In Search of True Mixologists
It was only a matter of time before the celebrity wave hit the bartending trade. Even in Los Angeles and Manhattan, few could probably tell you the name of the reigning celebrity mixologist. That hasn’t stopped pop culture cities across the continent from claiming barkeeps who promise the same sheen to drinking that celebrity chefs have cast on big food. There must be a Bravo show in the making (but I haven’t heard of it).
But before we get ahead of ourselves, finding the Tom Colicchio and Gordon Ramsay of the bar, let’s ask for caution. The mixologist drive threatens an American institution. After all, the cocktail largely came of age in the US, beginning with the mint julep in the south and the martini in the north. According to author Andrew Barr, the cocktail emerged because we yanks couldn’t get our hands on decent liquor. Wine and beer didn’t travel so well on cross-Atlantic shipping lanes, and not everyone could drink rum by itself. That led to the creation of punch, a blending of fruit juice and rum that went down the gullet easier than rum alone. In time, we invented the sling (a mixture of rum, water and sugar), and then the cocktail (a sling with the addition of bitters, and often with the freedom of other spirits than rum). The cocktail is our birthright.
It was only a matter of time before the celebrity wave hit the bartending trade. Even in Los Angeles and Manhattan, few could probably tell you the name of the reigning celebrity mixologist. That hasn’t stopped pop culture cities across the continent from claiming barkeeps who promise the same sheen to drinking that celebrity chefs have cast on big food. There must be a Bravo show in the making (but I haven’t heard of it).
But before we get ahead of ourselves, finding the Tom Colicchio and Gordon Ramsay of the bar, let’s ask for caution. The mixologist drive threatens an American institution. After all, the cocktail largely came of age in the US, beginning with the mint julep in the south and the martini in the north. According to author Andrew Barr, the cocktail emerged because we yanks couldn’t get our hands on decent liquor. Wine and beer didn’t travel so well on cross-Atlantic shipping lanes, and not everyone could drink rum by itself. That led to the creation of punch, a blending of fruit juice and rum that went down the gullet easier than rum alone. In time, we invented the sling (a mixture of rum, water and sugar), and then the cocktail (a sling with the addition of bitters, and often with the freedom of other spirits than rum). The cocktail is our birthright.
With all this heritage, you’d think it would be easy to find a bartender that can make a perfect cocktail. Think again. I make it a point to drink in the best of the watering holes when I travel, and the truth is, many bartenders put about as much heart into the drink as fry cooks invest in the culinary delicacy of McDonald’s hamburgers. Before we give the celebrity mixers their 15 minutes of fame, let’s help the tenders of hot spot bars learn the basics (Colicchio would get behind this principle, I’m certain.)
Case in point: the Manhattan. There are few things I can think of that taste as good as a perfectly blended Manhattan. Crisp, astringent and delectably aromatic, the Manhattan is one of the grand old guard of cocktails. Whiskey, sweet vermouth and bitters, shaken or stirred, and served over a maraschino cherry, this drink sadly plays second fiddle to the martini. But its fate has a lot to do with the poor craftsmanship of many bartenders, who either omit the vermouth or pour it on too thick. And just try to find a bar that thinks to add the 2-3 dashes of bitters. I asked a barkeep last week if he added bitters. He stared at my blankly. He didn’t know what bitters were.
Am I a purist? Please. I drink whiskey, for heaven’s sake! I refer to myself as a marketing misfit. With such pretense you can bet your bottom I’m a purist. But my argument has nothing to do with orthodoxy. My point is simple. Before we embark on a plethora of crazy concoctions incorporating ingredients we never imagined from far corners of the earth and “deconstructed” with exotic foodstuffs, let’s get the basics right (I could launch into a diatribe about the misdeeds to the martini, but that’s another post).