His history “The bar spoon is one of the first utensils in the history of bartendingexplains Alessio Zenaro, a great scholar of cocktail culture and head bartender at the Bluebird, a must-see cocktail bar at 11e district of Paris. Its ancestor, the ”toddy stick”, looked like a fairly rustic long flat stick. 19th century bartenderse century used it to stir the bottom of large punch bowls. And then, at the same time as the cocktail evolved, the spoon changed: from wood it became metallic and, as if to fit better into the glass, its body became more refined. »
His anatomy The mixing spoon is divided into three parts with very distinct functions. The lower hollow part – whose capacity varies between 2.5 and 3 ml – allows you to play with the alcohol measurements and, if necessary, to correct the doses. In the center, a fine and long twist stretches over more than ten centimeters. Rolled between the thumb and middle finger above the glass, it allows the bartender to twirl the spoon between the ice cubes in order to homogenize the tastes and textures.
But it is at the end of the handle that we observe the most regional variations. On the mixing spoons of the Old Continent, a steel disc acts as a pestle to crush sugar or express aromatic herbs; in the American version, a small soft plastic cap protects the tip and prevents injuries; in Japan, a country of precision, the teardrop-shaped upper part serves as a counterweight to offer greater ease of handling.
The mixing spoon is to the bartender what the chopstick is to the conductor: an indispensable tool for achieving excellence.
Mixing spoonbetween €19 and €42.
David Lebovitz’s Manhattan
Ingredients for 1 glass
- 45ml cognac
- 45 ml of red cap corse
- 8ml Grand Marnier
- 1 dash of Angostura Bitters (bitters)
- 1 twist of orange (zest)
The preparation
Fill a mixing glass with ice cubes, pour in the cognac, cap-corse, Grand Marnier and bitters. Stir with a spoon, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass, straining the ice cubes through a strainer. Add the orange twist. Can also be served on ice.
Cooking and aperitifs
David Lebovitz, blogger and author of cookbooks is passionate about gastronomy and spirits. “I love recreating drinks, developing my own infusions, unearthing rare aperitifs, making recipes out of them. This is how I reinterpreted the manhattan (a historic New York cocktail) the French way, replacing the whiskey with cognac and the vermouth with cap-corse. »
The sazerac of Monsieur Octopus
Ingredients for 1 glass
- 1 cl of absinthe (or other aniseed spirit)
- 1 C. c. sugar (or sugar syrup)
- 3 or 4 drops of angostura bitters (preferably Peychaud)
- 5 cl of rye whiskey (or cognac)
- 1 organic lemon zest
- ice cubes
- 1 old-fashioned glass (to serve with ice cubes) or 1 coupe (without ice cubes)
The preparation
Refresh the cocktail glass with absinthe and ice cubes, stirring well. In a mixing glass or shaker, combine sugar (or syrup), bitters, whiskey (or cognac) and ice cubes, stir with a spoon. When the cocktail glass is well chilled, empty the absinthe and the ice cubes. Pour in the contents of the mixing glass, filtering out the ice cubes. Express the lemon zest on top, then add the zest to the cocktail. Enjoy with or without ice cubes.
Leche de tigre by Thierry Daniel and Eric Fossard
Ingredients for 2 or 3 glasses
- 100 g of black mullet meat (or sea bass, or sea bream)
- 1 red onion
- 1 small fresh pepper
- 50ml lime juice
- 3 sprigs of coriander
- fine salt
- artisanal mezcal (Del Maguey, for example)
- large ice cubes
The preparation
At least 3 hours in advance, cut the fish into medium pieces. Peel and mince red onion. Deseed and chop the chilli. Mix the fish, the onion, the chilli (to be dosed according to its sensitivity), the lime juice, two sprigs of coriander and a pinch of salt. Leave to macerate in the fridge, in a Tupperware or vacuum bag.
When desired, pass the ceviche through a sieve to recover the marinade (the famous “tiger lick”), also reserving the pieces of fish. In a mixing glass, place a few large ice cubes, and pour over 50 ml of “tiger lick” and 50 ml of mezcal. Stir quickly. Using a cocktail strainer, pour the cooled mixture into the glasses. Garnish with a coriander leaf and enjoy immediately. We can serve the mullet ceviche on the side (or even in small cubes in the bottom of the glass).