spent 14 years earning this title and has used his expertise to modernise the ancient tradition of the tea ceremony, as well as combine different teas and spirits. His teas are sourced from all over Japan, some roasted inhouse like the hōjicha, whilst others are blended with seasonal Japanese ingredients. I was lucky enough to visit Sakurai-san in his beautiful venue back in 2020, and it’s an experience I think of often. It was such a sublime experience which helped me get one step closer to understanding and appreciating tea better.

We now head to Lisbon to go foraging with Constanca Cordeiro, owner of Toca Da Raposa and newly opened Uni. Her exciting use of local ingredients combined with a personal sensibility in her approach to flavour has made her a leading voice in the vibrant culinary scene of the Portuguese capital, creating cocktails that uniquely and simultaneously express the time, place and space in which they were conceived, proving that drinks with a personal POV are here to stay.

Lastly, we go back to Singapore and speak with Vijay Mudaliar of Native and Analogue who has always led the way not only when it comes to emphasising the importance of where and whom you source from for your bar, but also on how by focusing on locality and longevity you can, over time, develop a community not just a business.

This episode marks the end of our first season of Perspectives, and shortly we’ll start filming Season 2, which I’m very excited about. I really look forward to all the things we’ll do together in this coming year, so please sign up to the Academy, so you can watch all the episodes in full – and follow along, as we go deeper into the themes and explore more places and topics.

Grains: so little, yet so fundamental. These tiny, very often crunchy kernels were responsible for the first pivotal change in human habits, thus setting the groundwork for evolution. Being used in hunting, fishing, and hoarding 10,000 years ago, humanity needed constant movement, which was the essential trait of a nomadic lifestyle, made up of frequent migrations.

Implementing agriculture, which obviously required time for sowing and harvesting, brought populations to settle in one defined area, laying the base of the modern society; it wasn’t just a matter of keeping an eye on the fields though, as the new sustenance method called for an actual social restructuring, the so-called Neolithic Revolution.

The villages that began expanding around fertile regions started counting more and more inhabitants, needing a whole new political and social structure, with specific roles, with the first ones were created to administrate, distribute, and trade grains. Egyptians are credited with being the first people to organise their crops to then be accumulated into silos, the importance of which was only second to temples.

Harvesting also led to the discovery of new stocking and transportation systems, given how long grains would last without rotting. With grains being easily stored and shipped, the then-ruling powers of the world understood how cereal supplies were vitally strategic to their governments in order to feed the citizens and soldiers and prosper – we’re talking wheat for the Roman Empire, rice for the ancient Chinese region, and maize for the Mexican dynasties.

With centuries passing and technology developing, the grain trade expanded and was often, unfortunately, the excuse to which nations referred when advocating for colonialism and invasions, until import/export was established. Nevertheless, people were needed to skilfully master the milling of grains, which has seen technology and technique develop broadly: from a hand-hammered mortar that would yield a thick and non-perfect flour, to the modern wind- or water-powered mills that produce an almost impalpable edible powder.

What’s the difference?

Do not get fooled by the terminology: cereal and grains are not the same thing, though very often the two words are used interchangeably. The former indicates a plant (from the name Cerere, Latin goddess of earth and harvesting) that’s grown in order to obtain its fruit. The fruit itself is, indeed, the grain (‘caryopsis’ is the botanic denomination), the edible component of the plant. Considering the richness of vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, fats, oils, and protein they contain, grains are undoubtably amongst the most solid bricks the contemporary food pyramid is based on.

There are some necessary distinctions, though. Grains coming from cereals such as rice, wheat, corn, rye, millet, barley and so on, are generally referred to as ‘major cereals’, given their broad cultivation and historical presence (corn was imported in Europe as far back as the end of 1400s, by Christopher Columbus. Before then, wheat and rice had held the crown of most harvested grains in the continent).

A sub-category of grains, coming from ‘pseudocereals’, divide in three families: polygonaceae (like buckwheat, originally from the Himalayas); chenopodiaceae (like quinoa, very much widespread in the Andine region); and amaranthaceae (like amaranth, a Mexican treat). Pseudocereals are usually gluten-free and very high in protein – and although they only became more known in the western world in the past decades, have been staples in their natural regions for centuries.

Grains and spirits

Due to their nutritional content and overall vast possibility of production, grains are historically considered amongst the first staple foods the modern civilization has ever known, and to the surprise of very few, they are the pillar on which many bar favourites build their fortunes.

The natural phenomenon of fermentation indeed originates in the starch different grains contain, which is then converted to sugar through different processes and leads to the creation of alcoholic beverages. Beer, for example, originates from barley starches that have been converted to sugar by the amylase, an enzyme found in the grain kernels that have been malted (germinated); the same wort (the fermented boiling broth) can be used for distillation to obtain malt whisky, while bourbon and rye whiskey have corn and rye as their root.

The rice used for sake, instead, releases a starch that’s combined with a specific fungus, aspergillus oryzae, also known as ‘koji mould’, to gain the sugar needed for fermentation: a similar process is followed by the whole family of rice wines, very common in Asia.

Similar steps can be traced for ‘chicha de muko’, a variety of the traditional Peruvian ‘chicha’: instead of germinating the grain, the chichamaker chews the maize, and the resulting paste is round up in small balls, flattened and dried in open air. Naturally occurring ptyalin enzymes in the maker’s saliva catalyses the breakdown of starch in the maize into a sugar, known as maltose. Many of the most beloved spirits used today, from whisky and vodka, to gin, shochu and baijiu, originate from a fermented, starchy base.

Although these days grains are available pretty much all over the world, grains have maintained a strong connection to their original soil, becoming part of the backbone of local diets, anywhere you might go. In every region of the planet, a specific and traditional cultivation can be found, essential to local food, drinks and very often spiritual or religious rituals (though wine, a fruit-based beverage, is still the most common product used for ceremonies).

From the rice or barley-made ‘kvass’ in Russia, to the Nepalese ‘tongba’ made of millet, ranging through to the South African non-alcoholic ‘mahewu’(from corn porridge), grains that can be smaller than a nail have demonstrated their power and importance for centuries. They are still indescribably important to the world’s economy and social life – and, indeed, to the bar community.

‘There in the East, a cane can produce honey, without bees participating.’ These are the words of Nearchus, a sailor, soldier, and close friend of Alexander the Great’s. It’s around 360 BC, and sugar is beginning its journey to conquer the Western civilisations. Descending from the Sanskrit term ‘sakkare’ (‘shakar’in Persian), the sweet, granular powder was well-known already.

The history of sugar

Probably originating in South-East Asia, sugarcane was grown in India roughly 4,000 years ago. Persian emperor Darius I (510 BC) had the plant harvested regularly, to obtain a thick, sweet syrup that farmers would leave out in the air to dry and crystalise; it was then used for pharmaceutical purposes, and to store food (only for wealthy people, peasants would use salt). Though not very known to Greeks and Romans, sugar was indeed suggested during those times to cure kidney and stomach struggles.

Sugarcane was intensely cultivated in China, India and south of Persia (in the area today corresponding to Iran), where refining techniques developed: new stocking systems were adopted for a better transportation and an optimised trade, expanding to Palestine, Egypt and Syria. Arab scientists pioneered sugarcane processing, transmitting it to colonies all around the Arab kingdom (south of Spain, Sicily), thus sugar became one of the main sources of income for the first caliphs.

Venetian merchants took over European trade in the 1300s, allowing for sugar to spread all across the continent, thanks to dropping prices, an ever-growing number of plantations being established anywhere, and a diffused export network covering almost every angle of the known world. By the mid-1400s, remote locations such as Sao Tomé-et-Prince and Guinea were reached.

With Christopher Columbus trying to export sugar cane to Hispaniola (the modern Santo Domingo) in 1493, unfortunately, a dark era was about to begin – the so-called ‘triangular trade’. This saw European merchants travelling to Africa with textiles, pearls and goods to be exchanged with slaves, then taken to America and forced to work the fields. Those same ships would then go back to the Old Continent carrying mostly tobacco, cotton and sugar: slaves are often credited to be the first people to have discovered how molasses (resulting from sugar refinery) would eventually ferment and turn into a rudimental alcoholic drink.

Sugar became a staple on noble and royal tables: Queen Elizabeth I was so fond of it, her teeth turned black due to decay, and all the people around her would paint theirs the same colour, so as not to embarrass her. But when Napoleon imposed the ‘continental embargo’ (no English ship could dock at French harbours) in 1806, things dramatically changed.

Europe struggled to receive sugarcane supplies, so it turned to an ancient and well-known ingredient: beet, only used as animal food for the previous 25 centuries. German scientist Franz Karl Achard convinced the then King of Prussia, Frederick William III, to finance his studies, and the ruler’s trust is well paid back: though dying alone and poor, Achard set the ground for his students to follow his teaching about extracting, filtering, vaporising and dehydrating beet sugar. It became the best-selling sugar in Europe in the following years. Today, sugarcane still accounts for two thirds of the worldwide sugar production (about 181 million metric tonnes in 2021).

Where the sugar industry is now

Nowadays, a wide variety of sugars are available on the market. The most used distinctions refer to white sugar and brown sugar. Though the molecule (sucrose) is exactly the same for both categories, brown sugar also contains residual molasses that impart the typical darker colour; whole cane sugar, instead, retains a bigger amount of molasses, thus appearing thicker and grainier. Production of sugar is interestingly dependent on geographical location. Every latitude keeps its tradition, presenting varieties of sugar that can be employed for various goals.

Panela sugar, for example, is particularly common in Latin America (panelameans ‘brick’in Colombian). A kind of unrefined whole cane sugar, it gets its name from the rectangular shape it’s modelled and dried in and showcases a significantly strong aroma, due to its granulosa texture (it never becomes a powder), thus functioning as a sweetener and as an olfactory tool. Similar to panela is muscovado sugar, originally from the Philippines, with smoky, liquorice-like notes.

Sugar can also be extracted from particular palm trees (coconut, date, sugar), the lymph of which is boiled and thickened. Found in Africa and South-East Asia, their sugars tend to be a golden colour, but can reach deeper and darker tones, like the amber Indiana gur(part of the Jiggery family) or the almost black gulaarenfrom Indonesia. It resembles a fragile paste, easy to break and add into traditional dessert recipes.

Sugar and the origins of cocktail culture

Sugar history is colourfully intertwined with the world’s drinking habits. Spirits originating from sugarcane are cornerstones of today’s bar culture, yet their birth is soaked in legend, events and traditions, demonstrating how deeply these drinks are connected with people’s identities, and sugar itself is something mixology simply cannot exist without. Cachaça and rum are both considered symbols for countries such as Brazil, Cuba or the Caribbean Islands, which cradled the first production centuries ago, and are today still cultivating it.

Mixology owes a lot to sugar too: according to David Wondrich’s Punch: The Delights (and Dangers) of the Following Bowl, the original punch (ancestor of modern cocktails), was made with a base of Batavia arrack, a spirit distilled by molasses originally from Indonesia (Ceylon arrack comes from coconut sap instead and is made in Sri Lanka). The punch went on to have rum as the main spirit but kept sugar as a key ingredient (the now famous ‘two of sweet’).

From the origin of cocktail culture as we know it, sugar has always played a predominant role: it was listed amongst the ingredients when the term ‘cocktail’ was reported for the first time in The Balance and Columbian Repository of Hudson, New York, in 1806. It’s part of historical and iconic recipes and never ceased to be a fundamental element all the way up to modern concoctions. 

When thinking about the journey fruits and vegetables endure, from farm to table and bar tops, you’d be hard pressed to imagine the rigorous checks they go through. Together with the mandatory health and safety standards that need to be met, fruits and vegetables are tasked with observing very strict cosmetic criteria in order to proceed and be presented to the general market.  

For example, according to EU regulations: apples are required to weigh at least 90g; strawberries must measure 18mm or 25mm in diameter, depending on their class; lemons must contain at least 20% of juice; walnuts must respect controlled humidity percentages; bell peppers must not be sunburnt; and up until 1998, cucumbers must have had a 10mm bend over 10cm length (the rule has been repealed). And these are just to name a few.  

The US market is apparently ruled by aesthetics: products must be blemish-free or not oddly shaped for them to reach the market. But even so, anywhere on the planet this could still not be enough. Once the law requirements are matched, buyers’ likes need to be satisfied, and that’s another obstacle. Wholesalers operate one more process, keeping all those products that just don’t look appealing off the shelves. So, where do all the unworthy fruits and vegetables go? Unfortunately, you might have guessed correctly. Aside from a relatively small amount of that going to landfill, the rest of it goes to waste.  

The big picture 

1.6 billion tonnes of the food produced worldwide goes to waste every year according to The Food and Agricultural Organisations of the UN (FAO); that’s roughly one third of the total supplies the planet generates, adding up to a mind-blowing $160 billion in value. ‘If this wasted food were stacked in 20-cubic metre skips, it would fill 80m million of them, enough to reach all the way to the moon, and encircle it once,’ said The Guardian in 2016.  

The economic implications of this issue are probably the most immediate that come to mind, but there are other big ones. The moral aspect, to begin with, cannot be overlooked: almost 830 million people are considered to be in danger of starving (UN data, 2021), a situation that got worse with the recent pandemic, and yet almost 33% of our food ends up rotting.  

Plus, the environment suffers a very heavy blow from food waste: as FAO was pointing out almost 10 years ago, ‘if food waste could be represented as its own country, it would be the third largest greenhouse gas emitter, behind China and the United States’, due to the land, energy, water and resoruces unnecessarily needed to produce, process and get rid of it (food dumps release methane, a far more powerful greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide). Things did not change in the past decade: if anything, they got worse, but a movement is on the rise to combat these damaging habits. 

The ugly movement  

The ugly produce movement took its first major steps around the mid-2010s, with Australia leading the way and Europe following suit. Associations, groups and actual companies were born, gathering their effort to re-distribute the food that would not make the cut to supermarket shelves or groceries baskets. Two were the main focus points of the action, right from the beginning: the nutritional values of ugly produce (which are often referred to with less direct terms, such as ‘imperfect’); and the price they are sold at, which is usually discounted up to 50%.  

Australian NQR (Not Quite Right) was launched in 1987 as an outlet for bigger brands, selling products that have been overstocked, had their packing changed, or are close to their best before dates, thus avoiding perfectly fine goods to go to waste. Danish platform Stop Wasting Food was founded in 2008, and has since established itself as leading non-profit advocate for the cause, being involved in charity work, education, communication and active intervention about food waste. It is now a member of the European Commission’s EU Platform on Food Losses and Food Waste, collaborates with the United Nations and contributes to initiatives such as the doggy-bag distribution. Portuguese project Fruta Freia was born in 2013 in Lisbon, expanding to different cities all over the country. Local producers sell their small, big or misshapen fruit and vegetables to the organisation, which then sets two sizes of boxes and sells them to consumers associated with the cooperative, for an annual fee worth €5 and a price range that goes from €4 to €7.5, depending on the size of the box. The Italian NaturaSì opened an internal selling system for employees to buy exceeding or non-perfect products at discounted prices, plus organising a network with socially relevant organisations for these products to be destined for disadvantaged citizens.   

Something is changing 

Governments are beginning to shine a light on the issue too: after the first steps were moved during 2016 council, the European Union has designed its Sustainable Development Goal, with a ‘target to halve per capita food waste at the retail and consumer level by 2030, and reduce food losses along the food production and supply chains.’  

In 2020, Italy promoted a law which grants tax exemptions to food donors, being them businesses or private citizens (in 2016 the country established that food can be regularly donated to churches and charities), together with an educational program in schools; in France, retailers are forbidden to throw food, it instead being mandatory for them to cooperate with NGOs that work in assistance to those in need; while in California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York and Vermont, all have regulations that prohibit food waste. All of the above have specific mentions of ugly produce, underlining how even at the higher decisional levels, the matter is finally being taken seriously.  

What can I do?  

As a hospitality business, purchasing ugly produce does not only stand in the fight-against-waste category.  Juices, jams, pulps, all kinds of preps can be obtained from ugly produce just the same as regularly marketed fruit and vegetables, if not better (according to EU, the minimum calibre of blood oranges must be 53mm, though the smaller ones are renowned for being more concentrated and tastier). 

But the impact your buying choices can have on the whole community will be much deeper. By joining one of the many organisations that focus on ugly produce, the benefits are numerous.  

You can: 

• Support local producers, granting them extra income they would otherwise not receive 
• Save money, making for a more economically sustainable business 
• Contribute to a network of like-minded professionals that strive for a positive impact  
• Avoid your own food waste by joining projects such as the Danish Too Good to Go, allowing non-expensive purchases and reducing environmental consequences.  

They may not be beautiful, but ugly fruits and vegetables are well worth the effort. 

Carlo Carnevale