End of may Luis Inchaurraga won the trophy that accredits him as the best bartender in Spain and in just ten days he faces another major challenge: competing in the World Class Competition, the world championship of the specialty, which is held in Madrid between 5 and 7 July.
Nervous about the challenge? “I don’t know if the word is nervous” -explains this Argentine by birth but living in Spain since 1998-. Perhaps the most appropriate term would be ‘expectant’, because it is a final and a great responsibility ”.
Inchaurraga is the head bartender of the three Madrid establishments of the Zoko group, but his most creative and visible work is exercised in Krápula, where he is in tandem with chef Javi Álvarez. “When Krápula was set up they gave me the opportunity to participate in the development of the bar, in the selection of personnel and the creation of manuals and operations. And with Javi I empathized from the first minute. In these two years, we have both done a very intense job learning from our respective areas. In my case, to be able to link the cocktails in a finer way to the work he does in the kitchen. And he, the other way around ”.
From that symbiosis they have been born classic drinks like Tunarrita (“A tuna margarita for which I had to soak up the whole process of Almadraba tuna, one of the star dishes of the group,” he explains) or the Krápula (“A smoked cocktail with a spicy touch that we serve in a cement cup and that represents the identity of the group”).
But Luis Inchaurraga wouldn’t be in this section if it were only for his skills as a bartender. It is because he is also a student of the world of cocktails and spirits and a seasoned entrepreneur. And twice.
First of all, it has a genuine bartending school in Madrid called House of Mixology. “I bought an abandoned warehouse on Téllez street and there I set up a ‘bar-loft’ with a kitchen and a spectacular six-meter bar,” he explains with undisguised pride. The concept of the courses he teaches there, short and for small groups, is simple: simulate in the most realistic way possible that the student is not in a class, but working in a bar. “The courses last five days, in them we explain absolutely everything and integrate the student in a real environment through a role-play by which he becomes a bartender that I hire to open the premises.”
The groups are only of five students and of the most heterogeneous. “They have come from people who did not even know what a bottle of Tanqueray or J&B was, to owners of premises and professionals with a lot of knowledge but who had never taken a course that organized their ideas.”
Of the two groups, Inchaurraga prefers the first: “It is easier to teach a person who does not know anything because he does not have vices, while those who already know and have a certain technique, you have to correct errors such as postures or the way in which bat. The neophyte is a blank canvas! ”.
His other business also has to do with drinks. Together with other partners, it produces and distributes in Spain your own Armagnac, which is called Rabastas, like D’Artagnan’s horse. “I was led to this crazy thing by a school student, an Argentine who lives in France and who has his own distillery in Armagnac,” he explains. I knew this type of brandy, but I was not a scholar. He invited me to his house to get to know the product and from there we established a professional relationship: my job was to open the market in Spain and now it is sold here ”.
Due to his constant search for new flavors and techniques, Inchaurraga is passionate about travel. “Because of my connection with Rabastas I travel a lot to the French Gascony and I take the opportunity to get to know the flavors of the region. It’s not just about soaking up the liquors, but the flavors, because with the right technique any flavor can be turned into a cocktail. And in that incessant search for flavors, Inchaurraga confesses in love with Mexico (“With a huge culture of agape distillates”), England, Scotland and the United States.
Precisely there, in the Kentucky Bourbon Distilleries, originates from the cocktail with which he triumphed in the Spanish final of the World Class Competition: El abrazo de Bulleit. “It was about surprising with something that went beyond the canons of what a cocktail is. To do this I relied on this type of bourbon and, from it, began to add layers of flavor, some very crazy, like clay or a toasted butter syrup. And then, as I am very fascinated with the theme of harmonies and pairings, I decided to include a snack and a surprise shot ». The result is a marvel of technique and sophistication that is already available in Krápula.
But Inchaurraga insists that its cocktails are, above all, traditional. “It has its roots in the science of classic cocktails,” he confirms, “although there is a very avant-garde part of me that tries to surprise, but always with my feet on the ground. Because if you do something very freaked out and the client doesn’t understand it, it’s useless ”.
And what does a bartender drink? “It depends on the moment –He says- One day it can be an Old Fashioned, another a Negroni with mezcal or a Tanqueray with tonic. According to the mood. As with food: as a good Argentine, I am a lot of meat, but within that one day I feel like a cut and another day ”. If he wins the World Class Competition, he has not yet decided what drink he will celebrate it with. ”The day we won the Spanish edition there were no cocktails. We opened a bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue Label and half fell among those of us. ” And the other half? Hopefully July 7.