A Bartender’s Insight into the Techniques, Bars and Cocktails Shaking It Up in Milan
- milanwomennetwork
- 1 day ago
- 8 min read
Who doesn’t love a good aperitivo in the heart of Milan? Especially when there’s so much more on offer than the usual Spritz and Negroni. Fellow MWN member, Eleonora, takes us through 3 of her favourite spots in Milan - while opening our eyes to the art and science behind the kind of cocktail that creates an unforgettable evening out. If the thought of aged and milk-clarified cocktails intrigues you, read on. And make sure to ask yourself these 4 questions before ordering your next refreshing drink.
Written by: Eleonora Berluti (bespoke cocktail catering)
I moved to Milan a year ago. And as someone with almost a decade of experience behind cocktail bars, Milan welcomed me with a plethora of unique experiences, tastes, drinks and possibilities.
Top-notch bars, with unique atmospheres and eye-catching decor, are more than just places ‘to grab a drink’. Behind the counter, work bartenders who’ve travelled the world and returned with knowledge of how to capture the essence of life in a drink. Almost like bottling seasons and sensations, kind of like how Willy Wonka would serve you a full meal in a single chewing gum.
But the difference here is that this whole sensory experience is brought to you in a Nick&Nora (a stemmed glass often used for Dry Martinis, Espresso Martinis and similar drinks).
In a city like Milan, going for a drink has grown too big to be confined to Pornstar Martinis, Skinny Bitches, gin and tonics and even Aperol spritzes.
At the same time, cocktail menus can feel intimidating.
Seeing ingredients like “hay,” “milk,” “yoghurt,” “pickles,” and sometimes even “fish” or “bacon fat,” combined with terms like “distillate,” “milk-clarified,” “carbonation,” and “fat-wash,” can quickly become overwhelming, even off-putting!
Sticking to what you know suddenly feels like the safest choice.
But let me be your trusted bartender and your guide on enjoying the best drinks in Milan.
My goal isn’t to only provide suggestions of top bars on where to drink (although you can trust my bar recommendations) - rather I want to help you understand what a drink can be - and guide you on how to make an informed, confident choice when faced with a confusing menu.
4 Questions I Ask Myself (As A Professional Bartender) Before Ordering A Cocktail
Understanding how to read a cocktail menu can change your cocktail experience if you know how to approach it. When I go through a cocktail menu, there are a couple of points I like to consider before making an educated decision.
1. What am I in the mood for?
Usually before dinner, I prefer something bitter, ‘herby’, possibly even savoury. Something complex.
After dinner, though, something sweet, something that will dance on my tongue and satisfy my sweet tooth.
It’s important to understand before ordering which overall flavour you’re in the mood for.
2. Is there something here that I won’t find anywhere else?
Sometimes a menu will offer drinks so unique (maybe in ingredients, maybe in technique) that you will not find them anywhere else. It’s literally the chance of a lifetime to sneak a taste.
I like to look for the rarest ingredients, the strangest processes or a combination of both that makes me think “oh, that can’t be good” just to order it, try it and hopefully be surprised.
3. What is the base spirit?
For me, this question is important to understand the body of the drink.
For someone else, this might be important for understanding whether a spirit might bring back certain unpleasant memories (Tequila is a fan-favourite here, used by many of us to get a little too drunk in their teens, and thus staying away from it as an adult!)
By the way, a little trick, similar to any ingredient list - the ingredients for cocktails are usually listed in decreasing order. This means that the cocktail contains the first ingredient in the largest quantity, and decreases down to the last ingredient on the list.
4. What are the supporting spirits?
The supporting spirits usually provide part of the heart of the cocktail. A taste that lingers.
A lot of the time it’s a liquor, a fortified wine or a bitter, but a regular spirit can also act like one.
Honestly, finding the ones you like is simply a process of trial and error. But here is a short list of common supporting spirits and what they offer:
– Mezcal: Similar to Tequila, Mezcal is a Mexican agave distillate adding a smokey character and an earthy depth
– Sherry: Spanish fortified wine that will bring notes of dried fruits, nuts and various spices.
- Orange Liquor / Triple Sec / Cointreau: Your favourite classics contain orange liquor featured in Cosmopolitans, Margaritas, Sidecars, Mai Tais. This liquor adds a sweet bitterness from oranges and an additional level of freshness to an already refreshing drinks.
- Vermouth: is another fortified wine with a lot of subcategories. Red and white vermouth, ambrato, dry. Red vermouth brings herby sweetness, while white vermouth brings dry, floral sweetness. (Not a scientific breakdown, but a decent starting point).
Then there are herbal liquors and bitters that are also often used to support the drink, but I feel like it’s very straight forward what they add.
Bases covered.
Let’s go for a drink.
And we’ll explore some stand-out drinks that I’ve tried, as well as some unusual processes to try for yourself.
My Favourite ‘Aged’ Cocktail in Milan
In March I went to a bar called Salmon Guru.
They are renowned for their distinct visual identity - funky style, a visual cacophony of cultural prints, tacky images, and overall, an aesthetically loud environment.
This is perfectly translated into their menu. It’s colourful, filled with interesting ingredients and - what I loved the most - a menu that explained the ingredients and the process in which the ingredients are processed.
I went through their vast selection of drinks and opted for a drink that satisfied my after-dinner need for sweetness, and yet was somewhat ‘exotic’.
And what I found was something I’d barely seen in Milan.
An aged cocktail, specifically using an aging process usually used for Spanish fortified wines called criaderas y soleras.
The cocktail is mixed in larger quantities before being put into an oak barrel and aged. This allows the drink to adopt some woody notes. Depending on what type of cask is used, different flavours can be incorporated for the drink. (As a side note, rum for example is often aged in bourbon barrels from the United States for reasons of effective lobbying, costs and/or the woody-vanilla-taste that can be transmitted this way)
The drink was basically a twist on a Negroni (Italian absolute aperitivo classic and a MUST TRY - go to Camparino in Galleria Vittorio Emmanuele II for this one) with equal parts of gin, Campari and red vermouth.
This version added tawny port and sherry - which are two fortified wines that add notes of plum, dried fig, walnus and a sweetness that I associate with winter and Christmas.
The drink was served in a flask laid on ice and a tiny, tiny stemmed glass.
Why?
Minimal dilution.
The drink is served as cold as possible, to maintain a temperature where alcohol is pleasurable to drink, while allowing the flavours to remain present.
To drink, you tipped a sip or two into the glass. As the drink warmed up ever so slightly, the notes of dried fruits and nuts became stronger.
The Process Of Milk-Clarification To Prepare Cocktails (And Where To Find The Best)
Old bartenders' wisdom is that milk and acids bind together and “split” the drink, and allow the drink to be filtered into an immensely elegant, transparent, velvety liquid.
When you order a milk-clarified cocktail, expect a drink that does not have a heavy top note, no strong smell, but that rather coats your tongue smoothly and allows a variety of flavours to develop in your mouth.
This type of drink will never be too acidic, too bitter or too strong. It will be balanced, and deceivingly easy to drink.
At the Doping Bar, hidden within the Aethos Hotel, the bartenders will place a drink in front of you called Chinatown.
It’s one of the drinks I love to go back for.
But why did I choose it in the first place?
Well, it was one of the days when dinner time for me wasn’t really definitive. So I was craving something neither savoury, bitter, nor necessarily sweet.
I wanted something right in the middle that would satisfy my pallet.
I also trust this bar implicitly. The menu of this season was inspired by the various neighborhoods of Milan. And Chinatown had a combination of ingredients I adored from the first time I laid my eyes upon it.
After a little chat I also understood that this drink is prepared in batches and then treated with coconut milk to render it clear.
And this is where our milk-clarification process comes into play. The coconut milk reacts with the acids of the rum, the tea, the vinegar, the strawberries and possibly some added lime juice or other added acids.
The base spirit is a Venezuelan rum, a full bodied, fruity, sweet rum.
A rum that I honestly love to suggest to people who are generally not rum drinkers (let’s get you out of your comfort zone), because of its fruity, oaky and light spice.
The supporting spirit is a Japanese bitter called Amaro Yuntaku - a mix of Japanese ingredients and Italian “Bitter” culture.
The drink is served in a simple glass with an ice sphere. It’s smooth, elegant, kind of shy in its expression of flavour - but so incredibly enjoyable to drink.
Why A Fat-Washed Cocktail Shouldn’t Put You Off
Fat and water don’t mix.
And neither do fat and alcohol.
But as you cook with oil and butter to deepen flavour, the same principle can be applied to your drink.
The fat is heated up, mixed with the drink and left to rest and cool down.
What does this do?
With this method you basically achieve two things - firstly, the flavour of the fat is transmitted to the alcohol without the structure breaking, and secondly, the texture of the drink becomes silkier, softer and rounder.
That is all the work of the fat.
Walking into Rita’s Tiki Room I wanted a drink that was fresh, sweet, boozy and flavourful - but not too heavy on the rum aroma as is characteristic of these drinks.
To be honest, I looked at the menu, but in the end asked the bartender for a recommendation.
I explained what I was looking for and he suggested The Polynesian Pearl Diver.
A classic tiki drink (a rum-based, tropical flavoured cocktail) which traditionally has an ingredient called Gardenia Mix, a combination of butter and spices - but in contemporary bartending, fat-washing the rum is not uncommon.
This cocktail is not unique to this bar, but is unique to tiki bars.
I think it’s a challenge to go into a normal cocktail bar and be served this drink.
Ordering a tiki drink often means you will be served a tropical-style drink that is based on rum, fruits, and syrups. They usually have a lot of ingredients that make it difficult to actually distinguish single ingredients.
I knew more or less what to expect, but I didn’t overanalyse it. I trusted the recommendation.
And The Pearl Diver surprised me!
It was indeed and unsurprisingly the combination of ingredients listed above. It was fruity, sour, rum-based but oh, it was velvety smooth. It was mellow and soft. It hugged me from the inside and gave me hope for summer on a cold evening.
In contrast to many other tiki drinks, The Pearl Diver didn’t shout. It wasn’t an overwhelming combination or a fruit salad dipped in rum. It was present, but polite.
This is what the fat does to a drink.
It renders it smooth and comforting. And definitely worth trying.
I hope my little monologue helps the next time you find yourself staring at a cocktail menu.
Don’t just read it, but explore it.
And if you are ever in need of guidance on where to drink, what to drink or even how to create your own signature drink, feel free to reach out.
I’m happy to share what I know about ‘everything cocktails and drinks’. Let’s connect on Instagram.
Proofread & Edited By: Ché Maria Milani
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