Kansas City Food Blog

​The concept of molecular mixology is not as well known as molecular gastronomy -- likely because of some combination of a non-equivalent marketing push (think what Top Chef did for molecular gastronomy), the public's resistance to double-digit prices on cocktails and a bunch of bartenders who choose to make drinks without labeling the process.

Tales of the Cocktail 2009 explores a lecture on how influential molecular mixology is in relation to the history of cocktails. It's an interesting breakdown of how the elements of a drink (aroma, texture) mesh with the environmental factors at a bar to create the taste experience.

Molecular mixology was the hot new trend in 2006, as bartenders experimented with how science might be brought behind the bar. New York restaurant WD-50 broke the Jell-O mold by turning jell-shots into paper. In 2008, Cointreau released a kit for turning its orange liqueur into caviar pearls. Molecular mixology didn't really catch on, but it's still cool to watch this video of a cucumber being vacuum-infused with a vodka martini.   

Here in town, your best places to witness the happy marriage of science and drinking are The Drop and Manifesto. As to why molecular-inspired drinks aren't popping up everywhere, Camper English of Alcademics offers up the idea that molecular mixology might ultimately be more about aesthetics than ingredient manipulation:

"Molecular is just a way of thinking" about drinks, rather than a specific set of techniques, writes English.

And that gets to the heart of why molecular mixology is not a widely used concept. In many cases it's more ethereal than using liquid nitrogen or turning an ingredient into foam. And drinkers have always had a hard time talking about our feelings.

[Image via Flickr: the delicious life]