How a Paloma Milk Punch With a Koji Cocktail Rim Gets Made

Paradiso’s theatricality begins even before you enter the bar. He pulls a page out of the PDT book to reveal that the award-winning speakeasy is hidden behind a refrigerator door inside his humble pastrami shop in Barcelona’s El He Born district. According to owner and founder Giacomo Giannotti, Paradiso’s main focus is the “wow effect.”

As a bar constantly experimenting with new techniques, ingredients and flavors, it’s no surprise that Paradiso’s latest menu is inspired by the phenomenon of human evolution. “We believe in evolution, reinvention, sustainability and progress,” says Giannotti.

Months of work have resulted in a multi-sensory menu of 14 drinks inspired by the discoveries and inventions that defined evolution, from the first use of fire to more modern technological advances. . For example, one of his most innovative serves on the menu is a cocktail named Fleming, inspired by Alexander his Fleming, the doctor who discovered penicillin.

Given penicillin’s origins as an antibiotic, Giannotti and his team felt that guiding microbes in fermentation ingredients such as beer, miso, and kefir water would complement Paloma’s tangy, refreshing flavor. The drink retains the character of the tequila-based classic with grapefruit, except that it is served in Paradiso’s signature theatrical style.

At Fleming’s Base, the team infuses tequila with black miso overnight. It follows the theme of fermentation and introduces the salinity typically found in Paloma’s Salt his rims. Giannotti then adds grapefruit juice and grapefruit peel-infused kefir water before dry. add From there, Fleming evolves into something more complicated.

To clarify the base, Giannotti is inspired by ingredients common in Thai cuisine (lemongrass, makroot lime, lemon balm, ginger, coriander) and infused with them in a combination of coconut milk and rice milk. We turn our attention to achieve even more depth of flavor. Once infused, pour the base mixture over the heated milk and allow it to curdle overnight, then filter the mixture through cheesecloth for a clear, straw-colored drink.

Cocktails at this time A luscious, layered, elevated Paloma Milk Punch.The “wow effect”, as Giannotti calls it, is Fleming’s intricate rim. Giannotti said weeks of testing with different spores, yeasts and methods in his lab at Paradiso, a research center in Barr, led the team to the “perfect solution.” In a temperature and humidity controlled chamber until a ring can be cut to fit the rim of the glass precisely. The garnish looks like a hazy cloud wrapped around the edge. The unique spongy texture gives you a silky mouthfeel with every sip.

“As a team, we try to surprise ourselves before launching a new menu,” says Giannotti. With its lively garnish and complex flavor profile, Fleming has done just that.”Turning the impossible into the possible is what fascinates us.”