By Neil Sowerby
BARREL aging cocktails is nothing new. Lots of pre-Prohibition mixed drinks got the oak treatment back in the day and in recent years there has been a resurgence of interest in America in this method of adding flavour complexity and smoothing out the harshness of spirits.
So just as US barbecue smokers have settled on these shores in the hippest places along with mega hoppy craft beers, so used bourbon casks are being imported in significant numbers to help our brewers age their ales – and mixologists their cocktails. While the larger, used bourbon barrels are judged better for beer, while smaller, new oak barrels suit cocktails aging.
Step forward Nathaniel de Ferne – Nate for short – bar manager at Kosmonaut in the Northern Quarter, who is having immense fun with dinky little barrels, transforming six classic cocktails into something rich and strange.
Each drink will spend 28 days in a small oak cask to mature. The chosen tipples tell the story of the evolution of the cocktail from before and after the prohibition era. They are in this chronological order – the Martinez (circe 1860), Martini (c 1900), Negroni (c 1919), Boulevardier (c 1927) Brooklyn (c 1930) Vieux Carre (c 1933).
The charred American oak barrel, containing 25 or so cocktail measures will not be washed out in between developments. Instead, the flavours of the previous drink will be allowed to seep into the wood and into the newest cocktail it accommodates. The progression is from gin base, through whiskey to cognac.There will be a rolling rota of these over the next six months with each cocktail costing £8.50.
Barrel aging affects pre-mixed cocktails in two ways. The cask imparts flavour from the tannins, smoke from the char and general oak notes, a process known as extraction. Secondly, the ingredients interact with the air, during which time the molecules from the different ingredients mesh together to create a smoother drink. This is known as oxidisation.
Hipsters from New York to Portland can’t get enough of the result. Cocktail guru and arch exponent of barrel aging Jeffrey Morgenthaler from Oregon says: “In a good barrel-aged cocktail, you can still taste the drink, but it’s more integrated, with oaky flavors of vanilla and caramel.”
Nate told me: “Following in the footsteps of great bartenders such as Tony Conigliaro (an associate of Morgenthaler, who runs 69 Colebrook Row in Islington) I decided to create a series of Barrel Aged Cocktails. By applying modern techniques I hope to create a blend of the old and the new, with a little taste of history in each cocktail.”
Is our homegrown project working the magic? I was fortunate enough to arrive at the Tarriff Street bar just as No.3, the Negroni, was unleashed on the world. Equal parts powerful potato-based Cold River gin, vermouth and Campari, it tasted mellow and orangey. I was less sure if the Gin Martini had benefited greatly from the process, apart from acquiring a slightly sherryish tinge and slight sweetness. Maybe it needs more time.
The first of the cocktails tasted was the revelation, displaying real spirituous harmony. This Martinez, made from equal parts of Warner Edwards Dry Gin and Cocchi de Torino sweet vermouth with a dash of maraschino, retained a hint of sweetness while offering a beguiling complexity and length.
I’m looking forward to the rest of the batch but also to tracing the development of that initial trio and their successors. What a fascinating time for innovative ways with alcohol.
Kosmonaut, 10 Tariff Street, Manchester M1 2FF.