Cocktail of the Week: Isa Cocktail Bar’s ‘Yogurt’

In Madrid’s luxurious Four Seasons hotel, Isa’s head bartender Miguel Pérez has created a host of experimental cocktails. Here’s our favourite…

Words: Jonathan Wells

Madrid itself is something of a cocktail. It’s a city of extraordinary diversity — with a nightlife that thrums until morning, and more cultures and traditions swirling around its streets than any other Spanish city. It also, like the most meticulously mixed cocktails, always goes down smooth; offering up subtle flavours, tantalising twists and hints of the unexpected.

But one constant — a never-wavering, always-hedonistic hideaway — is the Four Seasons Hotel Madrid. Sitting pretty in a refined, restored 1800s building, the five-star bolthole is a pillar of the Spanish capital’s hospitality scene. It’s both a step back in time, to a world of wood panels and heritage architecture, but also a glimpse into the future, with the drinks whipped up at Isa Restaurant and Cocktail Bar pushing the envelope of modern mixology.

One such drink, served in the eclectic, vibrant setting of the Asian/Mediterranean inspired bar, was concocted by head bartender Miguel Pérez as part of his new manga-tinged menu. Taking its tasting notes from Japanese culture, the ‘Yogurt’ joins other cocktails including the ‘Basil’, ‘Tangerine’ and ‘Miso’. It’s like a clear-cut milkshake, brimming with flavours of thick, creamy fruits — but with a light, refreshing touch.

“‘Yogurt’ is a cocktail from our Himiko Lab episode, part of our Manga menu, where we have focused on more experimental cocktails, with different techniques and ingredients made in our laboratory,” Perez tells Gentleman’s Journal. “The idea of this cocktail and this menu is to offer recognisable flavours with a high level of complexity, technique and sophistication. Yogurt has a special lactic flavour, coming from the lactofermentation, not forgetting some other techniques such as redistillation, some bubbles and, above all, a lot of love”.

It’s the ideal sipper to sample alongside Isa’s incredible menu — which itself includes dishes from ‘Salmon Usuzukuri’ and ‘Wagyu Gyoza’ to the thick-gravy bite of the ‘Beef Baos’ and unctuous marriage of surf and turf in the ‘Scallop & Foie Nigiri’. Below, we reveal what goes into the ‘Yogurt’ cocktail — to let you create it for yourself…