Tony Comas is the Co-owner of Boodiou in Ibiza. He makes us two cocktails, one with Whisky and Oriental Paste and the second with Vodka and Corn Colada Mix.
Tony introduce yourself
My name is Tony Comas, I’m French and I started bartending 14 years ago when I moved to London and discovered the industry. I like to work at the bar, serve and interact with people, whether that involves cocktails or not. In fact I only started making cocktails in 2010, because before that I was working in clubs in the French West Indies, Anguilla and the Dominican Republic. I moved to Paris and then Vancouver where I learnt a lot at The Diamond which is a Jerry Thomas style bar. Then I really fell in love with cocktails more than any other kind of bartending.. After three years I moved back to Europe to Bar Hommage in Stockholm. After that, I became a bartending consultant in Mali, Ivory Coast, Argentina, Uruguay, Malaysia, Shanghai, Vietnam, Cambodia, Hong Kong and Doha. But my goal was to work in Ibiza with my partner in crime Hadrien Rigat who is in charge of the food here. So it all happened and here we are at Boodiou. The name comes from the Occitan language and means Good God. We started to build this place in November 2017 and we opened it in April 2018. We’ve made a choice to have a quality work/life balance. We don’t have a car, we use local products, walking and working in bare feet and staying with people we love. The fact that we are a bar/restaurant influences my cocktails and my drinks influence the food too. We share ideas, and we try to make the cocktails and the dishes work together, even if we don’t do pairing. We change both the menus together on a regular basis, so of course, there are some matching and common ingredients. And a lot of people come to eat and drink cocktails at the same time and listen to music because for us it’s part of the same mindset. You just have to let it go.
The classic you want to show us
Date Palm
20ml of Egg White infused with Cardamon
45ml of Bows Bestiut Pure Malt Single Cask
15ml of Ibiza Orange
15ml of Ibiza Lemon
30ml of Oriental Paste (Rose and Date)
The bar you dream of
I want to work in this place because we chose it and built it as we wanted. Maybe the only thing we’d like is to have some bedrooms upstairs for friends who want to stay. But because it’s a dream bar, if we could have a garden behind the bar to grow our own fruit and the Bows distillery in front of the restaurant it would be even better.
What do you do in your time off
After our shift, we go clubbing for a few hours and swim in the afternoon. We open around 8 pm, so we have time to do things for ourselves before.
The spirit you like the most
Mezcal is the one because the way it’s made, the craft, the history, it’s all about agave. The way the plant matures in the ground. Agave is just magical in a cocktail, it makes people magic and your night magic. On the terrace, we have agave and in the bathroom here, you have drawings of space agave in the cosmos. I worked at Candelaria for 9 months and even if I loved mezcal before, thanks to them I truly understand what agave is. Agave is fascinating to drink but even more so to distil.
What makes a good cocktail
A good cocktail is about what the client wants. But when you read the description of a drink, it needs to match that in your mouth. The way you present a menu is important too. Like the idea of Joe Schofield with the sensorium menu at Tippling Club and the fact, you smelt the fragrance of the cocktails… that was crazy.
What ingredient do you enjoy using in cocktails
I love bitters, because this ingredient fixes everything, always. It’s the salt and pepper for bartenders. My favourite is Scrappy Celery Bitters. Whatever the drink, a dash of sugar and Celery Bitters works most of the time.
The signature cocktail you want to show us
Corn Colada
45ml of Aroc Occitan Vodka
60ml of Corn Colada Mix (Corn, Coconut Milk, Soy Sauce, Condense Milk)
Where do you think we need to go to interview another bartender
You have to go to Bar Hommage where I worked in Stockholm, Joloko in Kuala Lumpur and Little Barrel in Geneva.