Philip Duff, of Dutch liquor houseBols fame, and now owner of the firstspeakeasy in Amsterdam was the brainsbehind organizing the symposium in2005. Philip has trained more than8,000 bartenders around the world notonly in the art of fine bartending, butthe craft of MM. His view on MM is sim-ple: it is still bartending, just a specialistversion of advanced bartending.Molecular Mixology can be as hard oras simple as you make it. Philip is one ofthe most recognizable and prolific bar-tenders in the field of MM in the worldand continues to push the envelope atdoor 74 in downtown Amsterdam.How about a Carpano brulee’d foamon a Rowan’s Creek Manhattan withbitters flamed through a little blow-torch?

Eben Klemm’s role in MM actuallystarted long before his move to bar-tending. Originally a MolecularBiologist at MIT in Boston, Eben turnedhis hand to bartending and fell furtherstill into the MM scene. His background

at MIT and thirst for pushing theboundaries of cocktail culture has influ-enced his innovative combinations andtechniques, playing not just with flavorbut also with form and perception. Hisexperimental nature has lead him tobecome Director of CocktailDevelopment for B.R. GuestRestaurants/James Hotels, a New YorkCity-based collection of concept restau-rants, lounges and boutique hotels. Heoversees not only all the training forbartenders and staff but also the devel-opment of the group’s specialty drinks.

They say that chefs influence whatbartenders do in the bar, and when itcomes to MM this cannot be more true.Eben Freeman began working with afew burgeoning chefs that were tinker-ing in the art of Molecular Gastronomyand began to take some of the con-cepts and ideas they were using andapplying them to the bar. His combina-tions of flavors, textures, and tempera-tures have made him a householdname in MM and his role as BarManager at wd-50 in New York hasbrought MM to the masses. His maingoal is to show the simplicity of MMand give the customers an exemplaryexperience. Most recently he was com-missioned by Bacardi to create theMojito of the future. His example is amixture of lime and mint flavoredspheres suspended in a Bacardi, soda,and xanthum gum liquid.

Martin Lange and Dustin Davis ofSling Lounge in Brisbane, Australiahave brought MM down under andtaken it to the extreme. Their list of 350cocktails has a section of about 30 thatare completely devoted to the art ofMM, and the first Tuesday of everymonth they hold an intimate seatingfor their cocktail degustation menu.They practice all forms of MM except

for the lasers, which in Martin’s opinionis too expensive for the final results.Items that stand out on their MM list aredeconstructed classics such as theDeconstructed Hemingway Daiquiriand the Bloody Mary in different tem-perature layers. The locals haveresponded so positively that the bargoes through three liter canisters oftheir signature Kaffir Lime and PickledGinger foam a week. Both Martin andDustin are pushing the envelope of MMin Brisbane and think that it will proba-bly plateau soon, which they feel willbe a good thing as it will have time tomature and become more user-friendly.

New Mexico may not particularlyseem like a place where you wouldusually find a Molecular Mixologist atwork, but head to La Casa Sena CellarLounge in Santa Fe and you’ll find ChrisMilligan creating something new forhis clientele. Chris thinks that MM willone day be like any other aspect of thetrade, similar to flair or bar magic. Hebelieves that bartenders will find a wayto use these practices in everyday lifeand almost “pick and choose” whatworks for them, very similarly to how abartender breaks flair into “workingflair”. At Chris’s bar though, he dazzlesguests with textures and sensations.Jellies, foams, sorbets and caviars tophis list for giving his guests somethingthey can’t get anywhere else.

TONY CONIGLIARO EBEN CLEMM EBEN FREEMAN

PHILLIP DUFF

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GIN AND TONIC BY EBEN FREEMAN