Smell A Tale!

It is all about mixing and matching these days, that’s how creativity and innovation takes place.

An interesting way to collaborate and learn from cross-industry expertise, I always used refreshing alcoholic beverages to inspire developing fragrances in the citrus space, like a Mojito based shower gel, with zesty grapefruit, mint, basil and bitter lime, bergamot hints of clean, refreshing cues.

I came across some enthusiastic mixologists and bartenders over Instagram and social media. Just like the Yuzu ingredient is trending and now Bira comes with this flavored beer, I am not surprised to see things turn the other way round.

Recently, at the Phoenix Mall, Lower Parel, Mumbai (India), one of the most popular fragrance brands ‘Jo Malone’ conducted this amazing PR activity to get consumers smell their fragrances, experience, and dive into some refreshing ingredient-based cocktails. Successfully, this enthralled the audience and not forgetting inviting newbies into the sensory space.

I spoke to Varun Sudhakar, one of the budding mixologists in India, who has been experimenting with fragrance and flavor compounds, since a long time. This is super intriguing that smell, and taste is a combination but not that each ingredient imparts similar taste and smell. Art of making cocktails inspired by fragrances is one thing, but the science behind how to really translate the scents to flavours is very challenging.

The brief was fragrances shared with flavor cards of notes and sensory wheels that describe a particular combination. The task is to decode each smell and then create a whole new concoction inspired from this technique is something marvelous and will bring in much more flair for creativity.

Like lavender has never been used in foods and now even cocktails are named as ‘Lavender Punch’. It is easy to play with exotic ingredients as many are not used to their smell or taste, but you cannot fool the consumer with familiar ones. Usually in flavor, it is the sense of sight, smell, texture, and mouthfeel. How do you get musk into your cocktail? Just try for creamy textures and if you need sweetness that can be added through honey, jasmine, or elderflower. A flavor thesaurus is a must, like explaining what’s umami for mushrooms, egg white or tomato, in scents it means earthy, vegetative. Now Bloody Mary is an umami cocktail because of that tangy, earthy aroma imparted and the salt or iodine content that balances the flavor.

My learning in this is engaging one’s senses is like practicing culture and listening to that memory that brings in nostalgia but helps build a newer world which is very subjective. The best part is there is no right or wrong, it only gets better with a deeper sense of demystifying that insight behind everything we associate ourselves with. And once we establish the fact that aromas are emotions, with a sense of belonging to a culture, it not only thrives but indeed, it grows!

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