The Cocktail as an Accessory
Your Drink Tells Your Story
I make high-concept cocktails. It’s my Niche. I qualify people on their personal likes and dislikes, childhood memories, favorite movies, art, music, and film. I then choose ingredients based on these influences and impart them to a cocktail that reflects my patron’s personal style.
To me, a cocktail should never be seen as a clumsy avenue to intoxication that gets set down every time you need to have a serious conversation. A cocktail should be an accessory. It should be rocked like a Vera Wang dress on the red carpet. “What are you drinking?” should be synonymous with, “Who are you wearing?”
Advertisers know this. They spend gazillions of dollars a year attempting to attach identities to their respective brands, identities that sync up with their target consumer’s intended projection of personal style. Behind closed doors, they create fictitious bios of their key consumers and align their products to suit each bio’s preferred tastes. “This is Brad. Brad is 27, he works in sales and jet-sets on weekends to New York and L.A. He drives an Audi A4, he watches Dexter and the Food Network and reads Details on the plane. He fly-fishes with his brothers twice a year and owns a large collection of Nixon watches.” They then spit-ball as to which of their products best suits Brad’s personal style, and market said product to cater to all the Brads of the world, and so on….
The point is, they understand that what you accessorize with reflects your personal style, and I believe (and have based my company upon the tenet of this) that the cocktail is no different. It is an accessory that speaks not only to your personal style, but also what kind of mood you are in at the time, and what kind of socialization you’re game for.
Scotch says, “I’m decompressing”; Gin says, “I’m in the mood to laugh and have fun”; Rum says, “I’m care-free and the work week is evaporating”; Vodka says, “I’m holding it together, I can talk business or pleasure.” So what does an “Old Fashioned” say? Furthermore, what does a “Maple Old Fashioned with Black Walnut bitters” say about you?
With this in mind, here are some “go-to” cocktails to accessorize with, and descriptions of how they reflect your personality and mood:
“Old Pal” — While a “Boulevardier” or a “Manhattan” speak to sophistication and focus, their light-hearted cousin combines Bourbon, Campari, and White Vermouth, projecting confidence without ego, speaking to a nuanced sentiment of creativity and open-mindedness in the drinker.
“Mai Tai”: Tiki is the new Black. Light Rum, Amber Rum, Orgeat, and Lime come together to say that the tie is off, the extra button is popped, the night is young and we are just as likely to stay here and mingle as we are to suddenly scurry away to another city and choose our own adventure. Exotic,exciting, dashed with intrigue and playfulness.
“Blood Orange Margarita” — Tequila, Triple-Sec, and Lime with a devilish hint of Blood Orange (no salt-rim) says that time is of the essence, that you live fast and are light on your feet. The ultimate accouterment for the billionaire playboy in all of us, the one who’s as likely to have three while he closes a deal via conference-call as he is to down one and leave you longing for more conversation as he boards his plane for Miami.
“Old Fashioned” — Bourbon, a bitters-soaked sugar cube, ice, and an orange zest. This beauty is the vintage Rolex of cocktails, and says that you are who you are, you believe what you believe, and take it or leave it. Confident, bold, brave, yet still willing to be social.
The above four cocktails are just a small example of what any given liquid accessory can say about you. I believe that what you drink says just as much about you as your tie selection, your choice in watch, and the font on your business card.
Choose your poison wisely, my friends. A Mojito makes you look like a lamb to the slaughter. A Negroni shows you’re a patient wolf.
Cheers.
