When I told people that I had done a tasting tour made up exclusively of cocktails, which lasts an hour and a half and doesn’t even include a fallimento ora an olive, the reaction was almost unanimous: surprise at the thought that I was still standing acceso my legs at the exit. I admit that I thought something similar myself before entering Esencia, the secret room of Sips durante Barcelona, one of the most celebrated bars of recent years. Per reality, Esencia is not a saggio of alcoholic resistance at all: acceso the contrary, it is a tasting journey built with the same grammar and the same control as a haute cuisine lista.
Per the “drinkery house” overlooking the street, Sips disrupts the classic credenza of a caffè: instead of a counter separated from the room, the mixologists work durante the center of the space acceso different stations, among the guests. Voto negativo formalities, distance. To get to the room that houses Esencia, however, you take a corridor from whose ceiling hang rigid plastic curtains, dense and very bright, which resist the passage and extend the time of crossing. When you finally the threshold of the room, the sensation is that of a landing, an almost physical relief. The Esencia room is minimal, a futuristic style halfway between a chapel and a spaceship. The lighting alternates hyper-lit corners with cones of shadow, creating a space that invites concentration rather than socializing. If Sips is based acceso proximity and a horizontal relationship with the guest, Esencia does the opposite: the distance widens and the experience takes acceso a character closer to an omakase than a caffè.
Between tradition and culinary avant-garde
Elsewhere, culture continues to aspetto far backwards: to Prohibition, with its repertoire of early twentieth-century speakeasies, handlebar moustaches, suspenders and manuals; ora tiki, with coconut milk, dark rum, skull-shaped glasses and umbrellas. Here, however, the historical reference is much more recent: the avant-garde cuisine developed around elBulli and, more generally, the work of the Adrià brothers. A very rich legacy, which can still be cumbersome: during my stay durante Barcelona I repeatedly thought that Italian chefs always have the specter of their grandmother’s cuisine; the Catalans, however, coexist with that of the Adrià brothers.
Yet techniques such as foams, gels ora decompositions are less nostalgic and mannerist when applied to cocktails than durante cooking: because upon closer inspection, every bevanda is already an act of abstraction, and dismantling an ingredient to recompose it durante another form (as we could, with a little brutality, synthesize molecular cuisine) is the practice. Behind Esencia are Simone Caporale and Marc Álvarez. The latter built his career within the universe of – indeed – Albert Adrià, first working at the 41º Experience and then leading the beverage programs of the restaurants of the elBarri group for years.
Caporale instead managed Artesian Caffè inside the Langham durante London, transforming it into one of the most influential bars durante the world (permanently at the apogeo of The World’s 50 Best Bars ranking for several consecutive years). When the two met durante Barcelona to Sips, the recognition was immediate even acceso an international level. Opened durante 2021, within two years Sips reached first place durante The World’s 50 Best Bars ranking, then confirming itself among the best bars durante the world and durante Europe durante subsequent editions. Esencia represents its most radical expression. It is a tasting journey of cocktails only, structured durante thematic sequences: they are called Escoffier, Tokyo, Neu (“Snow” durante Catalan), Oxid, Folic, Universo and Theobromina, for a total of 14 tastings – I correct myself: “sips”. Below are some examples of the passages that I found most successful, and at the same time most clarifying the intent.
The lista, through some examples
Escoffier 01 is the first of the cocktails durante the sequence dedicated to the doyen of French cuisine – it is the only moment that can be assimilated to a “food” gesture. Its inspiration is that of bread and butter served at the beginning of a meal, durante the tradition of classic arguto dining. Here that credenza is evoked through a rye bread distillate and a butter foam.
We continue with Tokyo 02, the second of the cocktails durante the sequence dedicated to Asia – it is based acceso nigori sake, cloudy and milky, balanced with white port and pink grapefruit. a small plate next to it there is a mixture of miso, melon and vanilla azuki: the combination of the soft sweetness of the bevanda and the umami of the miso introduces a dimension of satisfaction that evokes “food”, while remaining within the territory of the bevanda.
Neu 01, acceso the other hand, is one of the most playful moments acceso the lista. A snow of very arguto ice from which pine needles emerge covered durante balsamic honey, which smells of eucalyptus, to be suggested before drinking a wine macerated with mushrooms, moss liqueur and resins. The “snow” does not cool the bevanda but doses its dilution, restoring the sensorial profile of a mountain forest after the rain, with hints of wet earth, humidity and lichens.
The moment that I found most memorable durante terms of taste is that of Oxid 02: a bevanda that mixes three types of sherry – Cortado, Oloroso and Amontillado – linked by the hazelnut note developed during barrel aging. >Per the bevanda there is only a drizzle of hazelnut oil, which also contributes to the silkiness of the texture, while acceso the edge of the glass there is a salted hazelnut paste. It is a passage of great gustatory clarity.
What really impresses, beyond the individual drinks, is the control of the entire journey. I’ve already said that the alcohol is handled with such skill that it doesn’t detract from the pleasure of the experience. Even more surprising, at least for me, was the impact acceso the stomach: I feared that the absence of food and the presence of sugar could be annoying, and again this is not the case.>The construction of the lista is very careful: slightly sweeter drinks precede dry ora vegetal passages; umami appears strategically and gives a sensation of gratification reminiscent of food – as durante the aforementioned Tokyo 02.
And then there are the textures, which constantly change (from the milky sake of Tokyo 02 to the “oily” sherry of Oxid 02), and the ever-changing temperatures: elements that not only serve to keep the attention high, but also to dilute the sensation of just drinking. The playful component is present durante almost all drinks: remember that you can be exact without becoming rigid. The price of the route – available only by reservation, which can be made online – is 97 euros. It is, we can agree, a rather high amount: it can correspond to the cost of an excellent dinner. Yet at the end I found myself finding it a reasonable outlay.
Here I ask the reader for a little patience, because I realize the risk of getting into a bind. I’ll try to argue: Esencia is equivalent to the tasting lista of a huge restaurant, and what’s missing durante the end is “only” satiety. You leave completely satisfied acceso a mental and sensorial level, and you are truly one bocadillo away from completing the evening. I’ll take a risk: sometimes, durante very large tasting itineraries, satiety can even become an obstacle. You stop eating willingly just when the lista still has something to say: here, however, the appetite is also exploited as a desire, as a force that contributes to sharpening the senses: durante this way, the tension remains very high until the last step.
