Cocktail design and mixing is being turned into a scientific art in the UK. Bartenders and mixologists are not just creating the classics; they're also distilling their own distinct flavors and essences in bar laboratories.
At a cocktail bar in north London, bartender and award winning cocktail creator, Tony Conigliaro, is handing over a bottle of freshly distilled flavor extract to be used in the creation of one of his special cocktails.
He hands the ingredients to mixologist, Marcus Sensalus, who goes on to make the Silver Mountain cocktail.
Sansalus explains how the cocktail is made.
Sansalus said, "You simply stir the Kigo with the silver tipped tea and the kasice leaf. You stir it down until it's stingingly cold and you strain into a cupet or a large martini glass and you garnish with some tea leaves or micro herbs."
Conigliaro's bar, which has no name, is fast becoming the venue of choice for cocktail connoisseurs.
Stanislao Visciano is the head Cocktail Master at the champagne bar in the department store Harvey Nichols.
The man who considers himself to be a molecular mixologist was named International Bartender of the Year in 2009.
He set up a laboratory in the bar's loft area, housing bottle after bottle of experimental flavors and essences, tastes and smells.
Looking more like a science laboratory, Conigliaro prefers to call it a drink factory.