In between “classic cocktails” and “disco drinks” (amply sweetened, highly caloric drug delivery system that also appeals to infantile tastes) lies something I’ve been struggling with, on and off, for many years: a genre of mixed drinks that seems to genuinely appeal to certain tastes, but perhaps has no name? I mainly associate this genre with the contemporary era, and I’d point to Nick Mautone’s book as an early document of them. The word that maybe best describes these drinks is anodyne. These drinks are often kind of mild (not too spirit forward), often “culinarily influenced” (fresh herbs and/or fruit), often served over ice. They are the sort of drinks Martha Stewart might put in a cocktail book. I do not generally like them, but I recognize a great many people do, and I don’t wish to begrudge them that. At the same time, I want to put them in a box. They’re part of the landscape.
KnowwhutImean?
Perhaps they have deeper roots (cobblers and highballs)?