Australian bartenders are increasingly using a flavour one describes as “incredibly complex and underutilised” with a “deep, savoury umami note” in their cocktails: miso. The fermented soy bean paste, a key ingredient in Japanese cuisine, is at a handful of bars in Sydney and Melbourne.
“When looking to add dimension, cut through sweetness and throw layers of salty umami goodness into a cocktail, miso is the right tool for the job,” says Jacob Wicks, bar manager at Palazzo Salato and Letra House. “Letra House focuses on Spanish food, and miso in nutty, rich sherries works well with that. It’s a happy harmony even if Spanish and miso aren’t a combination you think of.”
Japanese cafe and bar Kahii in Sydney CBD has a Miso Disco cocktail. The drink’s creator Reizo Fortunata says he chose white miso as it provides a milder nuttiness to the cocktail than regular miso would. The miso also enhances the floral complexity of the vermouth and pairs well with the coffee included in the drink.
“The miso was incorporated through a three-hour cold infusion,” says Fortunata. “The main challenge was to find the correct timing on when to stop the infusion, as an overwhelming taste of miso would be very unpleasant.”
Denis Pisano, venue manager at Aster, agrees adding miso to a drink is a meticulous process. Aside from the risk of an overwhelming taste, miso’s thick texture tends to retain liquid. Miso’s used in the bar’s Explore cocktail.
“We sous vide miso paste with a whiskey, blending it with a honey Dutch carrot shrub, fresh lemon and a touch of egg white for a silky texture,” says Pisano. “Miso contributes a savoury, slightly salty character with an earthy aftertaste.”
James Irvine, group cocktail lead at hospitality group Merivale, says his bartenders use miso in cocktails by first turning it into a caramel. They start by making a hard caramel, similar to preparing profiteroles. Separately, they prepare the miso like they would a miso soup.
“Once ready, the caramel is broken down with the miso soup, creating a miso caramel syrup,” says Irvine. “This is filtered to ensure there is no sediment leftover and then it’s ready to go.”
One technique often used with miso-spiked cocktails is fat washing. It involves infusing the flavours of various fats to add new flavour profiles. Hunter Gregory, bar manager at Maybe Sammy, says fat washing allows for keeping the depth of an ingredient’s flavour and aroma while removing unwanted residues.
Gregory created cocktail Buffet, with miso and cocoa butter, gin, passionfruit, herbal liqueur and tomato and black tea. “Miso helps bring a strong foundation for layering flavours,” he says. “It has a natural complexity that allows us to extend and balance other elements in a cocktail.”
Alex Boon, bartender and co-owner of Melbourne’s Pearl Diver, says besides umami, miso also has a savoury and funky characteristic that works well with sweeter flavours. He says one of the biggest challenges with miso in cocktails is ensuring the resulting drink looks appealing as it can be quite brown and murky.
“We’ve used miso in various cocktails over the years from Bloody Marys to our current Fig and Miso Old Fashioned,” Boon says. “For that drink, we infused miso butter and fat-washed whisky with that butter.”
Irvine says another reason bartenders are adding miso to cocktails, beyond the appeal of the flavours it adds, is that it’s a great talking point. Bartenders can speak to the palate profiles it helps create. “It’s a great conversation piece,” he says.
“The biggest challenge is set upon the drinker and their expectations [when they order it],” he says. “Will it be a hot beverage? A soup serve?”.
The bartenders I spoke to had conflicting views on the future of miso-spiked cocktails. While Irvine says its hyped phase has died down (though it’s still an incredible ingredient that can elevate the right drink’s profile), Boon, Gregory and Fortunata say it’s ripe for more widespread popularity.
“Guests are more willing to try weird cocktails,” Fortunata says. “Mixologists are more interested in ingredients that can provide or enhance umami factors other than salt.”
Wicks says, “You could say miso is a good example of bars following kitchens, and definitely a large push in the direction of savoury drinks being all the rage — a la dirty martinis everywhere — but also people looking for something just a bit different.”
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