If there’s a classic, it’ll have undergone a Shakespearean sea change
February 1, 2025 2:18 PM Subscribe
For its practitioners, experimental bartending works kind of like bebop did for jazz musicians: a music so technically complicated that few could tell what the basic chord changes or the structure of the song were, or if the musician was playing it right or wrong. It sounded impressive, made a lot of noise, attracted a lot of attention and took a lot of chops to execute .... Similarly, an experimental bartender might take, say, a Sidecar—Cognac, Cointreau and lemon juice, optional sugar rim—and bebop it. from Why Is My Drink So Damn Weird? [Punch]
I'm one of those people that reads a cocktail menu basically like poetry and then orders the prettiest poem, so I'm very happy with the current state of affairs. I can't drink much due to my ageing body but when I do I'm always like "ooh! Champagne, shiso leaf, avocado, indigo gin, smoke?? Where do I sign" but I can imagine that if you want a more predictable experience at the bar it might be a frustrating era to be living through.
posted by potrzebie at 3:13 PM on February 1 [6 favorites]
posted by potrzebie at 3:13 PM on February 1 [6 favorites]
You didn’t need a centrifuge to make a perfect Singapore Sling, and a French 75 was not noticeably improved by having little boba-like pearls of Cointreau floating in it.
I wanted to object to this reign of novelty, but I was intrigued about finding the right place for "boba-like pearls of Cointreau." (It's a prospective username and not a drink, isn't it?)
posted by k3ninho at 3:36 PM on February 1 [5 favorites]
I wanted to object to this reign of novelty, but I was intrigued about finding the right place for "boba-like pearls of Cointreau." (It's a prospective username and not a drink, isn't it?)
posted by k3ninho at 3:36 PM on February 1 [5 favorites]
If you thought I was going to let this thread go by without linking to the Alaskan Polar Bear Heater routine, you were very much mistaken.
posted by Lemkin at 4:17 PM on February 1 [2 favorites]
posted by Lemkin at 4:17 PM on February 1 [2 favorites]
Can you make a Bruised Strawberry Alleycat?
posted by snofoam at 5:15 PM on February 1 [3 favorites]
posted by snofoam at 5:15 PM on February 1 [3 favorites]
I spent several decades in the bar business, much of it behind a bar. I wasn't much on innovation but there is one variant I devised for my wife. It is essentially a Rob Roy with certain differences: It must be made with Haig and Haig Pinch (her favorite). It must use orange bitters and be garnished with a twist of orange peal. I believe I named it Rob of Orange. Enjoy...
posted by jim in austin at 5:21 PM on February 1 [1 favorite]
posted by jim in austin at 5:21 PM on February 1 [1 favorite]
Irving Berlin did not write I Got Rhythm.
posted by still_wears_a_hat at 5:34 PM on February 1 [4 favorites]
posted by still_wears_a_hat at 5:34 PM on February 1 [4 favorites]
There's a new bar in town and I have to say they're fairly guilty of these sorts of cocktails without having the chops to back it up. You end up with poorly balanced cocktails that have three too many ingredients. I forget what the exact Scotch cocktail I got was, but it had a Laphroaig float, which turns out makes the whole thing taste like Laphroaig, with a hint of other flavors. I like Laphroaig, but I don't order a fancy cocktail to taste lightly flavored Laphroaig.
posted by Ferreous at 6:56 PM on February 1 [2 favorites]
posted by Ferreous at 6:56 PM on February 1 [2 favorites]
Vodka, six Ice cubes, a box of blueberry muffin Jiffy Mix and an autoclave.
posted by clavdivs at 9:25 PM on February 1 [2 favorites]
posted by clavdivs at 9:25 PM on February 1 [2 favorites]
with all their unique ingredients and nonintuitive formulae, they’re not reproducible. That’s the goal
> hibiscus garnish (we're fresh out of orchids)
posted by HearHere at 10:17 PM on February 1 [1 favorite]
> hibiscus garnish (we're fresh out of orchids)
posted by HearHere at 10:17 PM on February 1 [1 favorite]
Putting a peaty single malt like Laphroaig as a float on something is already borderline malpractice (single malts are not for mixing imo), but it's a straight-up crime if the thing isn't meant to have a smoky flavor profile. Congrats you've ruined your mixed drink AND wasted a lovely dram in the process.
posted by axiom at 10:41 PM on February 1 [2 favorites]
posted by axiom at 10:41 PM on February 1 [2 favorites]
This is why I stick to beer. It's understandable - you get what it says on the label or you start a riot (unless it's IPA -then God help you).
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 11:11 PM on February 1 [2 favorites]
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 11:11 PM on February 1 [2 favorites]
Vodka, six Ice cubes, a box of blueberry muffin Jiffy Mix and an autoclave.
Worst Clue guess evar
posted by chavenet at 12:04 AM on February 2
Worst Clue guess evar
posted by chavenet at 12:04 AM on February 2
My observation (having run bars, designed cocktails, and judged cocktail competitions) is that most of these drinks fail to achieve balance between sweet (sugar) and sour (perceptible acid) which renders them in my opinion, flabby & unrefreshing. In particular relying on too many liqueurs & Amari for “flavor” will more than likely result in a drink that’s too sweet. Guests might order one but are hardly going to make a night with a run of them, unlike say a well made daiquiri or manhattan. The root of this fail in my opinion is that there’s a large cohort of newer bartenders who got seduced by the wealth of ingredients & techniques now available to them before getting a grounding in what makes a drink into a classic, repeatable experience. Not that every drink needs to be that, but it ought at least to be an important consideration for a cocktail.
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 5:31 AM on February 2 [4 favorites]
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 5:31 AM on February 2 [4 favorites]
Wonderich does not mention that many of the old canon drinks were heavily modified to reflect modern tastes, esp. the use of sugars (liqueurs and syrups). In general many pre-Prohibition drinks, calling for dashes and bar spoons of something v. a quarter or half ounce, would come across as intensely dry (and unbalanced) by modern standards.
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 5:39 AM on February 2 [2 favorites]
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 5:39 AM on February 2 [2 favorites]
That’s a very odd take on bebop.
posted by Thorzdad at 7:04 AM on February 2 [4 favorites]
posted by Thorzdad at 7:04 AM on February 2 [4 favorites]
my bartender friend and I invented the prettiest drink: a Cosmo (I know, I know) with a splash of Blue Curacao (I KNOW!!!). served in a martini glass. we called it the Liz Taylor.
posted by supermedusa at 12:12 PM on February 2
posted by supermedusa at 12:12 PM on February 2
I did make up a sort of punkish cocktail that none of my barkeep associates show even a passing interest in making.
Well, honestly, mixing this drink is not the point. It’s somewhat more like that of the theoretical 70’s music piece for trumpet whose notes were written 5 octaves above middle C.
Anyway, FWIW here is the recipe.
In a tumbler begin with a fresh whole gherkin scored roundabout. Fill with ice and pour a generous portion of Hendricks Gin over the ice. Sprinkle a few drops of rose water on top and float a pink rosebud as garnish. Decorate a swizzle stick with a small flag of Italy. Stick it in and serve.
I shamelessly call this concoction Gin Italia.
posted by Droll Lord at 9:46 PM on February 2
Well, honestly, mixing this drink is not the point. It’s somewhat more like that of the theoretical 70’s music piece for trumpet whose notes were written 5 octaves above middle C.
Anyway, FWIW here is the recipe.
In a tumbler begin with a fresh whole gherkin scored roundabout. Fill with ice and pour a generous portion of Hendricks Gin over the ice. Sprinkle a few drops of rose water on top and float a pink rosebud as garnish. Decorate a swizzle stick with a small flag of Italy. Stick it in and serve.
I shamelessly call this concoction Gin Italia.
posted by Droll Lord at 9:46 PM on February 2
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posted by Carillon at 3:02 PM on February 1 [3 favorites]