Why water is this French bartender’s must-have ingredient, and the minimal-drinks trend

What was the first alcoholic drink you had? “When I was around nine, I tried pastis, which has a strong aniseed flavour, very French. It tasted disgusting! I love it now but it’s not for everyone. It’s like absinthe, fennel, licorice. There’s a tradition where you have a small glass of wine and water it down. I wasn’t like that; I just went for the hard stuff.”

When did you start mixing drinks? “When I was 17, I worked in an Irish pub in Lyons, to pay for my studies. It was my Irish father’s friend’s pub, where my father played the music, my sister made the food and I made the drinks. I worked there for four years. I studied philosophy and when I graduated, I realised there were no jobs in that, and figured if I’m going to keep doing this, I need to get good at making drinks.

“I moved to Oxford [in Britain] to work in cocktail bars there. I did a bit of teaching chess. I was part of an association that was teaching chess to students of Latin American Studies at the University of Oxford. It was the world’s weakest depart­ment in chess but it was fun.

“In 2012, I moved to Paris for over five years and worked at Little Red Door. I fudged a bit on my CV to say I was more knowledge­able than I was and it worked. I got a job there as a bartender and, after about six months, I became head bartender. [During Savage’s time there, Little Red Door ranked 11th on the World’s 50 Best Bars 2017 list].”

You took part in several competi­tions, too. “One was the world’s most imaginative bartender where you make absurd drinks. One was with gin and paper. When you open an old book and you get that distinctive smell? Paper was made from wood, and as wood develops over time, there are some particles and flavour molecules that break and open up. That’s why an old bookshop smells like an old bookshop. I tried to deconstruct and replicate what an old book would taste like – with vanillin, vanilla, freshly cut grass, Scotch whisky and gentian root.”

Have you served any famous people? “Working at The Langham, in London, I’ve served loads of famous people. About seven months ago, the BBC called and asked me to make margaritas on TV. When I got there I had to make drinks for Oprah [Winfrey], Reese Witherspoon and Mindy Kaling [Kelly Kapoor in the sitcom The Office]. They finished the drinks, which was good.”

What makes a good cocktail? “It’s balance, it has to go in one direction. We don’t use alcohol only because it gets you drunk, it is a great vector of flavour. It has been aged in barrels for years – the natural fermentation process, the distillation process, all add layers of complexity.”

Is there an ingredient or spirit you like to use? “If I had to choose, it’s water. On our previous menu, we did a blend of three different waters and distilled three mineral waters. We tend to take water as one entity but water can be 100 million different things. Water and sugar is what we use the most.”

What new drinks are you intro­ducing at The Artesian Bar in London? “We’re going toward more minimal drinks, clean flavours. We are launching a menu where each drink only has two ingredients. For example, we use 30-year-old armagnac with the blossom of the basil leaf. The only other things you are allowed to use are water, sugar, salt. We make a cordial out of the blossom and shake it with armagnac and then top it with water. It’s a long, refreshing floral drink, and you get incredible com­plex­ity from the armagnac.”

What do you do when you are not working? “I have a lab set up in my living room where I do experiments. When I’m not thinking of drinks I hang out with my three-year-old daughter. I make fresh pasta with her every day and a sauce from clarified tomato juice that we distil and use the rejects for the sauce. We also bake cakes. I’m trying to get her to understand flavours. I also play chess and read philosophy.”

Remy Savage was recently a guest bartender at The Artesian at The Langham Hong Kong.