Dec.05 Next Big Cocktail 11/8/05 3:16 PM Page 1 Dec.05 Next Big Cocktail 11/8/05 3:17 PM Page 2 THE next BIG COCKTAIL BY JEFFERY LINDENMUTH Trying to predict the next big cocktail is like trying to predict the outcome of a Presidential election. Despite all the polling, you could be right, wrong, or find that there is no clear winner at all. But for spirits marketers and retailers eager to discover the next trend, and for the men and women behind the bar, who will be called upon to mix up the next hot cocktail by the millions, is an exercise worth pursuing with Crossfire fer- vor. With one eye to the past, and the other peering into our crystal mixing glass, here are a few things to consider as we look to the horizon, for the next big cocktail. Dec.05 Next Big Cocktail 11/8/05 3:17 PM Page 3 The next big cocktail classic drink like the Pisco Sour, made Given the recent reign of the comes from a prevail- with Peruvian brandy, or the Mojito, Hess nominates rum as a logi- Caipirhinha made with Brazilian cal choice for the next big cocktail, and ing spirit of the era. Cachaça has the potential to stir a as a way to wean the drinking public The popular Prohibition-era drinks we sleeping spirits behemoth, especially from vodka and ultimately back to still enjoy today were crafted using the considering our growing Latin commu- richer spirits. Even northerly bars, like leading spirits of their time — gin goes nity. Could 2006 be the summer of the the new Cuba Libre at the Tropicana in in a Martini, brandy in a Sidecar. Caipirhinha? Atlantic City, have found the Mojito Currently, vodka dominates spirits Many bartenders, weary of vodka, firmly entrenched as their most popu- sales with 26% of the total market, so would welcome such a novel spirit to lar cocktail. And other classic rum it stands to reason that vodka is the their back bar. Robert “Drinkboy” Hess, drinks, like the Hemingway Daiquiri most popular pour today, from vodka- the cocktail guru behind and Dark & Stormy are appearing on tinis to Cosmopolitans. The world’s www.drinkboy.com, with its popular more cocktail menus. most popular cocktail, the Margarita, message board says, “I'd like to think however, represents the other side of that the reign of vodka is coming to an The next big cocktail the chicken or the egg debate. end, and that consumers will soon Accounting for 17% of mixed drink start spending more time with some of is the creation of a sales, it’s incredible that the Margarita the other spirits that we all know bartender. depends upon a relatively small-pro- deserve attention. I do think that we Whether it’s a classic revival, like the duction regional spirit. In this instance, have seen time and time again the Cuban Mojito, or a modern reinven- the cocktail actually appears to drive public wanting to discover new experi- tion, like the Cosmopolitan, the next the category with sales of tequila, up ences, which provides a leverage for big cocktail will undoubtedly come 5.8% for 2004. moving away from vodka and onto from a bartender, and most likely from With the Margarita as inspiration, a something else.” the United States. Why? They always A FEW DRINKS THAT MADE IT BIG: 178 0 1890 1926 1934 1950 Hot Buttered Rum Manhattan The Alexander The Bronx Dry Martini According to Early American With New York’s Manhattan Made with brandy or gin, it did- Johnnie Solon, former bar- The martini toasted the end of Inebrietatis by Marcus Esketh Club as its namesake, this new- n’t really matter as long as there tender at the Old Waldorf- Prohibition and ultimately Crahan, (1964) legend attrib- fangled short drink showed was booze in it. And this Astoria Bar claims credit for became the sign of better times utes this drink, along with the potential from the start. In fact, creamy, chocolaty drink, was this one. At the time this drink in post-war rec-rooms. In the cherry bounce, to General its popularity hardly waned among the most popular of the was a relatively new invention, revised 1955 edition of Patrick Washington himself. How’s that through two wars and it Prohibition years. More of a but Harman Burney Burke ranks Gavin Duffy’s The Official Mixer’s for celebrity endorsement? Still remains a staple today. If you novelty today, it remained, “high it just below the long-standing Manual, James Beard observed an effective winter remedy 200 consider it began the martini, up on every professional bar Manhattan and the martini in the trend toward dry aperitifs, years later, in Washington’s there is no denying this is the list, doubtless because there are his list of America’s most popu- noting the “immense popularity time it was joined in popularity most seminal drink of all time. gentle ladies who like it.” lar cocktails appearing in of the very dry Martini and the by various Punches. Recipe: Recipe: Burke's Complete Cocktail & dry Old-fashioned.” Drinking Recipes (1934). Recipe: 3/4 oz. sweet vermouth 1 oz. gin Recipe: 1 oz. light rum 2 1/2 oz. Bourbon whiskey 1 oz. white creme de cacao Recipe: 1 2/3 oz. gin 1 tsp. sugar 1 dash Angostura Bitters 1 oz. light cream 1 oz. gin 1/3 oz. dry vermouth 1/2 tsp. butter 1 maraschino cherry nutmeg 1/2 oz. sweet vermouth 1 olive 4 cloves 1 twist orange peel 1/2 oz. dry vermouth Shake all ingredients (except nut- Stir gin and vermouth with ice in a Splash of orange juice Add the sugar, butter and cloves Combine the vermouth, bourbon, meg) with ice and strain into a mixing glass. Strain into a cocktail Orange slice to a coffee mug. Pour the rum, and and bitters with 2 - 3 ice cubes in cocktail glass. Sprinkle nutmeg on glass, add the olive, and serve. stir well. Fill with boiling water. Stir a mixing glass. Stir gently. Place top and serve. Shake over ice. Strain into a chilled again, and serve. the cherry in a chilled cocktail cocktail glass. Garnish with an glass and strain the whiskey mix- orange slice. ture over the cherry. Rub the cut edge of the orange peel over the rim of the glass and twist it over the drink to release the oils but don't drop it in. Dec.05 Next Big Cocktail 11/8/05 3:17 PM Page 4 “I think pomegranate will continue to be a popular Blazer, a flaming mix of whisky and water. Now we have the big screen flavor with more and more pomegranate flavored with James Bond sipping a shaken liqueurs continuing to hit the market. And I think martini and more recently a Mojito, the Green Tea Martini will be big as well.” followed by Carrie Bradshaw and crew downing Cosmos. Even The New Master Mixologist, Dale DeGroff York Times disseminates cocktail recipes with a regular column. Angus Winchester, creator of have. In The Gentleman’s Companion, Martini and the Green Apple Martini Alconomics Ltd, a bar consulting 1939, Charles Baker predicts, “…the may be worthwhile footnotes in cock- business based in London, says, “The American has invented, and always tail history, but no amount of market- power of the media, or at least TV will invent, more of the world’s good ing dollars can compensate for a tal- and film is huge as it is such a seduc- mixed drinks than the rest of human- ented bartender with pride in their tive medium. Whereas in the past ity lumped together.” Do you feel the creations. novelists such as Fleming, pressure? Hemingway and Kerouac could make Certainly there are exciting drinks The next big cocktail a drink cool, now it has to be ordered surfacing throughout the world, and on some sort of blockbuster film or nearly all are the work of inventive needs a celebrity must-see TV — real water cooler bartenders with a penchant for cre- endorsement. stuff.” Somewhat affirming our previ- ous nationalistic point he adds, “And ativity and an idle moment — the In days gone by it might have been to be honest, as something is not same people who have conceived President Grant congratulating turn- really a trend until it hits the U.S., it almost every successful drink in his- of-the-century mixologist Jerry will have to come from there.” tory. The Moscow Mule, the Hennessy Thomas on his pyrotechnic Blue 1964 1975 1986 1991 2002 The Daiquiri Piña Colada Sea Breeze Cosmopolitan Margarita In an age of lunar landings the One claim has this drink creat- This drink, along with the other Riding the wave of vodka and From its ambiguous beginnings Daiquiri was really nothing new, ed back in 1954 at the Caribe “breezes,” salty dog, madras, cranberry, this drink attempts and rapid ascent in the early 70s, having been embraced by Hilton Hotel in Puerto Rico. and other pretty preppy drinks to bring back a little old-school (spawning not just a theme song Americans on hiatus in Cuba Problem was, according to the gained ground combining the sophistication. Helped along but an entire lifestyle) this twist back in the Prohibition years. hotel there was no rum in it – a newly popular Cranberry juice immensely by popular televi- on another classic, the Sidecar, But with the endorsement of situation that was soon reme- cocktail with vodka in a way that sion, and Dale DeGroff’s truly remains the world’s most popu- J.F.K., and the ubiquity of the died.