Jakub Ondříšek looks like experimenting. The proprietor and head bartender of lauded Prague cocktail bars Parlour and Again Doorways is speaking to me in regards to the Beton, a Czech cocktail that historically combines tonic water, ice, a slice of lemon and Becherovka, a digestif made with the supposedly healing thermal spring waters from the northern Bohemian spa city of Karlovy Differ and a secret recipe of herbs that tastes just like the essence of a coniferous forest. Some prefer to say it’s a Czech model of the Gin & Tonic.
So as to clarify the science behind his variation on the Beton, Ondříšek is trying to do one thing radical. “I’ve by no means thought to mix Becherovka and bananas. Why on the planet would anybody mix these two issues?” he ponders, scrunching up his face like he’d simply tasted one thing putrid. “However it seems banana is a risky compound for Becherovka—one which provides rigidity and complexity. That’s all the time a good suggestion on the subject of cocktails.”
He’s proper. After marrying equal quantities of banana liqueur with Becherovka in a shot glass, he palms it to me, the style oddly congruent, a pleasant steadiness of candy and bitter with a creamy texture. “This method to cocktails, even traditional cocktails just like the Beton, can actually cross the boundaries of taste to create one thing actually nice.”
However to be able to see how we acquired all the best way to wanting up risky compounds, let’s begin from the start. The Beton was invented for the 1967 Worldwide and Common Exposition in Montreal. The Czechoslovak pavilion featured an exhibit on famed Bohemian glassware, so the federal government determined it will be becoming to provide you with a cocktail to go contained in the glasses. The rub? There have been no cocktails related to the nation.
As Miroslav Černík, vice chairman of the Czech Bartenders Affiliation, places it, “We’re a beer and wine tradition. Traditionally, we don’t make many spirits.” Within the Nineteen Sixties, he says, the then-socialist nation had restricted sources and lacked horny drinks just like the Negroni or Manhattan. So when it got here to making an attempt to determine a decidedly Czech cocktail, utilizing Becherovka was actually the one choice. “The simplicity of the cocktail displays our poverty on the time,” he says.
The phrase “beton” means “concrete” in Czech, however the one factor cement-like in regards to the drink is that, at 38 % ABV, should you drink too many, you may fall down in your manner dwelling and smack your face on the concrete. “Beton” can also be a portmanteau of the 2 predominant components, Becherovka and tonic.
I attempted a traditional Beton at Hemingway Bar in Prague, made by head bartender Ondřej Hniliča, who says he doesn’t need to mess with the unique model. The bittersweet quinine of the tonic, he says, marries properly with the clove, anise, ginger, cinnamon and different herbs in Becherovka’s secret recipe to create a refreshing drink that packs a extra flavorful punch than a traditional Gin & Tonic.
However that hasn’t stopped different bartenders within the Czech capital from making extra dynamic variations of the cocktail. At Alcron Bar, simply off of Wenceslas Sq., Slovak-born head bartender Lukaš Matulik, previously of Sips in Barcelona, offers the drink a summer-inspired spin, utilizing citrus-spiked Becherovka Lemond (a lighter, lower-ABV model of the liqueur), Greek tonic water, a splash of do-it-yourself fig leaf cordial and a Collins spear ice dice. “It took me about 10 occasions to get the steadiness proper,” says Matulik. “Finally I discovered a pleasant concord between the herbiness of the Becherovka and the sprightliness of the fig leaf cordial.”
On the just-opened Golden Eye on the highest flooring of the brand new Fairmont Golden Prague, bar supervisor Jiři Vošahlík makes an alternate model of the traditional, the Beton Bitter, with the addition of some sprigs of basil, to perk up the palate, and a few ounces of KV14, an extra-bitter natural liqueur from the Becherovka household. “Becherovka and basil is one among my favourite mixtures,” he says.
Which brings us again to Jakub Ondříšek. He’s lastly prepared to point out me his tackle the Beton. He slides a highball glass towards me. The standard slice of lemon is absent. I take a sip, and refreshment fills my mouth. A powerful trace of lime emerges.
“I perceive why they used lemon within the Nineteen Sixties: as a result of it was accessible within the socialist economic system and lime was very tough to get,” he says, however these days, “it really makes extra sense to make use of lime as a substitute of lemon.” After learning the risky compounds of Becherovka, Ondříšek settled on a mixture of citric and malic acids to create an important oil of lime peel that’s way more scientifically congruent with the Beton.
Based mostly on the Betons I’d been sampling in Prague all week—variations with basil, fig, lime and extra—bartenders within the 2020s have found out just a few issues that their predecessors from the Nineteen Sixties both had not or couldn’t due to financial and technological constraints of the time. However that signifies that as we speak’s bars, in Prague and past, have much more room to discover.
Ondříšek’s specific experiment was over, however I used to be prepared for one more Beton.
