This week, Cookthink is featuring a conversation about the Cocktail Renaissance. The participants are Greg Boehm, the publisher of CocktailKingdom.com and Mud Puddle Books; Rob Chirico, author of The Field Guide to Cocktails and Cookthink’s Hair of the Dog columnist; and AJ Rathbun, senior editor at Amazon.com/kitchen and the author of several books, including Good Spirits and Luscious Liqueurs.

Start by reading Rob’s introduction.

Hello Greg and Rob:

Thanks for inviting me to this particular bar to talk cocktails with both of you. Before diving into either of your first emails, can I say that it’s just amazing that we’re even doing this, and that I think the fact that we are points to this very “Cocktail Renaissance” we’re talking about? Email, message boards, and the Internet itself have influenced bartenders, and are influencing this renaissance, as they’ve made it possible for cocktail-minded folks (both of the professional and home bartending variety) to talk about what they enjoy, and enjoy making, to hear about new products, and to share classics and classic reads.

Greg, you mentioned Jerry Thomas, Harry Johnson, and William Schmidt, as well as the lovably cranky (and indispensible to me) David Embury. How many folks out there, me included, found out about these bar scribes via DrinkBoy’s message boards, or an online article, or even by traipsing around Wikipedia? I’m guessing a lot.

This is all a bit rambling, as my bar conversations can be, but I wanted to toss out there how this inclusive ability to communicate long range with other cocktail aficionados, and to follow along in the general cocktail conversation through the web (and I didn’t even mention the many great blogs out there focused on drinking and drinks, where you can learn about classics, new recipes, events, and ingredients on a daily basis) is sure handy, and has surely helped the Cocktail Renaissance (and, in a way, revolution) along.

Though, as Rob mentioned when starting us off, those marketing types are certainly involved, too, and starting to get more and more involved online and off. It can be a good and a bad thing (as Greg’s Fell’s example, which I’d never seen, pointed out), but when marketers actually do hook up with a good bartender, it’s certainly possible to have it lead to deliciousness.

I have a number of oldish cocktail pamphlets (some almost book size) that were put out specifically to push products, but which still contain well-balanced and well-thought out recipes that I have to believe were helped along by talented, if perhaps forgotten now, bartenders. (I just picked up one from 1942 — I think, I’m at work and it’s at home — that Angostura put out that’s especially nice). I have to hope that today’s companies are at least starting to tap into some of the brilliant bar talent currently available when they’re putting together recipes to accompany their products.

The second upside of the more aggressive marketing for these new products is that the products themselves become more widely available. It at least seems that way to me. Being in Seattle, where the liquor stores are state owned, it’s often been a pain to find certain products at. But recently, we’re finally seeing a wider assortment showing up on the shelves (things such as the mentioned Saint Germain, as well as staple items such as rye) and that makes me all sorts of excited.

Before ending this first round, I want to acknowledge the absolute genius of Greg’s admission: “However, flavored vodkas are a trend I have skipped so far (other than the juniper flavored ones).” And, in the same vein, Rob, saying “some of my regulars would rather eat bees than switch from their Plymouth Martini” made me laugh so loud that those sitting next to me started to call HR.

A couple questions before signing off. We’ve mentioned a sort of return to classicism in cocktail making, and the word “renaissance,” all of which points to the resurgence of a dedication to balance and ingredients and reverie for a type of beauty in cocktail construction. At the same time, we’re seeing an explosion in the definition of what actually defines cocktail construction. I’m thinking, for example, of the drinks I had at Tailor in New York last week. One featured “smoked Coke” and another had “butternut squash,” and they had interesting and intriguing flavors, but also were pushing the boundary in a way. What’s your take on this new line of cocktailing?

Also, as more and bartenders are dedicating themselves to serving better cocktails at individual bars, do you sense a sort of “trickle up” theory, where the larger chain restaurants, and more mainstream spots are also serving better drinks? If not, do you think it will happen? I’m not sure yet, so interested to hear your thoughts.

Again, thanks for letting me on this boozy conversation.

Salute-

A.J.

Previously: Who’s really creating the trends?
Next: “The dedicated bartender must know his techniques just as a chef — or forger — does.”

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