WEST LOOP — Is a splash of soda leaving drinkers flat?
Bar manager Derek Payne has a solution — he's now serving up fizzed-infused cocktails at La Sirena Clandestina in Fulton Market, bottling the drinks in house in small batches.
Currently, the Latin-inspired restaurant is serving up two alcoholic bottled cocktails and two non-alcoholic options, with plans to add more to the menu, Payne said. The liquor-backed cocktails, which are hand-mixed, infused with Co2 and then hand-bottled in small batches, are $11; non-alcoholic versions are $4.50.
Popping the bottle on a housemade carbonated cocktail is an entirely different experience than adding carbonated soda water as a mixer, Payne said this week.
"When you shake, strain, then add soda, you're losing a lot of Co2 in the process and end up with a lightly fizzy and diluted drink," he said. Besides a more bubbly cocktail, "adding Co2 [directly] in the drink really brings out the aromatics and adds a sour element to it," Payne said.
La Sirena's first alcoholic bottled offerings include the Ancho-Cola, featuring an Ancho chili liqueur, Italian vermouth, lemon, orange bitters and Chinotto — the Italian fruit that looks like an orange, but takes on a sour, bitter taste. Chinotto is known for giving the Italian liqueur Campari it's signature taste.
The restaurant's namesake bottled cocktail, La Serena 1548, featuring a Chilean Pisco — a distilled South American wine — rhubarb amaro, Italian apéritif, lemon, agave and grapefruit zest. The year 1548 refers to the first documented wine plantation in modern day Chile a nod to the drink's Pisco base.
The non-alcoholic offerings include Aguas Frescas, with Granny Smith apple, hibiscus, lemongrass and lime; and Ginger Brew, featuring fresh juiced ginger and lemon cordial.
Payne first became fascinated with carbonated sodas — and how the Co2 can change the flavor profile of a drink — during his college days at University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana. The bartender would often visit the soda fountain at now defunct Vriner's Confectionery in downtown Champaign. The historic store at 55 Main St. closed in 1997, and is now a bar.
"I first got the idea in college at Vriners, this great old-timey, 1950s traditional soda fountain," he said.
Payne went in search of books that would teach him about the small-scale carbonating and bottling process, but many were out of print. That changed recently, in part thanks to the craft beer boom, he said.
"There are a number of cocktails that really benefit from carbonation and the microbrew industry created products to make that possible," Payne said.
So far, the bubbly bottled cocktails are selling quite well, Payne said. He predicts they will be a favorite pick with the daytime drinking crowd this summer.
"I think there's a lot of the industry that's growing away from really boozy drinks," Payne said. "A higher-alcoholic drink becomes prohibitive — you get too intoxicated, too quickly. People are looking for variety, and there's a lot of great drinks to try."
La Sirena Clandestina, 954 W. Fulton Market, opened in October 2012. The restaurant is now serving delivering lunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays.
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