Is there a certain point when we should step back from this, pull the cocktail off its pedestal a bit and remind ourselves that this is food and drink we're talking about? Food and drink should be fun, and the point should be to enjoy it. Sharing recipes and technique is a way to try to advance that enjoyment. As a bartender I am proud of what I do, the drinks I make, and how my quests react when they taste what I put in front of them. If someone wants to replicate a drink at home or in their bar; more power to them. I hope they're able to make it better and maybe even show me a thing or two. And if what I'm making is not something that I've personally come up with, then I'm damn sure going to give credit to those that deserve it. In a culinary community I think that there has to be a certain pride in giving that credit to those who deserve it, but also pride in sharing ideas so that the community as a whole can continue to advance. The point to constant tinkering of recipes is the realization that as with any art we're constantly in search of perfection, however unattainable it is; and perhaps by sharing recipes and techniques we can move a bit closer to that goal. If people are going to claim another person's recipe as their own to advance themselves in this day and internet-crazed age then I think it's simply a matter of time until that person is called out as a hack. If they don't have the courtesy and professionalism to give credit where it's due then that is a shame, and at that point I wouldn't really consider them as an active part of the community any more. Yet I don't think that people such as that are going to have any lasting impact- they're not actually creating anything new. The creative people are always going to keep creating, and that's why I think they'll continue to make a lasting name for themselves; not simply one that results in an ambassadorship. Not all ambassadors stick around very long, probably for that reason.