Should These Five Cocktail Trends Go Away?

1. Celebrity bartenders that forget how to mix A master mixologist deserves credit for crafting the perfect cocktail. However, when the bartender’s personality upstages the drinks they make, I’m not interested in going back for more
2. Infused drinks This was a neat trend because even a lowly cocktail novice could make [insert fruit or vegetable name]-infused vodka at home. It was fun. And now it is overdone at home and at the bar. Candy-corn flavored liquor? Really? Bonus: I love bacon, but don’t need it as a swizzle stick or infused in everything. Moderation is key
3. Low-alcohol cocktails At first, I was wooed by this trend. I loved the idea of having more than one drink at happy hour or not getting a buzz at a work meeting. Here’s the thing, though: I never order these drinks. If I’m in the mood for a low-alcohol concoction, I’m really jonesing for a non-alcoholic drink. Unfortunately, NA drinks are too often the black hole area of a cocktail menu. Bar owners: Please fix this. Now
5. Pretending that Pre-Prohibition era drinks are new Don’t get me wrong: I love a flip, a fizz, or a party punch. However, it’s time to treat these drinks as classics that every bartender should know—like a master sauce recipe for chefs—not as a fleeting trend. —Images courtesy of Shutterstock Follow senior editor Natasha Gardner on Twitter, Instagram, or Pinterest. Click here for our complete Month of Cocktails coverage.
4. Fancy-pants ice When a mixologist spends more time talking about the frozen water used to chill the cocktail than all other ingredients, I start to worry that their obsession is not worth a $12 price tag for something I can get in my freezer
1. Celebrity bartenders that forget how to mix A master mixologist deserves credit for crafting the perfect cocktail. However, when the bartender’s personality upstages the drinks they make, I’m not interested in going back for more
2. Infused drinks This was a neat trend because even a lowly cocktail novice could make [insert fruit or vegetable name]-infused vodka at home. It was fun. And now it is overdone at home and at the bar. Candy-corn flavored liquor? Really? Bonus: I love bacon, but don’t need it as a swizzle stick or infused in everything. Moderation is key
3. Low-alcohol cocktails At first, I was wooed by this trend. I loved the idea of having more than one drink at happy hour or not getting a buzz at a work meeting. Here’s the thing, though: I never order these drinks. If I’m in the mood for a low-alcohol concoction, I’m really jonesing for a non-alcoholic drink. Unfortunately, NA drinks are too often the black hole area of a cocktail menu. Bar owners: Please fix this. Now
5. Pretending that Pre-Prohibition era drinks are new Don’t get me wrong: I love a flip, a fizz, or a party punch. However, it’s time to treat these drinks as classics that every bartender should know—like a master sauce recipe for chefs—not as a fleeting trend. —Images courtesy of Shutterstock Follow senior editor Natasha Gardner on Twitter, Instagram, or Pinterest. Click here for our complete Month of Cocktails coverage.
4. Fancy-pants ice When a mixologist spends more time talking about the frozen water used to chill the cocktail than all other ingredients, I start to worry that their obsession is not worth a $12 price tag for something I can get in my freezer