Post #76279 by woofmutt on Mon, Feb 16, 2004 12:05 AM

I'd been thinking of bringing up this subject, then Feelin' Zombified wrote this in another thread:

"With all the hype about cocktail culture and every other Food TV show including drink segments, no one seems to really care about making a proper drink anymore... or have respect for those who can."

Getting lousy drinks when out on the town is a frequent grumble of mine. This past year I did more drinking out than I had ever drank before and from my experience it seems the skilled cocktail maker is nearly extinct.
Often when drinking out I sit at the bar and watch the bartenders do their thing. In general what I see is pretty sloppy work with drinks going out that I doubt are very good.
Apparently some bartenders are proud of their half assed approach. In his Drinks column in the January GQ (The Company gets the magazine free and I'll read pretty much any free magazine, OK?) bartender/writer Toby Cecchini describes the High School Girlfriend, a "girlie" drink he created "...because I'm a serious drinks snob and it was my way of taking a swipe at those who would order such a monstrosity..." Nice to know that creating a lousy drink is what some bartenders have in mind. Apparently the drink had it's fans and, after having served it for a time "Eventually, I tasted one..." Great, he not only created a drink he thought'd be crummy but he didn't even try it until it proved sort of popular. To his credit the gist of Cecchini's column was to tell those that pass on "girlie" drinks they're missing out on a lot of good drinks. And he's a pretty good writer.
As for bad drinks at the bar there's also the alcohol content issue. A lot of fancy drinks can be pretty much booze free. It's easy to get away with when using cheapo mixers and some fruit juice. And if it's not the intent of the establishment it's the sloppy workmanship of the bartender.
I no longer expect to get a good mixed drink out on the town. If I want to get a buzz I stick to wells and beers. Otherwise I've sort of come to appreciate the bad drink for its crumminess.

That spiel done, where are the good joints to drink in your town? Thanks to weirduncletiki's mention of it I went to Noodles at the Bellagio in Las Vegas and had the best exotic drinks I've ever payed for. Most of us seem to travel a fair amount and it'd be useful to know where the good watering holes are. (Unfortuantely I have no reccomendations for Seattle. But my research continues.)

[ Edited by: woofmutt on 2004-02-16 10:53 ]