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Dazed Digital interviews the man behind the cocktail attempting to replicate the famous Chanel perfume.

Dazed Digital: What prompted you to design a cocktail which took on the fragrance of an inconic perfume?
Tony Conigliaro: I had been studing perfume and talking with perfumers and I noticed the similarities between what they did and what happens when making cocktails. It was then I came up with the concept of marring an iconic perfume and an iconic cocktail. 

DD: How difficult was the process, talk us through to fruition?
Tony Conigliaro: First I had to study how that particular perfume was made and then I came up with the idea of using a sugar cube in the champagne that would carry the notes to the top of the drink. After a lot of trial and error (two years to be exact!) the no. 5 champagne cocktail was born.

DD: What do you have in mind when you create cocktails?
Tony Conigliaro: The aim was to stimulate emotion as well as creating great drink, the no.5 can remind people of a first love, a close friend, a relative.
 
DD: Where do your ideas come from?
Tony Conigliaro: I am a vorocious reader and at drinkfactory we research endlessly in many different fields, from perfume, food science, fashion, design and music I’m inspired in different ways.

DD: Can you dispell some cocktail myths?
Tony Conigliaro: Contrary to James Bond Martini’s should be ‘stirred not shaken’ otherwise you get to much dilution and too much airation, a soggy drink instead of smooth and silky.
A lot of top perfumers smoke! There is a theory that it can suppress certain gasses and smelling can become clearer temporaraly, this is just a theory though!
  
DD: You developed a Matured Manhattan, can you talk us through this?
Tony Conigliaro: I had been give a bottle of vermouth from the 1920s and I tasted it a found that the taste was exquisite! It had become smoother and more blended just in the bottle, so I figured that I could do the same with cocktails, so far we have a 3yr, 2yr, 1yr and 6 months.

DD: Who do you admire in the industry?
Tony Conigliaro: Audrey Saunders, the queen of the New York bar scene for her uncompromising detication to her craft,
and having on of the most acute palette I know.
 
DD: Why did you decide to set up a bar? Why Angel?
Tony Conigliaro: The venue and location sold it to me, I needed to be unrestricted in terms of showcasing new drinks and ideas. I love small hard to find intimate bars such as the ones you encounter in places like Tokyo, where the is a big emphasis on service and quality. I also wanted space for drinkfactory (my other company) to evolve with a lab that focused on the experimental side.
 
DD: What was the inspiration for the decor/concept of the bar?
Tony Conigliaro: From 50s films to Blade Runner a kind of future retro noir film set where all the drinks are based around classic drinks giving them new spin using modern techniques.
 
DD: Where do you hope to take it?
Tony Conigliaro: Once the lab is in full operation we will be pushing the boundries more, not just with the drinks…!

 

SOURCE: Dazed Digital