Moonlight, the cocktail bar in Zaragoza with which chemists, chefs and designers collaborate

Borja Insa's shaker is usually full of things somewhat more complex than those we usually imagine when we order a cocktail. Not only because of the variety of elements that can be found in the menu of Moonlight Experimental Bar – among which the fat wash of Agnei ham from the Pyrenees, the sweet piparra in vinegar or the redistillation of salmon with sorrel cordial – but because it combines experiences, ideas and extraordinary people.

Insa, who presents himself as an autodidact who found his place and mode of expression behind a bar, opened his most careful project with Rocío Muñoz in 2019. Moonlight Experimental Bar is a bar, but not just any bar. It should be best defined as a crazy, fun and cozy cocktail bar where you can enjoy and learn from a drink (or a canopic glass).

The Paleolithic cocktail has fermented pineapple, mezcal and aromatic herbs. ROCIO BADIOLA

Today it is among the ten best national mixologists by the World Class Competiton and Moonlight is on the list of the Top Cocktail Bars in Spain and Portugal thanks to tireless creative work. Creativity represents this Aragonese bartender, but his honest and transversal vision of the term is something that more than one could incorporate into his dictionary. Creativity starts from not being alone, from understanding yourself as part of a whole that learns, that does not stop being attentive, but above all that observes and values the knowledge and experiences of the people around you. "As a child I had a terrible sense of inferiority. And I grew up always feeling less than everyone else. What I then saw as something horrific, over time has become my greatest strength. Everyone has so much to teach me that the possibilities to continue growing are endless!", says Insa.

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The humility of his vision is what helps him understand and project his proposal. The creative genius does not exist and whoever defends it, lies. Moonlight is a child of everything that has been done before. Insa explains how, to be in the place where he is now, he first had to open Umalas in Zaragoza and generate the first idea of cocktails in the people of the city. "Today I can make drinks with garum, serving a duck's head to the diner or cocktails that are eaten, because others, such as Paxi Troitiño or Javi Caballero, paved the way. It is an ecosystem that feeds back and knowing how to analyze it helps you to understand your customers better, to define yourself better."

After four changes of menu (once a year all the cocktails – including concept, crockery and presentation – disappear to make way for new ones), that work of creation must continue to feed. From the former to the latter the demand has been increasing. The current one is called EDADES and is inspired by the evolution of humanity and its civilizations. Some of its cocktails narrate the passage of history such as Egypt (date maceration, pure walnut syrup garrapiñada with honey and butter, lemon juice, orange peel, beer and incense), Edo Period (with Japanese Whiskey, anko syrup, sake and genmaicha tea) or Apple (oxidized apple juice, Calvados and apple cider from Normandy) and their prices are around 12 and 13 euros.

Step by step of the Gernika cocktail

The sweet Gewurztraminer Wine from Enate is served in the shaker.ROCÍO BADIOLA

Add cordial piparras in homemade vinegar, freshly squeezed lime juice and Pattar.ROCÍO BADIOLA

It shakes hard. ROCIO BADIOLA

It is served in the glass. ROCIO BADIOLA

A few drops of beet "blood" are dropped on the plate at a good height. ROCIO BADIOLA

This is how the Gernika cocktail is presented.ROCÍO BADIOLA

"I'm not afraid of ideas running out, after all I express myself with what I do and I myself am constantly changing and improving." In addition, he says that the team they have now is better than ever. There are four people at the bar, but really the project would not be what it is without a much wider network that constantly enriches them.

Cities that are not Madrid or Barcelona usually suffer a drain of talent, of young people with desire, who march when they do not find momentum in them. Moonlight is proof that betting on local talent, creating an ecosystem that is sustained and supported by the different agents, creating something special and with impact, is possible. Around it orbit professionals of music, art, philosophy and design, all made in zgz. Some of these people are Itziar Luna, product designer and creative, with whom they are creating the glassware of the next menu (also manufactured in Zaragoza). Ana Felipe creates the ceramic and porcelain tableware to contain every cocktail that has been served in the bar over the years and Samuel Akinfengua does all the design. Giving foundation to all the follies of Insa is Mario de los Santos, doctor in chemistry and writer.

And Cristian and Sofia, from the restaurant Gente Rara, have joined, who after years working all over the country returned home to create their own project (now with a Michelin star). Together with them, Insa is preparing the gastronomic proposal of the new opening of Moonlight in September, when it will change premises and incorporate some snacking. The list of people behind each Moonlight development will grow as synergies and connections are created on both sides of the bar.

Interior view of the Moonlight Experimental Bar, in Zaragoza.Rocío Badiola

Insa defends the city that has seen him grow and has allowed him to do his crazy things. "I could have gone to Madrid, they have offered it to me more than once, of course, and surely I would have made a lot more cash than I do now. But maybe I wouldn't be where I am. My city allows me to live, to be talking to you now, to go to my garden of aromatic plants and to go to the bar this afternoon, "he explains. As always, risky and personal projects in smaller towns have that tinge of fear that it will not work. "The work with customers has been progressive, we have been earning them little by little, putting stranger things as the letter progressed."

Whoever goes once to Moonlight repeats, makes those walls his safe place, lets himself be guided and welcomed by his people. "You walk into our house and you feel loved."

Moonlight Experimental Bar

Address: Plaza de San Pedro Nolasco, 2, 50001 Zaragoza
Phone: 876 04 68 07
Opening hours: Wednesday and Thursday from 16.00 to 24.00; Friday and Saturday from 16.00 to 2.00 and Sunday from 16.00 to 22.00. Closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.
Instagram: @moonlightexperimental