The curse of the cocktail?

[mbanu]

Has anyone ever noticed that the finest cocktail ingredients all seem to come from "non-cocktail" cultures (France, Italy, etc.), or from non-cocktail minorities subsidized by fans from elsewhere? (Bourbon in the US and the Japanese that love it spring to mind.)

Or how once an ingredient starts drawing more revenue from its place in the cocktail scene than from its neat drinkers, it starts to suffer a drop in quality? (Distillation proofs go higher to make heavy spirits more "mixable", liqueurs start sneaking in more artificial flavoring, aromatic wines start using cheaper wine bases, etc.)

Is this sort of evolution inevitable? Are cocktails doomed to be the "bad influence" on upstanding alcoholic beverages, luring them down the path of easy money but ultimately leaving them disgraced and dishonored?

I look forward to your opinions.

[Friend of the Farmer]

Some including myself would disagree that France and Italy are non-cocktail cultures. Just as they took to jazz and our native artforms, europeans venues have been serving cocktails for generations - some adhering strictly to the adopted and classic recipes, some truly new and unique. Consider how our beloved Amer Picon is now marketed principally as a mixer for beer in France and Benelux.

Cheapening of ingredients with major core brands (US and EU markets) - absolutely the case. Most of the US market buys on brand and taste profile, and technology serves spirit producers no less today than food producers in changing formulations w/o compromising the desired taste experience. And that means more money for 'brand development' and profitability.

Cocktailians, much like slow foodies, read the labels and are generally more sensitive to a product's formulation, production process and truthful authenticity.

Consider also that cocktails are a blessing - they help introduce both new and unique tastes and can sometimes yield a drink experience distinct (and sometimes even better) than that of its components alone.

[Peter Green]

Both sides hold true. Cocktails have long fueled a culture of fast and friendly, but there is also the side that looks to the blend of the best quality ingredients to make the whole superior to the parts.

Consider the noble martini. Some will just toss the name out there, with little concern for the origins of its base, but others will hound the bartender for the best of gin, the smoothest of vodkas. Would one be content with standard bar stock as the final resting place for the tragic olive? (Okay, near final, it's going down my gullet).

[plattetude]

While we're all considering, let's also consider that the very concept of the cocktail stemmed from mixing subpar ingredients to make a more palatable potable.

And so, with mbanu's observation, we come full circle.

That said, I think the converse can also be true -- that the cocktail culture has led to *better* ingredients. Witness the rebirth of rye as a increasingly widespread spirit. Witness the ultrapremium vermouths like Vya and Carpano Antica. Witness the creation of Regan's Orange Bitters. And how about tequila -- premium brands are getting more and more expensive, not to mention growing in number. And agricole rum. And cachaca. And pisco.

edited to add: Boy, I'm thirsty.

Christopher

Edited September 27, 2006 by plattetude (log)

[SYoung]

How do you define "cocktail culture"? No one knows for sure which country originated cocktail. Some believe it was introduced to America by the French during the American Revolution and is based on the word "coquetel" which is a drink from the Bordeaux region known for centuries.

Talk about France, drinking an aperitif before dinner is quite the "culture", and that includes mixed alcoholic drinks such as Kir which is a cocktail (as it is commonly defined) based on cassis, a very traditional, if not cultural, liqueur in Dijon. Italy has a similar "aperitivo" culture with cultural drinks us as limoncello, amaretto and sambuca. And then there is negroni which is a traditional Italian cocktail of gin, Campari and sweet vermouth.

I'm not sure if I've really answered the question but there is certainly without doubt, enough of a spirit/liqueur, if not cocktail, culture in France and Italy such that it is not at all surprising that some of the finest cocktail ingredients originated from these countries.

[ThinkingBartender]

Personally I go for "Cocktail" as a slang term for what was known as "bitters". In turn "Bitters" was a polite term for a "Dram".

The Dram and Bitters were drunk in England and Scotland during the 1700s and before.

And here, for your veiwing pleasure, are a few excerpts from sources that describe other definitions of "Cocktail".

"Three Years in Canada: An Account of the Actual State of the Country in 1826-7-8", By John Mactaggart, 1829

"Nevertheless, let what the people of the States of America call cocktail be fully analyzed - let us pry into the wonderful mysteries of Bitters."

"American Notes for General Circulation", By Charles Dickens, 1842

"Cocktail - spirit, bitters, sugar, etc."

"Lawrie Todd: Or, the Settlers in the Woods", By John Galt, 1849

"Cocktail, a, a dram of bitters."

"Hesperos: Or, Travels in the West", By Matilda Charlotte (Jesse) Fraser Houstoun, 1850

"Their "custom of an afternoon," was to prepare and drink a favourite compound, which went by the name of "brandy-cocktail." The avowed object was to stimulate their appetites for dinner, (though for this there appeared no absolute necessity,) and as it seemed to have the desired effect, I may as well add, for the benefit of other weak and delicate individuals, that brandy-cocktail is composed of equal quantities of "Stoughton bitters" and Cognac."

"Notes and Queries", by William John Thomas, et al, 1850

"Now it would appear that the medical profession is to have the invention of that ques-tionable American institution, the ' cocktail,' fathered upon it..."

"Dictionary of Americanisms", By John Russell Bartlett, 1860

"Cocktail - A stimulating beverage, made of brandy or gin, mixed with sugar and a very little water."

Cheers!

George S.

g.sinclair@yahoo.co.uk

http://www.wiki.webtender.com/wiki/

[mbanu]

How do you define "cocktail culture"?  No one knows for sure which country originated cocktail.  Some believe it was introduced to America by the French during the American Revolution and is based on the word "coquetel" which is a drink from the Bordeaux region known for centuries.

Talk about France, drinking an aperitif before dinner is quite the "culture", and that includes mixed alcoholic drinks such as Kir which is a cocktail (as it is commonly defined) based on cassis, a very traditional, if not cultural, liqueur in Dijon.  Italy has a similar "aperitivo" culture with cultural drinks us as limoncello, amaretto and sambuca.  And then there is negroni which is a traditional Italian cocktail of gin, Campari and sweet vermouth.

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Well yes, France and Italy have cocktails, same as the US has jai alai teams. That doesn't necessarily mean that they play more than the role of exotic curiosity in the daily habits of their respective cultures.

I suppose the big difference between a cocktail culture and a non cocktail culture is in the mindset when it comes to viewing types of alcohol. For non-cocktail cultures, these liqueurs and liquors and aromatic wines are primarily finished products, not stepping stones on the way towards finished recipes.

If you present your average Italian with a bottle of sweet vermouth or Campari, I doubt the first impulse will be to hunt down a bottle of gin so they can make a Negroni, any more than the first impulse of the average American presented with a cheeseburger is to start making plans for cheeseburger soup.

However, this "ingredient-centric" viewpoint among cocktail cultures leads to the same sort of temptations that inspire people to use partially hydrogenated soybean oil, high fructose corn syrup, and powdered eggs while baking, instead of butter, sugar and fresh eggs, even if the idea of making a breakfast of scrambled rehydrated eggs and pancakes drizzled in corn syrup with a pat of Crisco would be entirely out of the question.

Edited October 2, 2006 by mbanu (log)