Savoury cocktails have taken the world by storm, and the Philippines is no exception—here, four of the country’s best bartenders share their take
Umami is a complex yet familiar sensation we often encounter in food— an essential character often referred to as “the fifth taste”. However, this savoury profile tends to take a back seat when it comes to beverages, long limited to polarising drinks such as the Bloody Mary or Dirty Martini. Fascinatingly, bartenders across the globe have increasingly embraced this flavour profile, resulting in cocktails such as the Cold Pizza from the famed Double Chicken Please (New York) and the Thai Beef Salad from The Savoury Project (Hong Kong), the recently-opened bar by the team behind Coa. Here, four top bartending talents in the Philippines share their take on the umami craze.
Mushroom
by Niko Tiutan, beverage director of ITO
“This is a riff on a cocktail we made before for our bottled cocktail brand called 35cl Cocktail Co. It’s an umami and fruit-forward drink that highlights shiitake mushrooms and apples.”
Ingredients
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1oz Sous vide shiitake mushroom sake
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0.5oz Filtered apple juice
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0.5oz Milky mushroom ferment
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3/8oz Tamarillo Cheong
Method
- Pour all ingredients into a shaker.
- Throw five times then serve in a short Collins glass with a cube of ice
Read more: Ito Space: A brave, new beverage concept
