Variation or new drink?

[bar.mix.master]

This is a question that I know doesn't have a clear cut answer, but here it goes anyway.

How much does a recipe have to change to constitute the need for a new name?

This has sparked many a debates like the Gimlet (please don’t let this thread go there) and I have a side project that I’m working on that I need to come up with a decent set of rules for this.

Here is what I have so far, a drink needs a new name if any of the following are true:

1. The base liquor changes

2. An ingredient is changed to something that is not a substitute (meaning substituting Cointreau for Triple Sec is okay)

The following do not require a name change:

1. The garnish changes

2. The ratios of ingredients change

3. The type of glassware changes

4. The mixing instructions are different (on rocks vs up, etc…)

5. An ingredient is replaced with a close substitute

I started thinking about this the other night when my wife asked me for something new to drink. She likes very tart drinks (lots of lime) and she said she wanted it in an old-fashioned glass. So I mixed up 2 parts vodka, 2 parts lime juice, 1 part simple syrup into an old-fashioned on the rocks. I tried to think what this drink was called because it is fairly simple and I’m sure it has a name. Then I realized I basically made a tart vodka daiquiri on the rocks. But with all those modifiers it seems like it needs a new name.

Any thoughts?

[mbanu]

Here is what I have so far, a drink needs a new name if any of the following are true:

1. The base liquor changes

2. An ingredient is changed to something that is not a substitute (meaning substituting Cointreau for Triple Sec is okay)

The following do not require a name change:

1. The garnish changes

2. The ratios of ingredients change

3. The type of glassware changes

4. The mixing instructions are different (on rocks vs up, etc…)

5. An ingredient is replaced with a close substitute

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It would be incredibly convenient if instead of coming up with brand new names for each and every cocktail, you could simply order them by category. The vodka sour probably has another name besides the vodka sour, but ordering it as a vodka sour makes it rather clear to both the person ordering and the person taking the order what in fact is being asked for. (I doubt that this will happen though, as it is admittedly more fun to ask for a Rob Roy or a Gin and It instead of for a scotch or gin Manhattan. )

Ratios are important if the ratio change is a big one. A Grand Marnier sour with a few dashes of Pernod and a Pernod sour with a few dashes of Grand Marnier don't taste quite the same.

[bar.mix.master]

Ratios are important if the ratio change is a big one. A Grand Marnier sour with a few dashes of Pernod and a Pernod sour with a few dashes of Grand Marnier don't taste quite the same.

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Very true... So ratios do matter if the difference is big enough. But where do you draw that line?

I would guess the only way to tell is by sampling each to see if it they truely have different primary flavors. However, a drink can have a different primary flavor by just changing the mix of sweet and sour components, but does that make it a different drink?