Post #605700 by arriano on Tue, Sep 6, 2011 1:44 PM

Yeah, I don’t know what the answer is. I blame “ultralounges.” I blame “Sex in the City.” I blame disco. I blame liquor company conglomerates. I blame Hollywood. I blame Vegas. I blame Miami.

When I complain about a bar’s version of a Mai Tai that consists of orange and pineapple juice, dash of grenadine and rum, I get the response of “Well, that’s how we make it.” And I’d be in the minority of complainers. But if you asked for a Screwdriver and received pineapple juice and tequila, everyone would complain.

I will say that I think a lot of the ‘tini bars are slowly going out of fashion. I’m seeing a lot more bars (New York, LA, San Fran, Portland, Seattle, etc.) that focus on quality craft cocktails and getting them right. It will take awhile for it to trickle down to smaller cities, but I think it will eventually.

I say, patronize good places and encourage others to do the same. Only when it’s “not cool” to go to ‘tini bars will they die. And then 15 years from now someone will come up with a retro-style bar with fake martinis and it will start all over again.