Ryan Chetiyawardana is no stranger to the unconventional. The bartender, better known by his moniker Mr Lyan, has used ingredients like koji and beeswax and put industrial microwaves to task, all in the name of making esoteric drinks at his bars across London, Amsterdam, and Washington, D.C.
So this month when he opened Seed Library, the first New York City outpost in his lineup of five spots worldwide, it was hardly a surprise that he reimagined a classic cocktail using snails. The controversial ingredient can be extremely off-putting to some, even when doused in parsley, garlic, and butter on a plate, let alone liquified in a glass. The drink, dubbed More Ducks, is a riff on a Bramble, which typically brings together gin, lemon juice, and crème de mûre, a blackberry liqueur, for a refreshing, fruit-forward sipper.
This admittedly more outlandish version swaps in what the bar calls “Crème de Escargot,” a cheeky twist on crème de mûre made with rolled oats, koji rice, escargot, and blackberries. The substitute is modeled off amazake, a traditional Japanese fermented rice beverage, with an extra punch of savory flavor from the snails.
Bar manager Natasha Bermudez says the team subs in escargot to add body. But with such an earthy, salty ingredient, it was a delicate dance to get the drink just right. “We had to balance the snails to add the right richness into the amazake but not let them become too dominant in the mix,” she says.
The final concoction combines Roku Gin, the snail-spiked liqueur, and lemon juice. This mixture is poured over pebble ice and garnished with a blackberry, wheatgrass, and, of course, a snail shell. (For those wondering, each drink contains about roughly half a snail.)
The new bar in NoMad’s Hotel Park Ave features mostly original creations designed for drinkers in NYC, but a version of this drink originally appeared on the menu at the now-shuttered Dandelyan in London. Chetiyawardana wasn’t planning to bring the drink to NYC but changed course after realizing that his conversation with a mushroom supplier in upstate New York is what inspired him to create the drink in the first place.
Chetiyawardana is known for taking a thoughtful approach to sourcing and sustainability — so much so that his trailblazing bar White Lyan operated without any perishable ingredients or a trash can in an attempt to combat food waste. When sourcing ingredients stateside, he visited a mushroom supplier rooted in agroforestry, meaning it embraces the natural environment and doesn’t strip away trees and other wildlife to create ideal growing conditions like many farms.
The mushroom farmer shared that he was struggling to yield fungi because the area’s dark, musky conditions attracted a local population of snails that began eating up the mushrooms. The only natural repellant to the snail problem? Ducks. Ducks eating the snails provided some relief for the farmer. But it wasn’t enough to fully solve the problem.
Snails and mushrooms living together got the gears turning in Chetiyawardana’s head. Koji, a type of mold-fermented grain, could be a great match for escargot and result in a drink with funky richness. Just as Chetiyawardana started thinking about how those two ingredients would play with the tart fruit flavor from blackberries and lemon, the farmer quipped, “I don’t have a snail problem, I just need more ducks.” And suddenly, this riff on the snail-infused bramble had a name: More Ducks.
“To me, it was this really beautiful embrace of the idea that if you allow things to be in harmony, you get the best of them,” Chetiyawardana says.
At a time when you can find pantry staples moonlighting in Martinis and drinks designed to mimic everything from cold pizza to borscht, Chetiyawardana didn’t want to create another cocktail that adds obscure ingredients simply to garner attention.
“It’s a drink that has something that is quite unusual, but it’s purposeful and really there for a reason,” he says. “We weren’t just doing it for shock factor.” So although a drink topped with a snail shell is sure to turn some heads as it slides across the bar, Chetiyawardana is glad his team can tell a story about sustainability and nature to back it up.
