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Issue 39 / Autumn 2021 Ingredients for more than just great drinks
10TH
ANNIVERSARY ISSUE
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Cast your mind back 10 years, where were you on your cocktail journey? We know exactly where we were. We’d made the leap from occasionally blogging about the great London bars we were visiting to putting our thoughts and passions into producing a lifestyle magazine that captured the spirit of this brave new cocktail world. It was our place to share what we knew instinctively was an exciting time in cocktail history; a time when bartenders were innovating, brand owners were inspiring and it would only be a matter of time before people would begin to sit up and take notice. When we launched in 2011, cocktails barely got a look in consumer magazines. At least not in the UK. These days you’re hard pushed to find a publication – fashion, health and fitness, interior or otherwise – that doesn’t feature a cocktail recipe, wax lyrical about a new gin, highlight yet another stylish drinks trolley or talk about how Bond likes his Martinis. Oh yes, in the past decade cocktails and the culture around them has become very much part of the norm. Put it this way, when cocktail shakers and the ingredients needed to make yourself a little livener at home became available in your local supermarket, you knew things had started to change. For our 10-year anniversary we’ve looked back at 10 key themes in the world of drinks, some we’ve dedicated entire issues to – women in the drinks industry, sustainability, wellness, colour etc; others that we believe have been pivotal in driving the industry forward – bartender-owned bars, the rise of the low- and no- market, and one category that shows no signs of abating, gin. But it’s not all retrospective, we also look ahead. And the good news is, the future is looking very bright indeed. We hope you enjoy the read. Happy sipping, Ms S & Mr G
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7 \ in the know
25 reasons why we’ve enjoyed being cocktail lovers From cocktail culture getting serious to RTDs making their mark, we highlight some of our observations in the past decade
20 \ 1: Gin Our very first issue looked at gin created in the four corners of London’s compass. Emma Stokes (aka Gin Monkey) picks up the baton
24 \ 2: Gender 12 \ in the spotlight
10 years of The Cocktail Lovers A note from the editors
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AUTUMN / WINTER 2017
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40 \ 5: Awards
Women in drinks. Discuss
And the winner is…
Why we still need to talk about gender issues, with Carina Soto Velasquez
What’s all the fuss about winning awards and how do they serve the bars who receive them? Renato ‘Tato’ Giovannoni shares his thoughts
32 \ 3: Diversity The colour conundrum
How Deano Moncrieffe is making the drinks industry more inclusive
THE COLOUR ISSUE
40 \ 6: Wellness
SHADES OF DISTINCTION IN BOTTLES, PEOPLE AND DRINKS
reasons to brighten + 25up the season
To your health
Toasting a new era in wellbeing in the industry with pioneer Claire Warner
14 \ in the spotlight Back to front
Looking back at the covers
16 \ Overview A retrospective
Anistatia Miller and Jared Brown on why the past decade has been one of the most important in their 30 year careers
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34 \ 4: Environment Sustain Ability
In 2011 the conversation around sustainability in bars hadn’t even started, here Matt Whiley from Re in Sydney tells us where he’s at
46 \ 7: Low and no How low can you go?
With Everleaf creator Paul Mathew
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Editors/
Sandrae Lawrence Gary Sharpen
48 \ 8: Asia
Office Manager/ Tereza Singh
28 HongKong Street: 10 years after opening 28 HongKong Street in Singapore, cofounder Paul Gabie charts the growth of the bar scene in Asia
Sub editor/
Laura Hill/Stephanie Jones
Art director/
James Cheverton at Burnt Studio burntstudio.com
Contributors/
54 \ 9:owned Bartender bars
58 \ 10:atCocktails home
Calling the shots
10 years of staying in better
The bartender-owned venues adding a fresh new perspective to the global bar scene
How staying in became the new going out, by Kitty Finstad
60 \ in formed Word up
New bottles, new bars, new books
64 \ Looking ahead On the horizon
Simon Ford looks into his crystal ball to predict what lies ahead
66 \ in parting R.E.S.P.E.C.T
Jared Brown Kitty Finstad Simon Ford Paul Gabie Paul Mayhew Anistatia Miller Deano Moncrieffe Emma Stokes Claire Warner
For all editorial and advertising enquiries, please contact: mail@thecocktaillovers.com T: 020 7242 2546 thecocktaillovers.com Printed by Stephens & George Distributed by Gold Key Media Reproduction in whole or part of any contents of The Cocktail Lovers Magazine without prior permission from the editors is strictly prohibited. The Cocktail Lovers Issue No. 39 Autumn 2021
All details of bars featured in this issue were correct at time of going to press. Please see individual websites for up-to-date information.
Remembering the drinks legends who have sadly passed The Cocktail Lovers magazine is published by The Cocktail Lovers Ltd in London, UK PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY
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Contributors
Kitty Finstad
Anistatia Miller & Jared Brown
Kitty Finstad is content director and founding partner at The Good Vikings, an independent editorial and brand consultancy for the luxury sector.
Jared Brown and Anistatia Miller, are the directors of Mixellany Limited, a consultancy and publishing company that specialises in everything to do with spirits and mixed drinks.
Having started her career in Canada, Kitty has written and edited a wide range of award-winning customer, in-house magazines and digital content for the likes of Clos19 for Moët Hennessy, The Gusbourne Estate, Cool Brands and Christie’s International Real Estate. When she’s not writing Kitty loves entertaining. Here she shares her passion for making and enjoying cocktails at home (p. 58).
Together they have written more than 30 books including Shaken Not Stirred: A Celebration of the Martini, The Deans of Drink, the two-volume Spirituous Journey: A History of Drink and most recently The Distiller of London. In this issue, the couple reflect on the most dramatic changes they’ve observed in the past decade (p. 16).
Emma Stokes
Claire Warner
By day Emma Stokes works for a scientific organisation, by night she’s Gin Monkey writing about all things gin for a number of publications including Gin Magazine, BBC Good Food, Waitrose Magazine and CLASS.
Claire Warner has worked in the drinks industry for more than 20 years, first as a bartender before going on to become an award-winning brand ambassador, consultant, writer, judge and spirit creator.
As well as running and organising World Gin Day which she took over in 2013, Emma has consulted for a number of brands and bars, runs gin and cocktail master classes and has written two books, The Periodic Table of Cocktails and Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas.
Ten years ago while working as Head of Spirit Creation and Mixology at Belvedere Vodka she developed ‘Drink, Eat, Live’ a platform promoting conscious consumption in the drinks industry. She then joined forces with Ben Branson of Seedlip in 2018 to develop Æcorn, the world’s first non-alcoholic aperitif.
All of which makes her the perfect person to write about gin, one of the fastest growing drinks categories in the past 10 years. Read her thoughts on page 20.
For our 10th anniversary issue, Claire looks at how mind and body can be balanced whilst working with spirits (p. 42).
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25\
in the know
Reasons we’ve been cocktail lovers for 10 years...
01 \ Cocktail culture got serious This page has always been our shot of culture, the place to highlight an exhibition and link it to a bar or a drink. This time we’re focusing on the rise in the culture of cocktails. The Oxford Dictionary defines cocktail culture as, “a culture or lifestyle in which drinking cocktails, or going to cocktail parties or cocktail bars, is a habitual activity.” We wouldn’t say it’s habitual per se but there’s no denying that cocktails and the culture around them have percolated into everyday parlance. Ask Hannah Sharman-Cox and Siobhan Payne, founders of London Cocktail Week. Since its launch as a trade event in 2010, LCW has transitioned into a full-on festival for cocktailloving consumers. This year, like last, it runs for a full month rather than seven days and you can bet your bottom dollar that bars across London will be all the better for it. For more details see londoncocktailweek.com The Cocktail Lovers - 7
in the know
04 \ …ditto cans
two \ Bartenders hit the big time
Big shout-out to the classy canned cocktails from Whitebox. As well as longer, lighter mixes like Disco Baby Vodka Soda and Hippy Fizz, the small but punchy Pocket Negroni, Freezer Martini and Chipper’s Old Fashioned get our seal of approval. Stock your fridges now! whiteboxdrinks.com
Huzzah! Bartending is finally regarded as a viable career, not just a fill-in before finding a ‘proper job’. Sure, there’s still a way to go until that’s the general consensus but hey, it’s good to know we’re getting there…
05 …and pouches
Erik Lorincz, Kwant
through your letterbox Genius or what? First-class cocktails from select bars in London and Manchester posted through your door. Refined, sealed and delivered courtesy of our friends at thedrinksdrop.com
03\RTDs made their mark…
Bottled cocktails from Maybe Sammy
The pandemic has been good for one thing: the ready-to-drink market. Once regarded as naff, bottled cocktails have hit the big time. With good reason. They’re being crafted by some of the most admired bartenders in the world. Respect!
seven \
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… and tie-ups with fashion houses
These Johnnie Walker x Oliver Sweeney speakeasy-style Oxford brogues will always be one of our faves.
The clever art collabs
08 \
Designs on our homes From trays and cupboards, to retro trollies and fully fledged bars, even the humblest living rooms have made space for cocktail chic.
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Drinks trolley, rockettstgeorge.com
Such as the recent Bombay Sapphire Supermarket pop-up at London’s Design Museum. Here 10 emerging artists gave household items like pasta boxes and loo roll a stunning ‘Bombay blue’ makeover, with all proceeds going to Emerging Designer Access Fund.
Minds blown by tech
9
AR-enabled wine apps and labels, UV photochromic bottles, robot bartenders, NFTs, 3D printing – we may not understand the tech but we sure admire the brain power behind it.
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Mixing things up Remember when tonic water was a choice between Schweppes or Britvic? No more. We love the myriad ways you can now zhuzh up your drink, from flavoured sodas to artisan mixers created for pairing with specific spirits.
11 \
Blurring lines When everything from nail polish and greeting cards, candles and popcorn is either named after or features images of classic recipes, you know that this cocktail malarkey is more than a passing phase.
TWELVE
Changing the record Bye-bye sultry jazz, hello hip-hop and cheesy disco, the new cocktail soundtrack is all about fun.
13 \
Honouring liquid history
As in your great-grandma’s dusty booze stash. This is the decade that rare and vintage spirits really came of age.
14 \
Frozen assets
Whether from fancy moulds, embossed or intricately carved from blocks, ice declared its authority as the star of the glass.
15 Reading matters Have you checked the drinks section of your local bookshop lately? The shelves are positively bursting with cocktail know-how. One to add to your shopping list: Co-Specs by Cas Oh. cospecs.com
sixteen Being waste warriors Who even uses a plastic straw these days? And that’s not the only way we’ve become more sustainably aware. Find out more on page 16.
SEVENTEEN Drinking smarter
Premium spirits and the non-alc category has risen exponentially in the past few years, quality over quantity is where we’re at. And all the better for it we say.
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18 \
Juniper rising If we had a pound for every gin brand launched and another for each bottle sold in the past decade we’d be laughing. Not to mention very rich. And the growth in the category shows no signs of slowing down. Read more on page 22.
19 It hasn’t only been about twists on an old spirit though, we’ve loved sampling the fab new products from independent makers. Our latest find is EasyMixt, a clever liqueur and the ultimate hack for mixing perfectly balanced cocktails
21 \
twenty \ Experiences rule
every time. Try it, it works a charm! easymixt.com
Why just drink gin when you can learn how to make it? Gin-crafting sessions, cocktailmaking masterclasses, blending workshops – you name it, if there’s thinking behind it, the drinking consumers want in!
Bacardí Legacy 2021 winner Praphakorn Konglee
23\
Championing locality It’s been amazing to see bars around the world bigging up local ingredients in their drinks. The Mediterranean Gimlet at The Clumsies in Athens (above) is a case in point, featuring Mediterranean gin and a Greek salad cordial. Try it at theclumsies.gr
24
TWENTY TWO Drinks with benefits Functional drinks, particularly those loaded with nootropics and adaptogens are the big news. Three Spirits is one of the best. Try their Livener, Nightcap and Social Elixir, made from plants used for centuries in tonics and remedies. threespirits.com
25 \ Losing the ego
Going global Shout-out to the global cocktail comps, particularly Bacardí Legacy and World Class. Together they’ve built lasting friendships, raised profiles, shared knowledge, lent support – emotionally and financially – and created better drinking experiences around the world.
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Jaw-dropping menus This was the decade that creativity showed up in beautifully designed, brilliantly executed menus. Buy them if you can, the best ones are works of art.
It was Jack McGarry of The Dead Rabbit in New York who said he became a better bartender when he lost his ego, and that’s important. The best bars aren’t always the ones with the fanciest menu or lavish decor, they’re places that feel like home.
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in the spotlight
Looking back:
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in the spotlight
10 years of The Cocktail Lovers Gary In 2011 Sandrae and I had effectively been The Cocktail Lovers for about three years via our website and blog. The idea for The Cocktail Lovers magazine was quite simply a desire on our part to create a lifestyle publication about cocktails that we wanted to read. It was the result of instinct not business acumen. Moreover, we left the security of our regular professions (Sandrae as a magazine editor and me as an advertising creative director) to throw ourselves into it heart, body and soul. Over the past 10 years it has evolved and grown but fundamentally that original idea remains the same. Fortunately other people have wanted to read it too. When we launched the magazine, though, we had no idea of the extraordinary journey that was beginning. Ever since I started sipping them in the distant past cocktails have always been about so much more for me than what was in the glass. They’ve symbolised moments and made memories. And we’re privileged to have experienced so many exceptional moments and formed everlasting memories thanks to our passion for the cocktail world and by sharing that passion through our publication. Cocktails have been a conduit. From Athens to New York to Shanghai to Johannesburg, we’ve been exposed to different ideas and different cultures. From five star to dive bar. And not only bars but cocktails on beaches, on rooftops, in old distilleries, cruising the Mediterranean and while flying at 30,000 feet. Not to mention the staggering creativity we’ve witnessed in the form of hundreds, possibly thousands, of exceptional drinks we’ve been privileged to savour as cocktail competition judges. Best of all cocktails have brought us together with people. Clever, creative, inspiring, welcoming, humble people. We feel extremely fortunate to have shared drinks with the extraordinary people who make the drinks world the wonderful place it is. And we feel equally humbled to meet the
people who read our magazine and who tell us they tried something new, did something differently or visited a venue because of something they read in our magazine and because they say that they trust us. Yes it’s satisfying, but it always serves to remind us of our responsibility. One other memory that cocktails have created is the not-too-small matter of our peers voting us winners of the best publication at Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards a few years ago. This was never our intention, but something for which we remain extremely grateful. Our journey has seen us do things we would never have dreamed of: working with brands, creating experiences, hosting events, appearing on radio shows, making films and now launching a podcast. And it’s a journey that continues. I’m proud of the people who have worked with us on the magazine, I’m proud of every issue and I’m proud of the contribution that we’re told our magazine has made to the drinks industry. I’ve no idea what’s in store on The Cocktail Lovers journey as it continues but I’ll continue to enjoy the ride and I’ll always be exceptionally grateful for it.
Sandrae Ten years, blimey! Where has it gone? On one hand it seems like no time at all, yet, like the craziness of the past 18 months or so, it feels like an entire lifetime. A rather fabulous lifetime I might add; one that knocks the socks off of the fashion, music, and foodie industries that I’d written about previously. I could list many reasons for that but at the front, back and centre of it are the people. The people and their passion, energy and mind boggling ingenuity. We may have been publishing eejits when we started out, we may not have known how we would make it work but we did know this: we were witnessing a new golden age of cocktails and we were going to do our darnedest to make sure the world knew about it. Looking back, so much has happened, so much has changed. Including us. When we launched the magazine was an amateurish, 16-page digital edition. Well, we had to
start somewhere and we cobbled together that (let’s be honest here, pretty rubbish) first issue in less than a month. However, under the direction of an amazing designer/ art director (thanks James) and like the awesome industry we’ve chosen to write about, it’s evolved into something we’re incredibly proud of. Initially, it was squarely aimed at folk like us – consumers who loved cocktails and wanted to know more about the people, places and products behind them. At the time, we couldn’t find the magazine that we wanted to read, so like arrogant fools, we decided to create it ourselves. From our kitchen table. Literally. It’s been a learning curve or what I like to call ’character building’, that’s for sure but it’s also been quite the adventure. We didn’t think we’d ever go into print. For one thing, people were telling us the medium was dead and for another, it felt too ’big’, too expensive and far too serious. What changed our minds? I honestly can’t remember, but I do know that we tested the water with what we thought would be a one-off print issue in 2012 to coincide with London Cocktail Week. The cover featured all of our favourite London bartenders: Salvatore Calabrese, Peter Dorelli, Ago Perrone, Erik Lorincz, Alex Kratena, Ryan Chetiyawardana, Marian Beke among them. The fact that they all came out on a crisp Monday morning for our shoot sealed the deal for us and we’ve continued to attract some of the biggest names in the industry, not just in London but around the world ever since. When we started out, we had no idea that we’d be welcomed into such an incredible community. Don’t laugh, but when drinks folk talk about being part of a family, they’re not kidding. It’s an industry that looks out for each other more than any I know. Not only by digging deep and donating money if a bar owner on the other side of the world has had a flood or been bombed out, there’s the sharing of knowledge, facilities, recipes and so much more. Highlights? That’s a tough one but I’ll go back to what I consider the best bit: the people. As anyone in the industry knows, there are no people like drinks people. They’re sharing, caring and just the right side of bonkers to keep the rest of the world sane.
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in the spotlight
Back to front The covers \
ON THE COVER... Savile Row comes to Shoreditch at Callooh Callay
DETOX VS. RETOX...
Ten years, 39 covers – it’s good to see them all laid out in one place. Like all things in life, we’ve evolved – not just in content but in the look and feel of the magazine – we’ve gone from digital to print, glossy to the luxury matt finish we favour today.
Which flag will you be flying?
GIRLS ON TOP...
reasons to be a cocktail lover this season.
COCKTAILS IN BERLIN... Sipping our way through Germany’s capital of cool
As for the covers themselves, we began with fashion shoots of a sort, where we devised a concept, sourced the clothes and styled London bartenders in their bars. They loved it, we loved it and so did our readers. But it was limiting. The formula prevented us from mixing things up and highlighting topics further afield. So we changed tack.
ISSUE 4
The now familiar themed issues started with our focus on women in the drinks industry (Issue 12, Summer 2014). Since then we’ve explored subjects as diverse as space, style, the senses and travel – each with a cocktail focus. For our 10th anniversary we’ve revisited some of the topics we feel have been most impactful during our time sharing the cocktail love.
SUMMER 2012
ON THE COVER... Turning on the glamour at The Beaufort Bar
Martinis at the movies
Read through and find out more.
Take your seat at the plushest cinemas in town
The Best of British Flying the flag for the best British cocktail ingredients
Shake it baby! How to mix things up in style
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25
Women of influence in the drinks industry
ON THE COVER Urban elegance on the Fifth Floor at Harvey Nichols
+25
REASONS TO BE A COCKTAIL LOVER THIS SEASON.
THE ART OF DRINKING One man’s mission to capture the craft of classic cocktails
IN THE HOTSEAT 20 questions for Andy Mil, World Class GB 2012 winner
BUBBLING WITH CREATIVITY Tony Conigliaro gets fizzical with Perrier
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RAYS YOUR GLASSES Summer special
FLIGHTS OF FANCY Cocktails in the sky
T IS FOR TEQUILA A guide to Mexico’s finest export
FRESH THINKING For modern drinking
BAR GAZERS What’s coming up on the cocktail front as predicted by industry experts
PLUS An exclusive interview with Christina Hendricks A peak behind the scenes at Gerry’s Wines & Spirits And 25 reasons to be a cocktail lover this season
The London Issue The finest bartenders in the
capital come out to celebrate our first birthday edition
FOR OLD TIME’S SAKE Why vintage spirits are showing the young guns who’s boss
SOUND JUDGMENT The science of matching music to the flavours of drinks
PLUS 25 reasons to be a cocktail lover this season
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10TH ISSUE!
6 of the best Bloody Marys
Cocktail & Dim Sum Parlour
LICENSED TO CHILL The coolest ice buckets
GREECE IS THE WORD 48 hours in Athens + Win tickets to an evening of sheer deco-dence at Harrods
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The diminutive drinks companies with big ideas
Jack McGarry on creating the best new bar in the world
The white stuff In praise of (premium) vodkas
Getting personal Working with friends, family and lovers + 25 reasons to be a cocktail lover this season
SPRING 2015
On the cover
Taking flight at The King’s Head, London’s wildest members’ club
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States of Independents Close up on seven of the best US craft spirits producers
ON THE COVER: Soaking up the sun at the Gilbert Scott
Gatsby glamour at Bar Américain at Brasserie Zédel
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Music for cocktails lovers Creating the perfect party play-list
news, views and + interviews from
the cocktail front
ISSUE 16
SUMMER 2015
Julie Reiner on life behind bars
Bright sparks – The Umbrella Project style it up at the Discount Suit Company
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Girls allowed Competitions with a female focus
The lady nose best Talking rum with Lorena Vasquez
+ 10 of the best glasses for Martini o’ clock
ISSUE 17
AUTUMN 2015
In praise of the drinks innovators
On the cover
Bowled over by the leading ladies of drinks
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Cocktails with quirk 10 of the best kooky London bars
The science of colour and how it affects your taste
+ Unveiling the oldest gin recipe in the world
ISSUE 18
WINTER 2016
BARS LESS ORDINARY Cocktails with quirk
D.I.Y vs. KIT How do you shake your drinks?
PERFECT MANHATTAN Bigging-up New York’s bars
ISSUE 14
Tristan and Thomas from Fluid Movement – Keeping check on London’s cocktails in their own inimitable style
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WINTER 2015
The 2015 hotlist:
Brilliant minds:
In the hotseat
On the cover
On the cover
We meet the inventor of the Espresso Martini
On the cover Moody looks, great drinks and
Small is Beautiful
All right Jack
ISSUE 15
CLEVER DICK (BRADSELL)
RED ALERT!
ON THE COVER: Style and substance at Opium
The places, faces and products
On the cover
Sharp on style, cool on cocktails
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Get the drinks in with… the drinks luminaries’ rising stars
Bars worth travelling for 15 to have on your radar right now
+The art and science of naming cocktails
ISSUE 19
On the cover
Jamie Oliver does drinks: why cocktails are his next big thing
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SPRING 2016
THE
The Style Issue
Power to the cocktail hour:
Hot looks for the season Inspired by the drinks cabinet
What makes a stylish bar? (and it's not just about aesthetics…)
+ Wise words from our new columnist, gaz regan
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The Light Issue
Rays in the bar Illuminated thinking For inspired drinking
Putting on the Spritz
The Classics Issue
All the hits
Leaders of the pack
The people, the places, the drinks
Modern bar etiquette
World Class cocktails in Sydney
For ladies and gentlemen
+ Bright sparks & lightbulb moments
+ Bond is black!
To Boldly Go!
ISSUE
The future of drinks 2016: A cocktail odyssey Trends to watch on earth and beyond
Space invader
A vessel that is truly out of this world
+ What Alex and Simone did next
The people, the places, the drinks With Dale DeGroff / Philip Duff / Simon Ford / Lynnette Marrero / Jack McGarry / Jim Meehan / Ivy Mix / Sean Muldoon / gaz regan / Julie Reiner / Audrey Saunders / Charlotte Voisey / David Wondrich / Naren Young and many more
in the spotlight
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Issue 37 / Spring 2021
Issue 38 / Summer 2021
Ingredients for more than just great drinks
Ingredients for more than just great drinks
Better Together The Togetherness Issue
All back issues available on issuu.com/thecocktaillovers
THE ART ISSUE
10 The Cocktail Lovers - 15
Overview
A Retrospective
Historians Anistatia Miller and Jared Brown on a decade of change in the world of drinks
W
e have witnessed sweeping changes in our three decades in the drinks industry. However, this last decade has surpassed them all in our living memories – a time of evolution within hospitality, within the brands. It’s been turbo-charged by social media, which also became global and ubiquitous this past 10 years. Here, we’ll look at some of those changes as well as some of the areas in which we’d like to see more change. One shock was seeing the Martini surpass the Negroni in UK sales for the first time. The Martini, forever genteelly the second bestselling gin drink after the Gin and Tonic, was finally eclipsed by a drink so rare that 20 years ago it was a secret bartenders’ handshake. Wellness and mindfulness have inexorably shifted from the fringe to mainstream – as they should. People who commit to a lifetime in the wonderful professions offered in this industry should live long and healthy lives – as should our customers. When Seedlip launched in 2015, it was received as a novelty, a curiosity seemingly embraced by a few expectant mothers and recovering alcoholics. Few imagined the noand low-alcohol market would blossom to an estimated 3% of the global alcoholic beverage
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market in just a few years. Today, there seems to be a race to launch non-alcoholic line extensions. These drinks are not just selling to teetotalers but to responsible drinkers. This revelation is as shocking as when brands were still pushing larger serves 20 years ago while Milk & Honey in New York and London proved you could sell a smaller serve for more money – if you made it well. The most notable spirits to take the spotlight this past decade are mezcal and gin. Once reserved for specific religious holidays in Mexican villages, mezcal is now the hardcore bartender’s latest crush. Without discussing its merits here, it is easy to point fingers at two irrepressible and passionate entrepreneurs for this surge. Such is the power of Del Maguey Mezcal’s Steve Olson and Ron Cooper. Such is the powerful effect of sharing knowledge. In a world in which the past few generations have had the exact same rum-and-cola, ginand-tonic, whisky-and-soda experience in every bar on the planet, the ultimate experience is now a local one. Local spirits producers, local mixers producers, local beer producers, even local wine producers have found lucrative demand for regional flavours. This has signalled the return of a lost business model in alcohol production – the small business. For decades, it seemed the standard business plan for a start-up spirits brand finished with a goal of selling to one of the multinationals. The pandemic has also had an enormous impact on the industry – even on consumer
habits. Drinking at home will undoubtedly continue. This doesn’t mean there’s an ongoing shift from on-trade to off-trade spirit sales (although there was a significant change during lockdown). Suddenly products such as the NIO line of letterbox cocktails make sense. While BrewDog launched its version, so did Mr Fogg’s and numerous other bars. A new playing field emerged with odds not so steeply pitched in favour of big brands over bars. Consumers will invariably spend more time drinking at home over the next few years, so this opportunity will remain. Similarly, sales of ready-to-drink (RTD) cocktails have soared in supermarkets – another pre-pandemic change – that has now hit visibility levels unseen since the 1970s’ RTD boom. In the midst of this, consumers continue to buy cocktail books and search the web for recipes, as home mixing increases in popularity. Pop-ups have gone mainstream, emerging as a viable business model rather than an occasional occurrence. In the past six months, Cölin Crowden, creator of Campfire Trailer Taproom & Street Food in Swadlincote, Derbyshire, has staged five pop-ups in woodland settings complete with campfires and archery. “The pop-up format has been really liberating for us,” Cölin says. “In a year in which we haven’t been able to gather folk together to enjoy traditional restaurant or bar settings, we had to innovate and approach it with a ‘what can be done’ mindset rather than what couldn’t be done due to restrictions.”
Overview
Can it continue post-lockdown? “It’s something we will be focusing on next year as our core offering. We would love to do more pop-ups in urban settings as well. I think it keeps the city centre offering really fresh and is somewhere that can have a continuously evolving offering – something city centres have often lacked with the threeto-five-year lifespan of most concepts.” Street-food vans have shown up in droves. A far lower initial investment than a bricksand-mortar establishment, they quickly spawned the sub-category of mobile bars that now populate summer festivals and other events. Ideal for private events, they will undoubtedly continue to rise in popularity. Gin has gone even further. Twelve years ago there were a dozen distilleries in the UK. Today the number is in the region of 500. Will it continue? “Since 2010, sales have rocketed from 27 million 9-litre cases to in excess of 42 million 9-litre cases,” says Shelley Macintye, Global Senior Marketing Director for Beam Suntory’s gin brands. “Whilst the pandemic softened global gin sales in 2020, all expectations are that it’ll come back and exceed pre-pandemic levels, with growth driven by an ongoing premiumisation.” Next to gin, the other hot liquid has been coffee. Marco Arrigo of London’s Bar Termini and Illy Coffee explains the java revolution. “Well, we had the 1971-1999 Starbucks dynasty, which started a revolution against dark-roasted, fast, big cups and led the market into single origin exploration and beautifully hand-crafted lighter roasts,” Marco says. “Covid came along and coffee boomed, even clothes shops started selling tea and coffee to remain open,” he continues. “Local roasters dropped off free coffee to the community to secure their patch. Bars and cafés have to evolve together since London rents are too high for a single model. Coffee shops close at 5pm and bars open at 5pm, that’s why Bar Termini does both coffee and cocktails. But we make coffee like mixologists, not baristas. It’s future proof.”
In the past 10 years we have seen some strides in diversity making its way into the drinks industry: bartenders, bar owners and drinks developers are coming from a broader ethnicity than they did 10 or 20 years ago. But it is not nearly enough. As Sly Augustin, Managing Director of Trailer Happiness in London, comments: “I think there have been some small improvements, specifically with young bartenders, but I don’t see much change at the executive level. There still isn’t a lot of diversity of colour among bar owners, managers and brand reps. It’s pretty much still the same faces as when I started almost 10 years ago. Less, in fact, with the recent passing of Douglas Ankrah [creator of the Porn Star Martini, p. 66].” While there are far more women in all aspects of the business than a decade ago, this is another area with a lot of room for improvement. “First off, I hate the fact we have to keep on discussing gender at all,” says New York bartender and educator ms. franky marshall. “Yes, of course the fact that there are women in every facet of the industry is worth celebrating. But the fact that it still needs to be celebrated is unfortunate. I’ve always been someone who has wanted to be recognised as a distinct individual, judged on my own merits, rather than because I fall into the ‘we need one of those’ category. So, I’d love for us to get to a place where the landscape with women dotted everywhere is just the norm. When the remarkable becomes unremarkable, we will have finally arrived!” Yes, the drinks industry has truly changed over the past decade, mostly for the better. However, it is clear more change is needed. Thankfully, much of the transformative and transitional work has transpired through the determined efforts of the new generation of young professionals. They have worked their way up in hospitality and are determined to make improvements rather than accepting the status quo. While flavour trends will invariably come and go, evolution is also inevitable. Which trends will be set in stone? Only time will tell.
Pop-ups have gone mainstream, emerging as a viable business model rather than an occasional occurrence / The most notable spirits to take the spotlight this past decade are mezcal and gin/ Street-food vans have shown up in droves / Next to gin, the other hot liquid has been coffee / In the past 10 years we have seen some strides in diversity making its way into the drinks industry / While there are far more women in all aspects of the business there is still a lot of room for improvement / The drinks industry has truly changed over the past decade, mostly for the better. However, it is clear more change is needed...
The Cocktail Lovers - 17
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