Liquid Legends
Classic cocktails stage a comeback, beckoning a new generation of sippers
By Margaret Casey, Special to R&I -- Restaurants & Institutions, 8/15/2004
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Quickies won’t last very long and Sex on the Beach is just a passing fancy, soon to be traded for the next big thrill. They may be counted among the current cocktails du jour, thrust into the limelight by rowdy bar crowds who thrill at the naughty names, but the drinks’ chances for longevity are slim at best.
Tom Collins, whiskey sours, Manhattans, sidecars, martinis, margaritas and daiquiris are another story, venerable, time-tested drinks that endure through changing tastes and whims and continue to attract new devotees.
“Classic cocktails evoke another era but they’re strong sellers. Older patrons know what they are and know that they like them. For younger people, ordering one can be cool. It takes them back in a time machine,” says Lolly Mason, bartender at UpStairs on the Square in Cambridge, Mass.
Many of the classics sprung out of the golden era, when the cocktail hour was sacred time, an inviolate ritual of Cole Porter songs, silver cocktail shakers and snappy dialog. Mason says that drinks that have stood the test of time fit the modern age just as well. “A great cocktail—one that is balanced and properly proportioned—will always taste good and sell very well,” she says.
All Well and Good
Mason points to another trait that helps build a legend: high
quality. “The ingredients have to shine. Our well liquors
are sold as top-shelf in a lot of other restaurants. We make
our own sour mix and that makes a big difference in the results.”
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Adam Seger, general manager of Chicago’s Nacional 27, concurs. “Classics that do well are the ones that are done well. It’s no different than with food—a great dish begins with great ingredients. The same is true with cocktails.”
Nacional 27, a unit of Chicago-based multiconcept operator Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, falls under the Nuevo Latino label, putting margaritas, mojitos and caipirinhas at the top of its list of best-selling beverages. To prepare each of them, Seger’s bartending team only uses fresh juices—a commitment that requires one staff member to spend two hours each afternoon preparing for the nightly quotient. Drinks that call for simple syrup are likely to have the added bonus of an extra flavor infusion. Mojitos, for instance, are mixed with syrup made with fresh mint leaves. Another fillip of flavor comes via muddled mint.
“Adding mint to the syrup brings an additional dimension while syrup rather than bar sugar allows for better dispersion. The bottom half of the drink isn’t too heavy and sweet while the top is too dry,” Seger says.
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Retro Revival
Nacional 27 features salsa-style dancing on weekends, drawing
an energetic and youngish crowd. Seger says that coaxing them
to swap a cosmo or chocolate martini for something more classic
is easily done—especially if the drink has a twist that
puts it smack in the middle of modern times. “Younger guests
feel sophisticated because they are drinking a classic, especially
if it’s a little more hip.”
In season, blueberries are muddled into mojitos while passion fruit and mango are offered as margarita flavors. “And we discovered how well black cherries go in a caipirinha,” Seger adds.
Ben Reed, author of “The Art of the Cocktail” (Ryland, Peters & Small, 2004), maintains that the ability to create something new within broad parameters is an important component of classicism. “[Drinks] have to stand the test of time but it helps if a cocktail can be personalized, like a martini,” he says. “That ensures that it truly will last.”
Timeless Tipples
What cocktails have earned the classic label? Depends on whom
you ask, although one Web site took a stab at naming 10. Between
the Sheets came out on top, followed by Singapore Sling, Planter’s
Punch, Manhattan, daiquiri, caipirinha, Tom Collins, whiskey
sour, Rum Swizzle and the Bronx.
No mention of the martini jumps out as an unlikely omission but also points to the full range of opinions that shape the topic. Ben Reed, author of “The Art of the Cocktail,” includes the venerable mix of gin and vermouth—“stirred, not shaken”—and fills out his list of tops with the margarita, sidecar, old fashioned, Manhattan, champagne cocktail, daiquiri, Tom Collins, whiskey sour and mai tai.
As for Reed’s personal favorite? “There’s a cocktail for any mood and any occasion. Sometimes it’s a daiquiri or an old fashioned but a fluffy rum punch is just right sometimes. That’s the great thing about cocktails—they’re infinite.”
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