Start ofMixology Molecular

Lately cocktails have been in a renaissance. There has also been an increased interest in making them a culinary equal. Molecular mixology is one of those trends that is being mirrored from the kitchen because molecular gastronomy is the food equivalent. The basic idea, about both of these techniques, is to apply scientific analysis and techniques to cooking and mixing. On the kitchen side, it is creating unique food combination’s and on the bar front there hasn’t been a lot done yet, mostly working with foams and gels to create unique drink textures and flavours.

Molecular mixology, so far, is just being developed and the principals are a little more basic. The first example of molecular mixology would go back many, many years and would be the layering of drinks (density and viscosity), so the pousse cafe was probably the first example of the principal. Currently, it looks like molecular mixology is mostly working with physical properties of drink. This is done by making foams, gels and mists, looking at vapour concentrations and using an appropriate glass, determining cooling properties with ice and also applying heat to caramelize sugars. Some of these creations border between food and drink, much like a Bose-Einstein condensate, which is a unique state of matter. Is a foam a food or drink?