I started a new series for Punch, in which I examine the cocktail revival of the past quarter-century of the past quarter century, and attempt to divine the major trends that emerged during each five-year period, beginning with 1995-2000. A false construct, I know, but in interesting intellectual exercise. Here’s the first piece. The next three installments will appear in two-week intervals.
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I like how this has begun and I like where it seems to be going.
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Punch published the second in my four-part series on the cocktail revival, examining the major trends of the era, five years at a time. This piece looks at the years 2000 to 2005. Not surprisingly, the biggest trend setter during this period was one bar: Milk & Honey. Otherwise, bartenders took a new look at the ice and sweetener components of drinks, and the brand ambassador arrived on the scene.
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Punch published the third in my four-part series on the cocktail revival, examining the major trends of the era, five years at a time. This piece looks at the years 2005 to 2010. In my opinion, this was the greatest time period in modern cocktail history, the very apex of the new golden age, and it is unlikely to be surpassed by anything to come for some time. No span of years was more exciting, inventive, creative, fertile.
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Cool summary.
I’m pretty sure Jamie Boudreau should’ve been included in the “Molecular Mixology” list: he started (and then distanced himself from it) early, he wrote about it, and he was definitely this New Yorker’s introduction to these ideas.
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Yes, you’re right. (I add this parenthetical because every post must be 20 characters long.)
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Part four. Seems like it’s missing a conclusion!
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Thanks for posting, Martin. As Porky said, “Thaaaaaaat’s all folks!” The series is complete. No reason to go over the prevailing cocktail trends of 2015-2020, because they are recent history and we’re still living them. Also, i would argue that most of the cocktail trends of the last several years are corporate, not creative, and that’s just not very interesting.
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Ok, but I’m not really sure what the prevailing cocktail trends are. I also can’t really tell how much interest the leading edge of Generation Z is showing in mixed drinks, which might say a lot about where we’re going. I’ve skimmed some things that suggest they’re drinking less (quantity), but might be more interested in ‘quality’ and ‘authenticity’ and more resistant to celebrity, fashion, and chasing novel ‘experiences’. I suppose this Pandemic year has made Z particularly difficult to gauge?