The Rotary Club

The Rotary Club

The amazing machine at the back of London’s Harvey Nichols Stoli bar is rewriting the mixology rule book. Chris Losh goes on the trail of the mince pie martini

Nick Strangeway is excited. In fact, he has the air of a ten-year-old showing me his new Scalextric. And who can blame him, because what I’m looking at could, genuinely, revolutionise the way barmen do their job.

Rather unsexily, it’s called a rotary evaporator or Rotavapor and, frankly, it isn’t much to look at either: just a computer unit with a couple of glass jars attached. But when you find out what it can do, you begin to understand why Strangeway is so thrilled that he appears to have forgotten to shave for two months.

Cairbry Hill, Pernod Ricard’s global brand and event manager, as well as Strangeway’s partner in crime, explains to me how it works. But since he’s a qualified biochemist and I’m not, much of what he says goes over my head. Essentially, you put Any Ingredient You Want plus vodka in one of the jars, turn on the machine and it gives you That Ingredient Flavoured Vodka at the other end.

There’s some complicated stuff about boiling points, atmospheric pressure and reflux, but I’m more interested in the dozen or so bright pink rectangles revolving round and round in the bottom of the twirly glass jar. This, though, turns out not to be crabsticks, as I originally thought, but rhubarb.

‘The good thing about extracting flavours with the Rotavapor is that all the flavours that you lose when you cook are protected. It’s like the difference between fresh strawberries and strawberry jam,’ says Strangeway.

Anything goes

Since the rhubarb extraction is taking a while, we leave the mini-science lab at the back of Harvey Nichols’ kitchen – where the machine is based – and head into the food hall, to go foraging for Things To Turn Into Vodka.

‘Does it work with anything?’ I ask. ‘Anything,’ says Hill. ‘Could you do sardines?’ ‘Well, you could,’ he eyes me suspiciously. ‘But I don’t think it’d taste too good.’

Hill and Strangeway have already done dark chocolate, melon and passionfruit, and the resulting (excellent) martinis are on the list at the Stoli bar on the second floor. I can particularly recommend the chocolate – all the intensity of flavour, but with a fresh, dry palate.

.‘The beauty of this machine is that you get

the same base flavours every time’ Nick Strangeway

And since all you get is the flavour, rather than any elements of bitterness, sweetness or heat, the options available are enormous. So, tempting as it is to challenge the machine with something ridiculous like brie or a pork pie, in the end I settle for green chillis.

Chilli-tastic!

Strangeway, meanwhile, comes back with basil, jasmine tea and – having been waved away from fresh truffles at £2,000 a kilo – powdered porcini mushrooms. We giggle like schoolboys on our way back to the Rotavapor, where the rhubarb/crabsticks have now finished.

The new flavoured vodka is left to cool, and the revolving glass jar emptied, rinsed and stuffed with my chillis and 100ml of Stolichnaya. I press a couple of buttons on the computer, a pump whirs into life and the jar starts to revolve. Dr Losh’s premium chilli vodka mark one is underway. It’s ridiculously easy.

Hill notices the manic glint in my eyes and clearly feels that I need a dose of reality. ‘It’s very unusual to get a perfect run with an ingredient first time round,’ he warns. ‘It does usually take a few goes to get it right.’

The rhubarb, for instance, is a little light with a slightly ‘green’ edge to it. It tastes like freshly snapped, raw rhubarb; a bit lean and charmless.

After 10 minutes, the chilli is ready, and I feel pathetically excited, even nervous. Will it be a chocolate-like hit or a rhubarbian failure? The jar is unscrewed, the liquid poured out and I take a sip.

It’s excellent. Your nose tells you it will taste like napalm. But it doesn’t. It’s fresh, full-bodied and exciting. It’s like sticking your head in a vat of cut green peppers, but with no heat.

Strangeway is impressed. ‘I could mix that with tonic or soda in the summer,’ he muses. As its proud creator I reckon it’d work in a martini.

Creative sparks

It’s easy to see the appeal of this gizmo. The way it stimulates the imagination is addictive. But Strangeway is quick to point out that he isn’t interested in creating odd flavours just for the sake of it.

‘The beauty of this machine is that you get the same base flavours every time – it’s more controlled than macerating,’ he says. And since the drink is both clear and dry to taste, it gives more options for building new cocktails. ‘It’s always the problem at cocktail competitions,’ muses Strangeway. ‘Drinks can taste great but look like pond-water.’

I decide to quit while I’m ahead and leave Strangeway and Hill spooning mince pie filling into the jar.
Later on, they seek me out, practically bouncing off the walls with suppressed excitement. The resulting vodka is brilliant: rich, spicy, aromatic and fresh.

‘That’s this Christmas sorted,’ says Strangeway dreamily. ‘Mince pie martinis…’

And if you fancy chilli martinis. Well, you know where I am…

30-second guide to rotovation

The rotary evaporator is a high-tech piece of pharmaceutical kit. Reps will need to show you how to work it, and it helps to have an understanding of the principles of distillation.

It costs about £3-5,000 per machine. The one at Harvey Nics is called the Rotavapor and is made by a Swiss company, Buchi. www.buchi.com

You can, literally, infuse vodka with anything. The resulting product will be clear and dry.

Bottles keep their freshness for about five weeks after they have been created.

The machine works best with aromatic or fresh, seasonal ingredients that have real flavour.

Strangeway’s creations are on sale at the Harvey Nichols Stoli bar in Knightsbridge. Come and see what it can do if you get the chance.

Editorial feature from Imbibe Magazine - March / April 2008