Cocktails: what is served in the most exclusive bars

If we were to draw an identikit of this summer’s cocktail, it would be a mix fresh, fruity, effervescent, surprising and, oddly enough, superhealthy and lower the alcohol. Or maybe a classic, like the Gin tonic or the Mojito.

Today Summum we have set out to discover which are the cocktail trends of the moment and the essential places to enjoy them. Some of them have not even opened their doors yet.

In Madrid, one of the best bars in the world

Salmon Master It is one of the most outstanding directions if we talk about mixology and we are looking for new fashions. In two years of existence, this Madrid bar has crept into the list of the hundred best bars in the world (liquid version of the media list The World’s 50 Best Restaurants). It has also won the award for the best cocktail menu in the Coaster Awards 2018.

Behind this project is the bartender Diego Cabrera, Argentine by birth and Madrid by adoption. A true heavyweight of the art of mixology. He himself tells us that the trend of the summer is light cocktails, refreshing and with little sugar.

What is there to order at Salmon Guru? Un Flower Power with tequila, cardamom tonic (prepared with a neutral alcohol base to extract aromas and flavors), lemon juice, cinnamon, cucumber, syrup and ginger beer.

The rebirth of vermouth

Vermouth is a true religion that currently enjoys a large number of followers. Especially in Spain, where it is the center of a social ritual that has gone from being “vintage” to being “cool”.

Cellar 1900, updated version of a traditional vermouth shop under the seal of Albert Adrià, has been able to interpret and reinforce this trend. Italian invention based on neutral white wine and endless herbs and spices, the vermouth It is also the base of milestones of the cocktail industry such as the Negroni or Dry Martini (the simply Martini).

One of the most famous cocktail bars in Barcelona, ​​the temple of the great Javier de las Muelas is called like this, Dry Martini, and has several embassies in Europe, Asia and America.

How to prepare the perfect Gin and tonic

Bubbles are the best allies if we demand freshness from a drink. Thats why he gin tonic It is a classic that never goes out of style. Mostly in summer!

A (versatile) mix of gin and tonic, this cocktail has its rules. To start with, you have to respect an order in the ingredients: first the gin, then the tonic using a twisted spoon to preserve the bubbles and finally the lemon peel (or the other ingredients). If it is true that the recipe depends on the tastes of each one, the correct proportions should be 5 cl of gin for every 20 cl of tonic.

Always use a balloon cup to serve it, as it allows you to enjoy the aromas of the drink and makes it cool less quickly. And no homemade ice, which melts quickly and absorbs freezer odors, better industrial ones.

There is a wide variety of premium gins on the market with a wide range of properties and characteristics. One of our latest discoveries is Nº3 London Dry Gin, a gin created by the world’s only gin distillation doctor, Dr. David Clutton; the perfect alidade to prepare Negronis, Dry Martinis and the authentic and perfect gin and tonic.

Marbella: journey to the center of liquid trends

Surprising in both form and content and healthy, meaning with natural ingredients and little or even zero alcohol.

En BiBo, one of the star chef’s restaurants Dani Garcia in Marbella, they are very clear about where the shots go in the cocktail bar. From its bar come proposals such as Dragon’s heart, a smooth cocktail inspired by dragon legends that features gin, grapefruit, red dragon fruit and tonic. The most demanded.

Among the non-alcoholic options we find the Brazilian Carnival with pineapple, shrub (a preparation based on fruit, sugar and vinegar) of blackberry, banana, coconut and lime and the Field of roses with jasmine green tea syrup and citrus fruits, strawberry, lime, hibiscus and soda of grapefruit.

Behind the Mexican track

Cocktails are one of the pillars of Cascabel Room, a XNUMXst century treat located in the middle of Calle Serrano. Second business line of Roberto Ruiz, chef of the splendid Mexican haute cuisine restaurant MX point, and your team, Cascabel Room Aligns itself with the summer trend, including fresh, light proposals with a citrus touch in its menu.

Classic Margarita (with Traditional Tequila reposado, orange and lime liqueur) or Margaret Roadrunner (with Traditional Tequila reposado, orange liqueur, passion fruit, lime) are some of them. Ideal for the summer, the non-alcoholic cocktails like Morra Fresa, with strawberry, lime and agave honey. Of course, if you want to get to the point and savor Salón Cascabel in a single drink, what they recommend trying is the bell, with artisan mezcal espadín, chipotle smoked by themselves, tamarind, agave honey, mango and lime.

Tea, a new essential in liquid cooking

El theIt has crept, little by little and perhaps against all odds, into the bartenders’ pantry. In addition to providing flavor, it also confers a healthy touch to the mix.

Some already dare to go a step further, using for their cocktails la kombucha, a tea drink sweetened and fermented thanks to the action of a fungus called SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast) or simply kombucha mushroom. Difficult because of its taste and aroma, kombucha is one of the standard bearers of the fashion of the fermented ones, a food of high probiotic value, to which traditional Chinese medicine attributes purifying, energizing and antioxidant properties.

It is a drink rich in vitamins, amino acids, enzymes and organic acids that are beneficial for health. A surprising choice and right to give cocktails a healthy twist. By the way, there is another fermented one that some are betting could become a trend in bars: kefir, the fermented milk drink that is going strong among foodies around the world.

Yuzu, the trendy exotic citrus

If summer can’t do without fresh and fruity cocktails, The citrus They are the ones who rule. Among the fashionable citrus fruits in the most exclusive bars we find the yuzu.

Of Chinese origin, but Japanese by adoption, the yuzu is probably a hybrid of the mandarin. It is bitter, orange in color and full of seeds. Its strong point is the aroma, with notes of cloves and oregano.

Sweet, but without sugar

Companies that high temperatures (and the fact that sugar has become the new baddie of the movie) force to look for alternatives. On a bar counter, but not alone.

La stevia It is one of the options if we do not want to give up sweets, but we do want to give up calories. It is a natural sweetener that is extracted from a native South American plant, Stevia rebaudiana. For centuries, stevia has been used to sweeten mate in its area of ​​origin and more recently it has also been positioned on this side of the world.

La advantage of this sweetener is that up to 300 times sweeter than sugar and supposedly does not contain calories. Some antioxidant and therapeutic properties are also attributed to it. The flaw? Its flavor, almost liquorice, does not usually go unnoticed.

Sangrías “limited edition”

Sangria is probably not a milestone in international mixology, but with the right tweaks, can become the perfect cocktail for this summer: it is refreshing, effervescent and fruity.

The fusion restaurant Bacira makes three versions of this versatile Spanish drink. The ink with dried orange, cinnamon, brandy and Cointreau. The White with white vermouth, passion fruit, sugar, mint and soda. The Bubbly with cava, gin, apple syrup, lime and grape juice. Three indents of Limited Edition that will be on the menu only until the arrival of autumn.

Viva Madrid: the next fashion address

It opens its doors at the end of this month of August and aims to become the new trendy cocktail bar.

Long live Madrid It is the ambitious project in which he is involved at the moment Diego Cabrera: the reopening of one of the most mythical taverns in the capital, a protected premises from 1856 located in the heart of the Huertas neighborhood.

Apart from the name, this “Unusual tavern” divided into two spaces and remodeled by interior designer Lázaro Rosa-Violán inherits from its ancestor unique pieces such as the original siphons, which come back to life for the occasion.

The project also has the advice of the Belgian journalist and writer François Monti, who for years has been conducting research on the history of the cocktail. One of the objectives of Viva Madrid is to recover classic cocktails and give it back the space it deserves. Classic cocktails are more than ever in fashion.