More bars to invest in high-tech machinery

More bars will be adopting high-tech practices to create cocktails over the next five to 10 years, a leading bartender has predicted.

Alex Kratena, head bartender of The Artesian in London, believes more bars in the future will start investing in high-tech machinery as in-house technology continues to push the boundaries of what bartenders can achieve with their drink.

Speaking to The Spirits Business, Kratena said: “Mixology is something people have a real passion about and if it helps them, then perhaps we will start seeing high-tech methods more over the next five to 10 years. I can definitely see it growing.”

High-tech equipment is allowing bartenders to achieve their “perfect vision”, such as the Computer Numerical Control machine used by Kratena at The Artesian – an industrial cutter used to produce perfectly round ice balls and carve intricate details.

“The machine executes what we want brilliantly,” said Kratena. “I know we would never achieve perfection otherwise.”

Not a gimmick

Users of high-tech methods, including centrifuges, carbonators, rotary evaporators (rotavaps) and liquid nitrogen, insist the primary reason behind these techniques is flavour, not as a gimmick to drive sales.

“It’s not a selling point,” said Zoe Burgess, who runs the Research and Development Laboratory London’s iconic “bar with no name” 69 Colebrooke Row, which uses a rotovap.

“Customers are more aware and ask questions, but primarily our focus is great service, great drinks and unique flavours. The equipment we use is simply a method to how we get there.

“If we can get the best flavour by cutting something, that’s what we’ll do.”