[imagesource: Matthew T. Rader]

You might have heard of honey being a standard ingredient in creative cocktails, but now an entirely different bee product is being used in the mixology world.

Silver Lyan, a cocktail bar in Washington D.C., is creating a buzz among barkeepers for being the first to infuse cocktails with beeswax.

World-renowned bar owner and World’s Best Bar winner Ryan Chetiyawardana, AKA Mr Lyan, pioneered the beeswax cocktail lining technique.

Now it is inspiring experimental bar folk who are more than willing to incorporate beeswax-infused drinks on their menus.

Chetiyawardana first played with the bee’s ingredient at his London bar, White Lyan. He then started working with different suppliers, infusing inhouse, and beeswax lining the bottles himself.

In fact, the Lyan family has been using beeswax as a signature ingredient for a decade, says Chetiyawardana to VinePair, exploring different waxes, different sources, and different applications over time:

“It initially started as I studied social insects as part of my biology degree, and I’m obsessed with honey,” says Chetiyawardana.

“It has drawn us from both a flavor and texture point of view, and from the early days of White Lyan’s Beeswax Old Fashioned it’s been something we’ve been excited to see in different applications — from working with Nordic Food Lab to debuting the technique on our MasterClass series, it’s been amazing to see what different people have done with the ingredient.”

Apparently, there is a world of different beeswax flavours, each providing an interesting contrast of body on the palate, and aromatics that linger – perfectly delicious in a cocktail:

Image: Silver Lyan

One of his popular cocktails is the Lyan’s Fish House Punch:

It is created with Bayou White Rum, Plantation Original Dark Rum, Doorly’s 12-Year-Old Rum, Blood Peach EdV, fish sauce sherbet, peach leaf, lemon, and soda.

The ingredients are bottled in a beeswax-lined bottle and offered as an individual pour from the bartender, or guests can opt to buy the full bottle ($60 serves four) to share at their table.

Nico De Soto at Mace Bar in New York is also into beeswax cocktails, making a fennel-and-bee-pollen-infused Aperol Spritz with beeswax-infused Pisco, Prosecco, Champagne acid and acacia honey:

Image: Mace

At In The Heart Speakeasy in West Seattle, Abigail Gullo, guest bartender and director of the industry for Seattle Cocktail Week, creates a sip called Mind Your Beeswax.

It is made with barrel-aged beeswax gin prepared in house using local Seattle Copperworks gin, honey, fresh lemon juice, two dashes of Scrappy’s Lavender Bitters, and fresh lavender stalk garnish:

Image: In The Heart Speakeasy

Other beeswax cocktail techniques are, as Gullo suggests, fat-washing, melting the beeswax, and adding it to a spirit before refrigerating. Afterwards, the beeswax can be skimmed off when hardened and the spirit retains the flavour.

Obviously, beeswax isn’t all that easy to come by and you likely won’t have any knocking around at home when it comes time to get mixing.

In that case, there is always Fitch & Leedes bespoke mixers to fall back on:

Fitch & Leedes’ superb range of authentic mixers is made with quadruple filtered water for ultimate purity to meet the highest standards in terms of quality and taste.

To make them go down even more smoothly, each dose is delicately carbonated, superbly balanced and infused with the world’s finest flavours.

Along with the regular suspects (Indian Tonic, Pink Tonic, Grapefruit Tonic, and more), you’ll also find Cheeky Cranberry, Spicy Ginger Beer, and Bitter Lemon, among others.

Talk about craftsmanship and a smooth sip, eh?

[source:vinepair]