Drink To That: Experts Outline 5 Trends On the 2011 Alcohol Forecast
The New Martini Is…
Remember the late 90s and early aughts? If so, you’ll likely remember seeing apple martinis, pink martinis – martinis of every possible variant took over drink menus and martini bars were never cooler. While the martini hasn’t really been abandoned, it doesn’t get the same buzz that it did in previous decades. We asked the experts which cocktail they thought has the best chance of becoming the new martini.
Adasko thinks the martini craze was somewhat misleading. “In that time, anything served in a Martini glass with more alcohol to colorful mixer was a considered a Martini. In essence it was driven by the glassware, with a somewhat flippant disregard for the classics,” he says. He predicts the next big drink trend will also be driven more by the glassware than the drink itself. Likely “the classic coup flute (the original martini) or the Pint Glass – Beer cocktails and large mojitos.”
Lermayer agrees that most of the drinks people were ordering up were more about style rather than the substance of the drink, with many having  “little or no resemblance to the original martini — gin, dry vermouth and bitters.” He’s also observed the rise of the mojito, and feels the variations that add fruit or spices are more honest to the classic formula. Going forward, he’s betting on a renewed interest in margaritas. “I think the Tommy’s Margarita will be the next big drink. It’s 100% blue agave tequila with fresh squeezed lime and organic agave nectar (the world’s healthiest sweetener). Its three ingredients make it easy to make and, with access to fresh agave nectar growing, it’s the most delicious drink in my opinion.”
Fernandez also sees margaritas becoming the new martini. “The margarita is the # 1 cocktail in America at the moment,” he says. On top of the margarita being a classic, there is so much you can do with the ingredients to make fun variations (ie- flavors, mixers, sparkling). The possibilities are unlimited.”
Phillips likens the martini to “network television before the advent of cable.” He explains that it  “started simple, in black & white, then became colorful. It will always have its place, but the drinking audience will increasingly seek alternatives and dabble in classic cocktails, whisky drinks and whatever the trend of the month might be. Punches may already be replacing mojitos and flips and fizzes probably aren’t too far behind.”
In Brief: Unlike the martinis of the past which took the name, but not much else, mojitos and margaritas have already started to gain in popularity without sacrificing the true nature of the cocktail.
