Esencia (Barcelona, Spain)

Sips Esencia
C/ de Muntaner, 108, L'Eixample, 08036 Barcelona, Spain
+34 619 64 14 02
sips.barcelona/esencia/
Fri 10/18/2024, 09:15p-10:55p





During my recent trip to Barcelona, I enjoyed a visit to Sips, the much-celebrated brainchild of bartenders Marc Álvarez and Simone Caporale. Given the strength of that experience, I obviously had to check out the duo's even higher-end offering, Esencia, which opened in February this year inside Sips' back room. The bar is based on a "cocktail tasting menu" of sorts, and presents a series of "sips," which are essentially small, creative, uniquely-constructed cocktails. Curiously, this was basically the initial idea for Sips, but the team apparently had to pivot due to the realities of the pandemic.


You enter Esencia through these plastic curtains, reportedly meant to evoke a waterfall. Do note that you actually have to wade your way through a few feet of this material, which is a surprising bit of work, but the setup does do a good job of keeping the sound from the outside bar outside.


Once you break through, you're greeted with a rather striking room befitting the bar's ambitious concept. The design is from Pau Llimona Broto, who also worked on Albert Adrià's dreamy Enigma.


As for the menu, you get a choice of 10 sips at 75€ ($81.56) or 15 sips at 97€ ($105.48), though unfortunately the longer option hadn't been instituted yet on my visit. There's no printed menu, but instead, I was given the so-called "Tool 001: Menu Visualizer," a 3D-printed thingamajig created in collaboration with MAKEAT. The object is imprinted with various words on its interior surface, which correspond to the "sequences" (each comprising two/three sips) that make up the menu.


TOKYO01
My tasting began with the Tokyo sequence, which, as the name would imply, was inspired by Japanese flavors. I was instructed to first take a sip of the liquid, a bright, citrusy concoction composed of nigori sake, white port, and pink grapefruit. I then ate the accompanying bite of white melon, miso paste, and azuki paste, which played the inimitable umami of the fermented soybean against the juiciness of the fruit. Finally, I went back to the drink, now seemingly subdued.


TOKYO02
This long cocktail blended smoked whisky with calamansi soda, and was garnished with mandarin zest. I found the drink wonderfully smoky, but with counterbalancing elements of effervescence and zippy, refreshing citrus. A smart take on the iconic highball.



NEU01
Named after the Catalan word for "snow," this sequence was inspired by ice. What we had was a snowball, impaled with pine needles that were dripping forest honey. I was told to remove the needles and suck off the secretions, making for a deft interplay of herby and honeyed. Next, a liquid comprised of pine- and mushroom-infused wine (sherry?), honey liqueur, pine, and musk was poured onto the ice. This resulted in an unabashedly earthy, herbaceous, nutty, oxidative drinking experience that made me think of being in the forest.


NEU02
The first step here was to take that lavender ice sheet and place it on my tongue, letting its bracing herbaceousness perk up my palate. From there, the cocktail itself consisted of vermouth, elderflower liqueur, lychee, and dill, all coming together in a tropical, fruity, yet nutty manner, punctuated by pops of finger lime.


OXID01
The evening's third sequence took inspiration from jerez, the quintessential fortified wine of Spain. Up first was this long drink that married fino sherry and homemade mint soda, a nod to a classic Andalusian libation called the Rebujito. I loved the cocktail's super minty nose, while said mint also played foil to all the savory, nutty, oxidized, and "grain-y" tastes going on. Super clever.


OXID02
Here we had a blend of palo cortado, amontillado, oloroso, and Bristol cream sherries, along with hazelnut and a few drops of hazelnut oil. On the rim was a smear of hazelnut paste, studded with Maldon salt. The end result was quite something, offering a bevy of nutty, chocolate-y, oxidative, woodsy, and salty notes that all came together to make for a sensation that did an amazing job recalling the aromas of a wine cask.


FOLIC01
The penultimate sequence took its name from folic acid, a vitamin oft associated with tomatoes, hence these two reimaginations of the Bloody Mary. Based on vodka, this first one had all your classic ingredients, but utilized centrifuge-clarified tomato, which made for a finer mouthfeel. I was a huge fan of how elegantly the trademark tang of the tomato meshed with the cocktail's savory, spicy backbone, all while the tiny bit of motti cress at the apex of the ice cube imparted the essence of celery. This might be the best Bloody Mary I've had.


FOLIC02
This was a tomato-less Bloody Mary that brought together vodka, sea urchin, Bloody Mary mix, carrot, and a garnish of olive oil. Interestingly, I actually detected this raisin-y tang up front, which was then joined by a subdued savoriness and the subtly oceany flavors of the uni.


THEOBROMINA01
The night's final sequence got its name from theobromine, a compound found in chocolate. This cocktail actually highlighted cacao pulp, which had its taste kept as neutral as possible, but which also had its consistency modified with kudzu. Also present were freeze-dried passion fruit and caramelized lapsang. Taken all together, the effect was this beguiling, enchanting fruitiness, augmented by the depth and complexity of the tea.


THEOBROMINA02
My last cocktail united cacao nibs, sour cherry, kirsch, and dots of texturized almond milk with pistachio. The whole thing tasted like a chocolate bonbon with a jammy berry filling, which was exactly what the team was going for.


Mignardise duty was then handled by an actual bonbon, one that exploded instantly upon mastication, releasing focused flavors of orange juice, hazelnut, and cacao butter.


When it came time to pay the bill, the bar's credit card reader decided to malfunction, so I was given a complementary OXID01 while waiting for the machine to get back in action.

I very much enjoyed my time at Sips, but my time at Esencia took things to the next level. The cocktails were playful yet contemplative, novel, intriguing, with a gastronomic edge, and in several cases, fused flavors in ways that I never imagined. I haven't encountered anything quite like Esencia before, and it's obvious that the team is trying to do something special here. This place is just getting started, so it'll be fascinating to see what they come up with in the future.