Murder Inc's Oscar Perry unveiled the first drink of his inactive yeast experiments at World Class GB 2026 - he talks us through his complexity-adding technique.
There’s no hiding it: the majority of innovation in the cocktail world in recent years has been borrowed from the kitchen. Sous-vide cooking, fermentation programmes and sleek stainless steel bar-tops - all echoes of the restaurant world. But as these adopted techniques become exhausted, progression must come from our own stable.
During World Class GB 2026 Finals, myself and my nine other competitors were challenged to serve two Martinis using Tanqueray No Ten. One had to represent the present world of cocktails and one the future. The second serve had to somehow - in vibes or in actuality - undergo decades of aging.
It presented the question: how do you rapid-age a cocktail to assimilate years’ worth of complexity with only a month before the presentation day?
The bar world already has some answers. The introduction of wood (oak chips being the most popular) is the most obvious answer, though it feels a little crude for something with the structural identity – and quaffability - of a Martini. A sonic bath (using soundwaves to create pressure changes that mature spirit) is an option but requires specialist equipment. Time to look elsewhere.
My attention fell on the world of wine, another industry in the business of maturing its liquid – and not always in barrels. I became obsessed with the practice of ‘Sur Lie’ (on the lees) aging - the process of resting a wine on residual yeasts, post-fermentation. As these yeasts break down under their own enzymes, they release mannoproteins and amino acids. It’s an absolutely essential process to champagne, buttery chardonnays in Burgundy, muscadet and countless more. Wines rested on lees create texture, notes of brioche, butter and can even out tannins.
Martini ‘on lees’
Working with a representative at Lallemand Labs, I sourced a specific inactive yeast which could produce similar results in a higher proof cocktail. Using this, I aged my Martini ‘on lees’.
To prepare the Martini I batched together Tanqueray No Ten, dry vermouth, fino sherry, 1:1 honey syrup and dilution and added an inactive yeast (at a 10% concentration). This was then sous-vide for an hour at 55 degrees to help activate the process and left for a week. Once strained and bottled, it could be left in the freezer for serving direct to glass.
The outcome was richer, silkier and contained all the lusciousness you would expect from a Martini made ‘a la minute’ with far higher complexity.
It was a great pilot success, but it got me thinking, where is this technique also applicable? I’m now exploring the extent to which the application of inactive yeasts on various cocktails, spirits and liqueurs can be useful and while it’s early days, I can see already that there is tonnes of potential. Right now at Murder Inc I’m trailing its use on spirits, vermouths and even teas but the variable is not only the application but the type of inactive yeast. There are those designed for white wines to improve mid-palate complexity, and yeasts designed for red wine tannin management, preventing oxidation.
If you’re keen to taste it for yourself, head down to Murder Inc this autumn for my updated version of the ‘Champagne-rested Martini’ that I made at World Class GB, which will be featured on the new October menu. It might inspire your own inactive yeast experiments – to me, lees is more.