Edinburgh cocktail bar Panda & Sons is launching Densing, a new technique from founder Iain McPherson that moves his flavour research into texture and oil for the first time.
McPherson has built an international reputation through sub-zero innovations including Switching and Sous Pression, but Densing works differently. Using vacuum blending, it absorbs oils evenly into liquids, keeping the drink consistent from first sip to last, without the separation that typically comes with oil-based ingredients.
Iain McPherson, founder of Panda & Sons, said, “We’ve spent over a decade exploring freezing for flavour. With Densing, I wanted to look at texture in a deeper way. It’s opened up a completely new direction for us and it feels like we’re only just scratching the surface.”
Clear cocktails have dominated menus for years, but McPherson began asking whether visual polish was coming at a cost to flavour. He said, “There’s been a real focus on clear cocktails, but that often comes with a very similar texture and sometimes a loss of flavour. I started asking, is cloudy really a bad thing, if it actually gives you more?”
The process uses ice cream production methods, adapted for bar use. Oils and liquids are brought to matching temperatures and blended under vacuum, preventing separation and holding the mixture stable. Combinations that would normally split, such as oil and vinegar, can be held in a consistent form, and the method also cuts preparation time and increases yield.
It requires vacuum blending equipment that many bars already have, and McPherson is releasing it open-source, consistent with his approach to previous techniques. Educational videos and resources are planned throughout the year, with the team demonstrating it through guest shifts and seminars. McPherson said, “We’ve never believed in keeping things behind closed doors. If something’s useful, we want people to take it, adapt it and push it further and in different directions.”
Densing will begin appearing in Panda & Sons’ drinks programme, including a forthcoming word-of-mouth menu built around different applications. McPherson said, “The first car wasn’t a Ferrari, so throughout the year we will be unlocking more and more of Densing’s potential.”
