The Culinary Cocktail
Cocktails are a relatively late addition to the culinary repertoire, long considered an American curiosity, primarily born out of necessity. The poor quality of wine and the high cost of transportation from Europe led to the development of a mixed-drinks drinking culture on the East Coast of the United States in the first half of the 19th century, particularly in New York. This was more of a compulsion than a choice, and a way to mask unpleasant flavors. An aspect that became the original sin of the mixology industry, and would taint its image for a century.
In the second half of the 19th century, a new trend emerged among the American high society: Traveling for the sake of it, rather than for necessity. This unprecedented trend, would be later known as tourism. The most popular destination at the time was the old world and its cities Americans who found themselves in Europe, began to ask out for the drinks they cherished from home and were until then unknown and frowned upon elsewhere.
This demand led to the establishment of the first cocktail-specialized bars outside the US, mostly in major cities’ luxury hotel in Vienna, London, Venice and Paris for example. Many of the establishments founded in those years still bear names that show their connection to the US: the several American Bars, Harry’s Bars and the New York Bar, to name a few.
A 100 years fast forward, and after a few trending waves (00’s and the 20’s), in the 1960s and 1980s, cocktails became popular in specialized bars as entertaining and impressive drinks. Tiki drinks and coladas in the 60s, cosmopolitan and tequila sunrise in the 80's for example
This last wave has seen a 15 year of image decline in the 1990s. outside of the UK, Cocktails weren’t considered to be cool and considered to be a cheap way to get drunk.
Crafty cocktails began to regain interest and acclaim only in recent years, thanks to the new wave of mixology. Bartenders stopped being embarrassed of their cocktail-geekiness and started preparing classics that garnered renewed interest: Negroni and Last Word, alongside new modern classics such as the Basil Smash, Porn Star Martini, and Trinidad Sour.
Asian Sensation essentially provides a platform for the most current – and no less than revolutionary – expression of the newest wave of mixology: the culinary cocktail, that is making its way from the world's most acclaimed cocktail bars to starred chef restaurants.
There, cocktails boldly seek not only a spot but to replace wine in pairing menus. And why shouldn't they? Cocktails provide maximum creativity and compatibility for a chef working with a bartender, allowing to localize the experience to the country’s liquors, spices and flavors. It also allows better control of alcohol volume, in a time where the demand for Low-ABV drinks is higher than ever.
In places like South Asia and Latin America, in countries where wine culture is secondary – historically or climatically – this makes a lot of sense. Cocktails enable the use of local spirits instead of wines transported from afar, strengthening both regionalism and sustainability. In other word: One bottle of spirit diminishes the need to transport dozens of bottles of wine from miles away | Roy Sassoon Yerushalmi. World of Sensation founder and culinary historian