“The Aviation cocktail was like a secret handshake into the club.” David Wondrich was discussing the evolution of online cocktail culture alongside classic cocktail resurgence in bars, worldwide. The fact that drink bloggers’ internet chats came up during the prestigious Beverage Alcohol Resource (B.A.R.) spirits accreditation program proves its relevance to the industry. And, it begs the question: How does a “cocktail nerd” sitting alone in front of a computer, mixing concoctions from the annals of mixology history - then blogging about it - influence modern-day drinking, if at all?
The return of cocktail culture, over the last decade, can be attributed to many factors in pop-culture: snazzier marketing by spirits execs; a desperate need for glamour after the ‘grunge’ fad of the 90’s; the Sex and the City gals swigging Cosmos and bagging hot men on TV; not to mention the popularity of a little film called ‘Swingers’ which resonated with the 20 and 30-somethings and sparked a boom in swing dancing and referring to every positive thing as “so money.” Over the last 10 or so years, we’ve developed a heightened awareness that the swimming-pool sized “Apple Pucker Martinis”- which left us with pounding heads and florescent green tongues - were neither good-tasting, nor martinis.
Meanwhile, the ‘web log’ craze swelled on the Internet, reaching an expanded demographic that print publications couldn’t always entice. The younger foodies and cockatilians didn’t necessarily follow every issue of Wine Spectator or Gourmet Magazine, but they did subscribe to their favorite blogs. Written by people in their peer group who were passionate about quality eating and drinking, the posts (or small articles) provided an immediate, honest, intimate account of the blogger’s experience and opinions.
In April 2006, I decided to start a blog and knew, without a doubt, what my niche would be. The ‘Cocktail Culture Renaissance’ was already underway and I had mixology fever! Still, when I launched The Liquid Muse, I didn’t realize that it would change my life, forever.
Originally, I used my ‘musings’ about cocktails, wine and spirits as writing samples to accompany story pitches to lifestyle magazines. Much to my surprise, The Liquid Muse began to attract a following, and soon national magazines were reaching out to me asking for cocktail-related articles. Who knew? Around that time, the spirits companies had also taken note, and product samples showed up at my door, accompanied by requests for reviews on my site.
“The spirits industry has begun to embrace cocktail bloggers,” says Ted Haigh (aka: Dr. Cocktail), “In a word, it is working…The benefit to the industry is a more genuine, heartfelt promotion of the product at hand…As a result of the Web, we as individuals get to make skewering commentary on distilled products. This serves to improve the quality of the beverages we get here and now.” The revised edition of Haigh’s book “Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails” also includes a section on drink bloggers and their role in digging up the cocktailian past.
Little by little, I began to realize that there was a whole community of cocktail bloggers on the Web, and it was an arena to glorify or crucify a product, and a forum to swap recipes, both those newly invented and those discovered antique cocktail books. Paul Clarke of The Cocktail Chronicles kicked off his now infamous Mixology Mondays, inviting a different blog each month to “host” an online cocktail party to which other bloggers send in recipes and photos. Clarke also heads up the Tales Blog, which launched at Tales of the Cocktail in 2008. This year the Tales Blog returns – bigger and badder – and with liquor sponsors and even more sway than before.
Cocktail blogs have a direct and immediate impact on both consumers and industry professionals. Cheryl Charming, who had tended bar since the early 1980’s and has published an arsenal of cocktail books, recently launched her own blog. “I remember how slowly cocktail information trickled down the cocktail pyramid,” she says. “Now, with the Internet and cocktail bogs, new information comes [to bartenders] quickly.”
While some bloggers tend bar, many are merely people interested in finding better ways to drink. Marleigh Riggins of Sloshed.com, is a graphic designer by trade. She notes, “People reading our sites who had never considered making anything more than a gin and tonic at home are having the same sort of ‘hey, I could do that’ revelation I did when I got my first cocktail book, Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails, [which] completely blew my mind and made me a cocktail disciple.”
Craig Mruseck of DrBamboo.com, along with Gabriel Szaszko of Cocktailnerd.com and Rick Kaiser of KaiserPenguin.com are a few of the founders of a weekly online cocktail party at mixoloseum.com. This live chat takes place every Thursday at 7pm EST, with bloggers making drinks and discussing them in real time, some participants as far flung as Europe and Australia. For those not able to attend during the live hours, discussions can be downloaded and read later. (Keep in mind that, as the hours wear on, several libations have been enjoyed by the participants. One can almost hear the occasional ‘slur’ from the keyboard.) Mruseck recalls, “It was not long after starting my own blog [that] I began to realize booze bloggers were a small but passionate community that really took this stuff seriously…regardless of their background… I could tell these people were influencing cocktail culture to some degree - both directly and indirectly.”
The way people order and what they order is largely influenced by what they read online, nowadays. Restaurant and bar patrons want the best experience and rely on websites to help guide them to it. Plus, with more people entertaining at home, cocktail blogs can provide a quick-and-easy crash course as to what to drink. The Liquid Muse, for example, is launching DIY cocktail videos that viewers can watch at their leisure, practice at home, and then look like a cocktailian rockstar when they mix up drinks for their guests.
At the end of the day, nothing will replace the experience of enjoying a quality drink made by a skilled bartender in a brick-and-mortar bar with friends you can actually reach out and touch. However, for those who live in a cocktailian wasteland, or choose not to leave home on a particular evening, there is a never-ending cocktail party online. As the saying goes, “its always 5 o’clock somewhere.”
(As appeared in Drink Me Magazine, Issue 2)