This article first appeared in the Drinks International Global Bar Edition which can be read in full here
A quarter of a century ago or so, to be reborn the cocktail had to be taken away from the high street and hidden in dark speakeasies with rules and etiquette. A generation of bartenders obsessed about the minute details of the perfect classic and revived long-lost formulae. It’s easy to laugh at some of the quirks of that era, but it’s that movement that restored the good name of the Old Fashioned and the Dry Martini and launched the Negroni to superstardom.
The good work of the past couple of decades means the cocktail is now mainstream and back on Main Street. Random hotels and restaurants, fancy pubs and theatre lobbies: you’ll now find Margaritas and Espresso Martinis everywhere.
“There’s a trickle-down effect from anything considered niche into the mainstream, that’s how trends work,” says Damien Guichard, creative director of Berlin’s Wax On. “That cocktails are being served in casual places means that it’s been accepted by the mass and that’s a great thing.”
Indra Kantono, co-founder of the Jigger & Pony Group, which operates both high-end cocktail-focused bars and restaurants that serve cocktails as just another option, concurs: “Cocktail culture is edging out wines and beers in some places.”
If cocktails are everywhere, what does it mean for your beloved specialist bar? Will punters stay away, drinking to their heart’s content in, say, a restaurant? For Kevin Armstrong, of Satan’s Whiskers – a bar known for its dedication to turning out the absolute best version of classic cocktails – “casual cocktail culture should not pose a threat to those businesses operating as specialist bars, unless those specialist bars are not doing a good enough job in the first place”. And having a great cocktail experience in a restaurant should, according to him, “drive guests in search of cocktails made by even more discerning professionals in tailor-made bar spaces”.
If a good Negroni in a random restaurant can’t harm specialist bars and should actually help them grow, could it, however, have an effect on what those bars offer? The increased technological bent of the bar world could be seen as an answer to a growing familiarity with cocktails among the general public: if you’re surrounded by good Palomas, it’s only logical to make something very different to wow the public. While a lot of those venues are very successful (and, indeed, feature heavily on the World’s 50 Best Bars list), it would be a mistake to think this is the only way to go.
“I would advise against sticking to one’s high horse that cocktails should be the domain of connoisseurs alone,” argues Kantono. When the general public makes the step up to specialist bars: “It’s an opportunity to showcase depth of expertise and craftsmanship. That is what we do at Jigger & Pony with our Espresso Martini. It is a popular-appeal cocktail elevated with high-quality coffee beans, technically excellent execution, and complete with the serving ritual of cracking the garnish of cacao tuile.”
Cocktail terminology
This, in essence, is a throwback to the early years of the cocktail renaissance, when every bar made Mojitos but only a handful made outstanding Mojitos and that’s how they got you hooked. “With just about any product, there are basic, average, good and/or exceptional examples – from clothing to pizza, those rules apply,” Armstrong comments. “Once you have become accustomed to one level, those with enough interest will usually seek out the next.”
While more people being “comfortable with cocktail terminology”, as Armstrong puts it, is good news for bars, it also opens new avenues for smart operators. If staffing issues for top-end cocktail bars seem to be behind us, there’s still a general lack of knowledge and talent in the industry which means casual venues need help. “Restaurants often want mixed drinks as a product but don’t care as much about the atmosphere and intimacy of service as most is done table side,” says Guichard. Whether it’s designing smart, simple menus or making serves easier for non-expert staff, there are many opportunities for bartenders to consult on. RTDs or pre-batched cocktails are another solution that casual venues increasingly turn towards. “Such NPD (new product development) work, as is sometimes required, can command hefty fees,” explains Armstrong, “and then the subsequent reliance of those venues on the outsourced expertise means longer-term income can be secured.
All good then? Well, not necessarily. On the one hand, there’s still the risk that specialist bars make things too complicated. “I don’t believe in the need to challenge and educate the guests,” Guichard confides. According to Kantono: “We are seeing a trend towards simplicity and familiarity in both food and cocktails. Simplicity is a creative goal for bartenders to strive to.” It’s possible that casual cocktail culture indicates that drinkers actually prefer cocktails that are easy to understand.
On the other, for all the easy solutions that can be put in place for casual venues, the human element can still derail things: a batch is used past its sell-by date or not served properly, for example. And many establishments will still have untrained staff make a drink from scratch. Armstrong again: “I have absolutely been on the receiving end of better cocktails from establishments wherein cocktail service is not the primary revenue driver. In the same breath, I have seen incredible crimes against cocktails and bartending in similar casual venues. Under these circumstances, the casual spaces do have the capacity to do lasting damage to consumer confidence. When your first experience of a Gin Martini is from the local pub and it is warm, insipid, heavy with liquor, off vermouth and a dried-out lemon peel, then you are unlikely to crave another anytime soon, even in the very best venues.”
The mainstream-isation of cocktails is great news for the bar industry, opening as it does many pathways for canny bartenders and operators. It will require careful management: Main Street killed the cocktail once before. At least, this time, many top-tier bartenders have the opportunity to have a say on how the casual era takes shape.
