Beyond The Bloody Mary, Here Are Some Savoury Cocktails That Are Sheer Sophistication
For many of us, savoury cocktails have for long been about mixing vodka and tomato juice to craft a rich, tangy bloody mary. Yet, beyond this cocktail, there are other concoctions which are just as flavourful and filled with remarkable umami flavours. From a smoked vodka rasam cocktail to a michelda, cocktails with savoury touches bring forth robust flavours that come from herbs, vegetables, hot sauce and egg yolk with a lot of style and sophistication. These savoury cocktails showcase an interesting interplay between umami, acidic and spicy flavours.
Bloody Caesar: The national Canadian cocktail, this one is prepared by bringing together clamato juice, which is essentially clams and tomatoes with vodka and hot sauce. Along with the clams, what also infuses a briny, sea-like touch into the savoury cocktail is a celery and sea salt rim. These flavours put an oceanic twist on the classic structure of the bloody mary.
Michelada: This Mexican favourite is a beer-based cocktail complete with the robust flavours of lime juice, hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce. The salt rim which acts as a garnish for this cocktail further enhances its savoury touch, with just a little bit of saline style.
Smoked Vodka Rasam Cocktail: Across trendy Indian bartending spaces in Bangalore, Goa and Hyderabad, the rasam cocktail is garnering a lot of popularity for its balance of tangy, acidic and spicy flavours. It brings together the classic southern Indian spicy and tangy soup called rasam with vodka and a curry leaf garnish in a martini cocktail glass. The reddish-orangish drink carries a lot of flavour complexity — embodied in the rasam’s spicy tang.
Curry Leaf Gin Sour: Another desi take on savoury cocktails, the curry leaf gin sour works because the herb lends the drink an earthy, aromatic depth which is balanced out by citrusy lime juice and an egg white foam. Served in a short rocks glass, this savoury drink maintains a sophisticated quality, with clear flavours and an exquisite regional touch.
Evidently, what makes savoury cocktails popular among patrons is this umami-rich flavour that is presented in chic, stylish and rather sophisticated ways. Each flavour in these cocktails becomes more pronounced when it is blended using techniques that lead to structured and robust layers. Here are some of these flavour-building techniques useful for making vegetable-forward cocktails:
Roasting And Caramelisation: For Veggie Depth
While adding vegetables like beetroot, carrots or tomatoes to savoury cocktails, roast them lightly to release some of their smoky-sweet, caramelised notes. The roasting technique makes the umami notes in cocktails more pronounced, taking the vegetables closer to complimenting the flavours of a rich and caramelised rum or a smoky whisky.
Cocktail Suggestion: Use this technique to craft the roasted beet negroni by stirring together roasted beet syrup into gin, vermouth and an Italian bitter aperitif of choice. The drink will carry robust flavours that come through in an elegant negroni coupé, maintaining cocktail sophistication.
Layering Method: For Herbal Aromas
This is a technique generally adopted for making cocktails infused with savoury herbs. Pair vegetables with aromatic herbs like tomatoes with basil or cucumbers with curry leaves to craft cocktails with pronounced vegetal notes and sharp structures that taste fresh but hardly salad-like.
Cocktail Suggestion: Make a tomato and curry leaf collins, balancing a vegetal, savoury freshness with a highball’s edge, to craft quite a chic savoury cocktail experience.
Also Read: Bloody Mary Cocktail Recipe: The Classic Tomato-Based Savoury Drink Explained
Fermentation And Pickling: For Acidic Undertones
Fermented vegetables like kimchi, pickled cucumber or a classic desi achar brine introduce a lot of tangy, briny and acidic layers into cocktails. These echo the sharp acidic edges and umami nuances that make-up bar quality, sophisticated savoury cocktails. Ferments or pickle juice have the potential to become the savoury, umami and sour highlight of the whole cocktail experience.
Cocktail Suggestion: Craft a pickled carrot martini cocktail using carrot pickle brine to rinse the cocktail glass. This will create a rather stylish savoury effect in the cocktail blend.
Key Takeaways:
– Beyond the bloody mary, cocktails like bloody caesar, michelada, smoked vodka and rasam cocktail and a curry leaf gin sour are some illustrations of umami-rich, savoury drinks.
– Out of the several techniques used for making sophisticated savoury cocktails, roasting and caramelisation, layering and fermenting are some well-known ones.
– These can be used for crafting cocktails like the roasted beet negroni, a tomato and curry leaf collins and a pickled carrot martini cocktail.
FAQs:
– Which are some of the cocktails, apart from the bloody mary, that contain savoury flavours?
The Canadian drink bloody caesar and the Mexican cocktail michelada are some popular drinks which embody savoury flavours.
– Which are a couple of savoury cocktails, with a desi flourish, that are becoming rapidly popular?
Cocktails such as the smoked vodka rasam cocktail or the curry leaf gin sour carry regional Indian nuances which have led to their growing popularity across trending Indian bartending spaces.
– How can drinks with savoury flavours maintain cocktail sophistication?
This is made possible when savoury and umami-rich cocktails present their flavours clearly, in all their complexity, through different techniques like roasting, layering or fermenting.
All cocktails listed use 30 ml liquor measurements for single serves. Drink Responsibly. This communication is for audiences above the age of 25.
