The $15 Cocktail Is Back (Is It)

[MitchW]

If it is, thank the fucking lord.  Because according to Robert Simonson, one of my favorite writers about drinks and drinking, it is.  Sort of, I guess.

 

Quote

 

In an era of $22 drinks and cocktails designed to taste like pizza, roast chicken, or hot dogs, there may be a correction coming: A handful of seasoned owners are putting the brakes on the ever-accelerating cost and cleverness of the average mixed drink, leaning instead into familiarity, accessibility, and value.

One of the names embracing this new austerity might be surprising: Death & Co — among the city’s most prominent neo-speakeasies and now a national chainlet of high-end bars — is introducing a “fast-casual concept” called Close Company that will open in Nashville, Atlanta, and Las Vegas in the coming months, with a New York outpost in the works. Drinks there will hover around $15, and the spaces will do away with many of the hallmarks of the modern cocktail bar. There will be no host greeting guests, no seating-only setup, and no reservations needed. “It will feel a little less precious, a little more fun,” says Dave Kaplan, one of Death & Co’s founders. “It’s this idea of a cocktail bar that is more of a neighborhood bar.”

 

 

As someone who pretty much only orders classics, I welcome the day.  I am in no need of some bartender's fantasy of what might taste good.

https://www.grubstreet.com/article/new-cocktail-bars-with-cheap-normal-drinks.html

[splinky]

there's about to be a lot of poor people dying for a drink, they need to be $20 or less. 

[voyager]

2 hours ago, MitchW said:

…thank the lord!

As someone who pretty much only orders classics, I welcome the day.  I am in no need of some bartender's fantasy of what might taste good.

 

There was a time when a cocktail was an adult drink, not an alcoholic soda pop.

[Wilfrid]

Every classic started out as a bartender experimenting.

[voyager]

46 minutes ago, Wilfrid said:

Every classic started out as a bartender experimenting.

Unarguably.    But many/most true classics were surprisingly invented in the 1800s.   
Even the Negroni was born in the early 1900s.   That's a pretty long provenance.  

[relbbaddoof]

Given how things are going, we may not have the luxury of waiting a century before a banana martini proves itself undrinkable.

[MitchW]

13 hours ago, Wilfrid said:

Every classic started out as a bartender experimenting.

Sure, but when they were experimenting with the drinks we can call classics (Martini, Manhattan, Old-Fashioneds, et al.), I'm pretty sure bar chefs bartenders weren't playing around with Roto Vaps, Spinzalls, Searzalls, sous-vide equipment, etc. etc.  They probably weren't even fat washing.

[small h]

1 minute ago, MitchW said:

fat washing

This is what I call it when I take a shower.

[MitchW]

1 minute ago, small h said:

This is what I call it when I take a shower.

Are you here all week?

[small h]

Probably all month. Tip your towel boys.

[backyardchef]

17 hours ago, splinky said:

there's about to be a lot of poor people dying for a drink, they need to be $20 or less. 

A lot of pepople will be getting the ol' Still out of retirement. 

[MitchW]

37 minutes ago, backyardchef said:

A lot of pepople will be getting the ol' Still out of retirement. 

They gotta be careful they don't blow themselves up.  But plenty of good bourbon and rye made here!  And some gin, too.

[backyardchef]

39 minutes ago, MitchW said:

They gotta be careful they don't blow themselves up.  But plenty of good bourbon and rye made here!  And some gin, too.

They will and they will poison some people, too. It's called progress. Apparently. 

[StephanieL]

1 hour ago, backyardchef said:

They will and they will poison some people, too. It's called progress. Apparently. 

We have a still.  Maybe N will fire it up again.

[splinky]

2 hours ago, backyardchef said:

They will and they will poison some people, too. It's called progress. Apparently. 

isn't the poison potential what makes it artisanal?

[small h]

Well, it's got alcohol in it already. A poison. A poison that I ingest on the regular.

[backyardchef]

10 minutes ago, small h said:

Well, it's got alcohol in it already. A poison. A poison that I ingest on the regular.

You should try my new MethanolTini if you want a real kick from home distilling. 

[backyardchef]

38 minutes ago, StephanieL said:

We have a still.  Maybe N will fire it up again.

It's very tempting. I'm sure it will be very prevalent soon. 

[small h]

7 minutes ago, backyardchef said:

You should try my new MethanolTini

That would be good base for the drink I'm working on, the White Lotus, which involves lorazepam, pong-pong seeds and moral rot.

[MitchW]

40 minutes ago, backyardchef said:

You should try my new MethanolTini if you want a real kick from home distilling. 

Sounds like something Lester Bangs would've liked. Or Townes.

[StephanieL]

3 hours ago, small h said:

That would be good base for the drink I'm working on, the White Lotus, which involves lorazepam, pong-pong seeds and moral rot.

All combined in a blender!

[small h]

3 hours ago, StephanieL said:

All combined in a blender!

https://lifeinablender.net/