Paul Monahan, a brand ambassador for Sailor Jerry, is aging cocktails in barrels used to make whiskey. He has made large batches of Sailor Jerry Old Fashioneds and aged them for there months in barrels already used to make Glenfiddich or Hudson. (Like Sailor Jerry, both are William Grant & Sons brands.)
"An interesting trend and twist on the persisting bottled cocktail trend is that of the single-serve, frequently carbonated cocktail, which has gained traction and popularity as the technology has become cheaper and more accessible," says Jamie Gordon, manager of mixology for Pernod Ricard USA. Freddy May, a whiskey specialist for William Grant & Sons brands including Monkey Shoulder, Hudson, and Gibson's Finest, has been bottling carbonated Negronis: "Take a regular Negroni recipe, put it through a soda stream and then use a bottle capper from any brew shop to make them in advance. They keep cold in the fridge or ice bucket until ready to serve." New York restaurant and bar Saxon & Parole has served them (pictured).
“We are absolutely trending towards an era of less reverential and more irreverent cocktail drinking," says Jamie Gordon, manager of mixology for Pernod Ricard USA. "There is still a great appreciation towards the craft as a whole, but bartenders are finally working out that a tongue-in-cheek delivery of a good drink still delivers a good drink.” At the Absolut party during Tales of the Cocktail, servers used syringes to serve shots to guests in a room with the feel of a mad scientist's lab (pictured).
