"A triangular black metal contraption called a Bar Aid, made in Japan in the nineteen-fifties, with a list of eighty cocktails printed on its slanted face. At the center is a dial and a small window, so you can spin through a paper scroll of recipes for the numbered drinks. A Gertie's Garter calls for three parts dry gin to one part grapefruit juice and one part grenadine; for a Millionaire No. 2 (there's also a Millionaire No. 1) you need Jamaican rum, apricot brandy, grenadine, lime juice, and sloe gin (not to be confused with gin, though it's made from it)."
"I've never been a particularly good drinker. I swore off gin in my twenties, when I realized it made me almost instantly ill, and mostly gave up on getting drunk in my thirties, when I decided that the hangovers were not worth it. Still, I've always been susceptible to the romantic appeal of mid"
"Americans are losing their appetite for booze. Could the mini Martini lure them back?"
Americans are drinking less alcohol, and smaller cocktail formats are being positioned as a way to make drinking feel more accessible. A triangular Bar Aid device from the 1950s illustrates how cocktail culture once relied on curated recipes and ritualized preparation. The narrator describes personal limits with alcohol, including quitting gin due to immediate illness and avoiding heavy drinking because hangovers were not worth it. Despite not being a strong drinker, the narrator remains drawn to the romantic appeal of classic cocktails. Mini Martinis are presented as a potential lure back to spirits by offering a scaled-down experience that fits modern preferences.
#alcohol-consumption-trends #cocktail-culture #mini-martinis #gin-and-spirits #bar-tools-and-recipes
Read at The New Yorker
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