Talking to Nicoleta Lazăr, bartender at Casa Timiș

Do you miss vacation? The distinctive feel of tropics or equator? Do you need to feel again at least for a few moments that you are sunbathing in the shade of a palm tree? A bit of exoticism? A coconut flavour? In a luxury environment and a cosy atmosphere? If your answer to all these questions is yes, and we are quite sure about that, Nicoleta Lazăr, bartender at Casa Timiș has the perfect solution.

A bit of aloe vera syrup, some hempseed and three drops of Falernum, with ginger, lime, and almond flavours. Her eyes sparkle, her moves are precise, she is an artist, a pharmacist, but also a magician. The passion that she puts in every cocktail is the secret ingredient that brings its perfection. She is modest and self-taught and glances down when she must talk about herself. She is a proactive person that likes to get the things done and prefers to let her work talk for her. But the passion that drives her exceeds any obstacle and makes her shine even brighter.

The magic inside the English Bar
– Who is Nicoleta Lazăr?
– Bartender at Casa Timiș, 43 years old, mixology passionate, and everything bar related.
– Mixology?
– Mixology is the “art” of mixing the ingredients when making cocktails.
– Magic potions?
– Almost. We want to create special drinks and in order to do that we extract flavours from everything that nature has to offer us: flowers, seeds, leaves, fruits, that we combine with a spirit base and other ingredients.
– Where did you learn to prepare these unique drinks?
– I discovered them myself, out of passion. I worked a long time in Spain, in different bars. I was captivated by all that those bartenders did there. Then I came home, and I got a job in hospitality, in cleaning, but I continued to follow my passion.

As a true sorceress ☺, Nicoleta has the night as her ally.
– How did you do it?
– Many overtime hours standing in at the bar, looking and learning. If an ingredient would catch my eye, at night, at home, I would imagine what it would go with. The second day I would come to the bar and try my new discovery.
– So, we can say you were born with this talent, and you have developed it through individual study.
– I also attended several specialization courses in Bucharest to ensure a mandatory basis. Mixing is not for everybody, there are some rules, some principles that must be followed, but in general is all about my personal creations and experiments.

Chestnut, lavender, elderberry, and acacia lemonade
– I have a passion for the lemonade found in Casa Timiș, it is something unique, it is something I never tried before. Did you create lavender and chestnut lemonade?
– Yes, I did. I always try to use the ingredients provided by nature, every season. In summer I use lavender, in autumn I use chestnuts. Elderberry lemonade is specific in spring and also for this period, I am planning to make an acacia lemonade, for which I am experiencing several methods of making syrup from this flower. During the winter, however, I reinterpreted mulled wine, and that is how Wine Brandy came to life.
– What is your favourite drink?
– I don’t have one. I like all of them, I put my heart, creativity, and hard work into all of them. My colleagues are my tasters, I listen to them, I always pay attention to their feedback. I do many trials until I find the perfect mix, the one I am happy with, and I can present to my clients.
– How long does it take?
– It depends on the complexity. Usually between two days and a week.

Maracuja Passion, the cocktail with 10 ingredients
– Name three liquors that required the most “spells”.
– I believe Maracuja Passion, which has 10 ingredients, Vodka, Orange Fresh, Grapefruit Fresh, Lime Fresh, Falernum (rose water and ripe almond), Passion fruit liqueur and puree, Bitter Peychaud (based on gentian extract), Maraschino cherry and ripe passion fruit core.
– Wow! That sounds incredible!
– Then there would be Aloe Punch, which contains aloe vera juice, fresh lime, rose syrup and hempseed.
– And the third?
– The masterpiece of our bar is Eclectic Vibe, a cocktail created based on a popular local product, namely ”țuica”, to which we have added plum jam, plum Bitter, syrup and vanilla stick, a bit of fresh lime and a lot of passion!
– What is the main challenge when creating such a complex cocktail?
– I think it’s important to be able to distinguish each individual flavour. I want to delight the customer’s tastebuds with something wonderful, with as many flavours as possible, complementing each other. Then, I want the customer to feel a pleasant and long-lasting aftertaste. This is a very difficult to achieve.

Grappa Sour is garnished with dehydrated prosciutto and parmesan cheese
– How do you keep using your imagination at Casa Timiș?
– For example, in the garnishes: coffees come with a burnt marshmallow, Grappa Sour is garnished with dehydrated prosciutto and parmesan. Recently, we make pearls from coffee, sugar and agar agar that we include in a cocktail, Espresso Tonic, which, as the name suggests, contains espresso, tonic water, syrup with different flavours and coffee pearls.
– How many varieties of gin do you use in your cocktails?
– Although gin comes with all sorts of flavours, I like to use the simple one, to which I like to add the one that best suits my creation.
– What do you add to it? Every time I ordered gin, it had a different flavour.
– It depends on my instant inspiration or what the customer prefers: to be more sour, more bitter, sweeter, to have a certain flavour… The base is gin. Then I add a sweet & sour and continue to add the flavours requested by the customer.

Cocktails on the spot, according to the ”desire” and customers taste
– You mean you also make tailor-made cocktails?
– Oh, yesss! I can’t wait to be asked for it. It is the greatest joy of my job, the moment when I combine all my passion and experience in just a few minutes. For example, Viorica de la Clejani requested for something with a more pronounced bitter taste. I made her a Maracuja Passion, with fewer ingredients and more bitter.
– What surprises are you preparing us in the next menu?
– A novelty will be the Chartreuse Swizze cocktail, that contains Chartreuse, Orgeat (an almond syrup and rose or orange water), Fresh Lime and Fresh Pineapple. And what I hope will be the signature cocktail of Casa Timiș is Vin,Vie,Vară and contains Campari, Gin, non-disgorging sparkling wine, vanilla syrup and aromatic Bitter.

Low-alcohol bitters with flavours of lovage, celery, orange
– What is your favourite basic ingredient?
– The low-alcohol but varied-flavoured bitters, for example lovage, celery and orange bitters, with them I try the most unusual but non the less tasty combinations.
– What are the most important qualities for an exceptional mixologist?
– First of all, dedication, and passion for everything he does, also sincerity, good collaboration with the team, imagination, taste sensitivity…

All about Nicoleta, but in a different way
– What is the favourite color of Nicoleta Lazăr?
– Vivid and cheerful colors.
– Favourite flavour?
– The flowery overtones that last for a long period of time.
– What other hobbies do you have?
– My family.
– The craziest thing you’ve ever done?
– I don’t think I’ve done anything really crazy. I think my cocktails are unusual and quite crazy.
– Unusual in the best way. Thank you very much, Nicoleta Lazăr!