Perfume cocktails help diversify bar scene

Tapping into the power of perfume, the bravest bartenders are making the most of the world’s most famous scents by combining them with carefully crafted cocktails – providing another dimension to drinks innovation, writes Tom Aske.

The trend of perfume cocktails has been gaining traction in high end bars

The human body has one of the most complex and efficient olfactory systems of any creature on Earth. Its ability to distinguish between a multitude of aromas before categorising them and presenting them to us as images only begins to scratch the surface of its full capacity.

Our foraging ancestors would rely heavily on their sense of smell to determine which fruits, herbs or flowers were ingestible as well as to assess the freshness of meat or fish. As we grow and experience all of the scents available to us we build a directory of flavours which we can visualise and distinguish from a mere distant whiff.

These aromas are transformed into images through a complex series of signals that begin in the nasal cells through ingestion of odorant molecules either by the traditional orthonasal method or retronasal through mastication. As these odorant compounds are acknowledged it triggers a selection of receptors relating to the specific aroma – it is these specific receptors that are translated into a flavour image by the olfactory bulb.

Memory trigger

Aromas therefore have the ability to be transferred into memories. We all have different aromas that take us back to a particular time or place; whenever I smell tomato vines I am immediately transported back to my late granddad’s greenhouse where I used to water the vines as a child.

The aroma of tomato vine has permanently and irreversibly planted this image and memory into my mind, triggering an emotional connection to the scent itself. Perfumes are one of the most recognisable commercially-produced scents, creating a bridge of emotions which now bartenders are beginning to exploit. The world’s best bartenders are working with perfume both as a flavour enhancer, mood modifier and in the recreation of recognisable scents in a consumable form.

The Worship Street Whistling Shop worked with scent experts Scentair to create a series of aromas relating to the history of gin. Each aroma would be dispensed through an electric diffuser filling the room with aromatics. Bonfire aromas would be used to provoke images of 18th century dram shops with their open fires and loggerheads at the ready. Patchouli blanc represented mid-20th century aftershaves, the likes of which would have been worn by the patrons of The Savoy whilst sipping on their Martinis.

Givenchy partnered with The Hotel Café Royal in London to create a selection of scents-inspired cocktails

Sensual innovation

In 2009 Tony Conigliaro of 69 Colebrooke Row fame led the perfume trend by developing the No.5 Champagne Cocktail. Aromas key to Chanel No.5 were extracted and presented in a consumable form allowing the guests to experience the iconic scent through taste rather than aroma alone. This bridged the gap between the art of the perfumer and the distiller, allowing for an expression created by the bartender.

Alex Kratena and his award-winning team at the Artesian Bar are firm advocates of perfume in cocktails and agree with this theory. “Cocktails are like perfumes; they can take you to different places and time in an instant,” Kratena says. The utilisation of perfume in cocktails is something Kratena has spent many months researching, even working closely with the Grasse Institute of Perfumery. It was this experience that also highlighted the delicacy required when using such a concentrated aromatic. “Obviously as bartenders it is important to take the flavour intensity of perfume into consideration, given perfumes are highly concentrated,” Kratena adds.

Emotional response

For that reason it’s rare to see these compounds used directly in drinks due to their bitterness and potential to overpower any other flavours. However it is clear that perfumes have an ability, like any other aroma, to instil an emotional response.

Paul Matthew, director of bar consultancy Blood and Sand, owner of The Hide Bar and The Arbitrager in London, explains: “Familiar perfumes can conjure up all sorts of emotions, so they’re a great way of bringing more to the drink than the sum of its parts. An aroma can draw you into the flavours of the drink, whether through a mist on the surface, on a garnish or even the glass itself, or by using the components of perfume – the essential oils and distillates that enable you to capture flavours not traditionally found in mixed drinks.”

World-renowned perfumers are also seeing the benefits of linking with cocktail culture, with Givenchy recently partnering with The Hotel Café Royal in London to create a selection of cocktails that represent their signature scents.

Berlin’s Ritz-Carlton hotel opened Fragrances, a bar providing a selection of perfumes paired with cocktails.

Commerical success

Tiziano Tasso, who headed the team that partnered with Givenchy, says: “Givenchy came to us to start a collaboration; they wanted to pair seven cocktails with seven fragrances called L’Atelier de Givenchy. The challenge was enthralling as many items used to make the perfumes were complex to transform into a cocktail.” This concept is seeing commercial success with perfume-inspired cocktails becoming some of the most popular sold within the bar, driven by brand and aroma recognition combined with the desire to try something innovative and thought-provoking.

This new wave of aroma arousal is not only restricted to the cocktail capital of London; last summer Berlin’s Ritz-Carlton hotel opened Fragrances, a bar providing a selection of perfumes by iconic designers paired with cocktails. Guests are invited to sniff out their favourite of 15 fragrances on offer, from Guerlain to Giorgio Armani, and select a corresponding cocktail based on their emotional response. For instance, La Nuit de L’Homme by Yves Saint Laurent, is a blend of lavender-infused Tanqueray 10, rhododendron sake, fresh lemon, and vanilla-vetiver-patchouli-grapefruit-eucalyptus syrup.

Encourages curiosity

Arnd Heissen, bar manager of Fragrances says: “In the choice of their favourite cocktails, our guests depend entirely on their senses, an experiment which demands courage and curiosity on the part of the guests but which at the same time can be unbelievably inspiring.”

The trend is in its infancy with clearly no visible boundary as to where it could lead. Fragrances offer extensive creative areas for bartenders to explore and this is certainly something that we will see become more prevalent across the industry. The importance of aroma and the delivery of this through the perfumer and distiller sees these industries merge with the bartender becoming the catalyst that brings this evolutionary trend to the consumer.