It’s no surprise that flavour is the linchpin of any decent drink and most of us spend a lot of our time ensuring that our flavours are not only balanced but also appealing. Whether you are creating a bitter, a sweet or a sour-style drink, using ingredients we know will work is often our go-to move.
That started us think about what would happen if you were to use a flavour ingredient that is not typically found behind the bar. There are a number of ingredients and flavours that are common in cooking but that do not often get translated into drinks.
To start, you would not only need to understand the nature of the ingredient itself but also how it will mix and play with other things. You would need to question what flavour elements it has that would work well with the spirits, liqueurs, syrups and bitters you might want to incorporate.
Since using an unusual ingredient in a drink would create a bit of a challenge (especially to do it well), we thought it might be something that bartenders could have fun experimenting with. It serves to not only flex a bartender’s flavour muscles but it can also be a bit of an education and encourage us all to think differently about what we combine in our drinks.
The first bartender to take our challenge is Lou Dare from Burrow Bar in Sydney and we gave him the task of creating a drink with the East Asian liquid condiment of Chinese origin, Soy Sauce.
“With a deep, earthy, salty, umami flavour, Soy Sauce is a really interesting ingredient to work with,” said Dare. “It’s an ingredient that I’ve never worked with before and I’ll be honest, it was a little challenging but I had a lot of fun.
“I’ve called my creation F.I.G.J.A.M in honour of one of my favourite bands from Brisbane, which is where I’m from and it has Soy Sauce, Fig Jam, Mezcal, Pineapple-infused Chartreuse and Lemon Juice
Dare explains the final result as a really intense fruit-forward flavour at the start coming from the Fig and the Pineapple Chartreuse. “The Mezcal really rounds things out and gives a beautiful astringency and a little bit of smoke.
“Surprisingly, the Soy comes through at the end,” he continues. “I would have thought it would have hit me at the start but the Soy gives a beautiful salted finish – think a subtle Margarita or something like that. So I’m actually really excited about this.”
Now with the first challenge complete it is up to Dare to pass the challenge on. “Now that the task is done and I feel like I topped it, I have to throw down the gauntlet and I am going to challenge my contemporary, my housemate and a dear friend, Mr Paris Hilton. You’ve got Kimchi, buddy. Enjoy”
F.I.G.J.A.M Cocktails
Ingredients
10ml Lemon Juice
1 barspoon Fig Jam
2 barspoon Soy Sauce
25mls Pineapple-infused Chartreuse
35mls Mezcal
Instruction.
Add all the ingredients to a julep cup and stir to incorporate. Add crushed ice, and stir again. Add a final heap of crushed ice.
