Matt Whiley - The Modern Cocktail: Innovation + Flavour

Firstly I would like to thank my wife Lucy, my innovation consultant and my number one fan: you give me unwavering support and your creativity and passion inspire me to be better every day. You make me the person I am today and I love you.

My co-writer Imogen Fortes, you absolute super star; thank you for your patience, focus and passion.

My publisher Jacqui Small, editor Jo Copestick, and the whole team at Jacqui Small; thank you for your support and love for this project.

Richard Jung, your images are incredible; thanks for sharing the vision.

Thank you to all the chefs who continue to inspire me every day:

Tom Harris (One Leicester Street): thank you for the fridge raids and for believing in me.

Tom Sellers (Restaurant Story): for the freedom you have given me to burn bright and be creative.

Simon Rogan and Dan Cox (Fera): you opened my eyes to British produce and changed the way I think about ingredients.

Lee Westcott (Typing Room): my partner in crime at the Town Hall Hotel; thank you for being my chief taster!

Michael O Hare (Rabbit in the Moon and The Man Behind the Curtain): I am truly honoured to work with you; thank you for allowing me never to shake cocktails.

And lastly to my team, my kids from Talented Mr Fox, Peg + Patriot and Scout: thank you for sharing the daily vision; your creativity, passion and determination have made this possible you guys rock my world! Love Dad x

James, Ally, Sam, John, Ross, Aiden, Constana, Hamish, Mark, Natalia, Alan, Will, Josh, Charles.

PEG LONDON DRY G&T (Peg + Patriot)
Cocktail type: long, herbaceous Flavours: bitter, sweet Glass: highball Garnish: sea rosemary or a slice of lime and a bay leaf

This gin is something we stumbled across at Peg + Patriot. It was one of our seasonal gins and I liked the flavours so much that I decided to make it our standard London Dry.

Ive suggested garnishing it with sea rosemary, which I know isnt the easiest thing to get hold of, but Id really recommend trying it with this drink if you can. Sea rosemary is nothing like rosemary, it tastes like salt and pepper and I am completely obsessed with it. If you eat it alongside your drink, it really brings out the flavours. If you cant get your hands on it, adding a slice of lime and a herbaceous bay leaf would be a good alternative and another great complement to the drink.

Ingredients:
50ml (1/fl oz) London Dry gin (see )
135ml (4/fl oz) FeverTree tonic water

Pour a measure of the gin into the glass, add as much ice to the glass as possible and top with tonic water. Sit the garnish of your choice on top of the ice.

BURNT FOOL
Cocktail type: long, fruity Flavours: sour Glass: small highball Garnish: dehydrated brown butter solids

This recipe was inspired by finding some rhubarb curd in the chefs fridge at One Leicester Street and wanting to recreate the flavours in a cocktail.

Ingredients:
50ml (1/fl oz) brown butter gin (see below)
20ml (fl oz) rhubarb curd (see below)
15ml (/fl oz) lemon juice
10ml (2tsp) egg white
FeverTree soda water

Pour the gin into a small highball glass and add the rhubarb curd, lemon juice, egg white and top up with soda water. Garnish with a pinch of dehydrated brown butter.

BROWN BUTTER GIN

Makes: 700ml (1/pts)

Ingredients: 50g (2oz) brown butter solids; 700ml (1/pts) gin

Place the ingredients into a vac bag and seal. Leave to infuse for 4 hours.

Place all the ingredients in the evaporation flask of a rotary evaporator. Set the water bath to 55C (131F). Slowly lower the pressure until all the liquid has evaporated. Measure the ABV and cut it to 40% (see ).

RHUBARB CURD

Makes: about 1L (2pts)

Ingredients: 600g (1/lb) rhubarb; 4 eggs; 200g (7oz) unsalted butter; 4 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch); 250g (9oz) caster (superfine) sugar

Juice the rhubarb. Add the eggs, butter, cornflour (cornstarch), sugar and 250ml (8/fl oz) of the rhubarb juice to a saucepan and set over a very low heat. Whisk until all the butter has melted, then stir constantly until the curd has thickened. Do not increase the heat to speed up the process, as the eggs will curdle. Pass the mixture through a chinois to strain, then bottle and refrigerate. This keeps for up to a month.

THE COLOUR BLUE
Cocktail type: long, minerally Flavour: sour, effervescent Glass: thin highball Garnish: sea greens

Some people experience synaesthesia, a condition where a sensation in one of the senses, such as hearing, can trigger a sensation in another, such as taste. Just as some people can hear colours or taste numbers, I thought it would be cool to see what I could get the colour blue to taste like.

Ingredients:
40ml (1fl oz) Bombay Sapphire gin
100ml (3/fl oz) fermented pineapple rinds (see below)
2.5ml (/tsp) seaweed distillate (see )
50ml (1/fl oz) egg shell soda (see )
2.5ml (/tsp) 2:1 gomme syrup (see )

Mix the ingredients in a glass bottle in the ratio of servings you need and pour from the fridge.

FERMENTED PINEAPPLE RINDS

Makes: about 5L (10pts)

Ingredients: 625g (1lb 6oz) brown sugar; 4L (8pts) filtered water; 16 cloves; 2 pineapples

Place the sugar and water in a fermentation bucket and stir to dissolve the sugar. Add the cloves.

Wash the skin of the pineapple and cut the pineapple into quarters, leaving the skin intact. Add to the bucket. Cover the bucket with muslin (cheesecloth) and leave it in a cool, dry place away from sunlight. After about 23 days the fruit will become cloudy and foamy. Scrape away the foam using sterilized utensils. Use the liquid when it has reached your desired sweetness. Save the pineapple triangles as a garnish or just eat them on their own theyre delicious.