Given my love of beer, both creating it and drinking it, I have something of an affinity with the mixologist. A mixologist is a creator of cocktails, though the use of that word has somewhat degraded over time. It’s no longer equal to simply bartending, though mixologists may tend bar. A mixologist studies the creation of cocktails, reducing a cocktail to its component ingredients and analyzing those ingredients. Someone who just wants “a drink” is probably not looking for a mixologist, but someone who wants an Old Fashioned made with 23-year old Black Maple Hill Rye Whiskey, and only the finest bitters is definitely wanting to see a mixologist. (Who might persuade him that something as fine as 23-year old Black Maple Hill Rye should not be mixed, but that’s neither here nor there.)
My brother-in-law, a “budding mixologist” in L.A., has created his own mixology blog called Drink Well, which can be found at http://drink-well.blogspot.com. It’s a good read, and he’s a good writer. While I, myself, am not as into mixed drinks as some of my friends, I can certainly appreciate a search for the finest ingredients to create the finest drinks. In our world of Bud and Coors, liquor in plastic jugs, and mac and cheese and spam, I think our culture is lacking in drive to find the finest of consumables. I’m not saying there’s not a place for mac and cheese and spam. I dig mac and cheese every once in awhile. But it’s not in the same category as the Grilled Chicken Breast with a Mustard, Curry, and Stone Ruination IPA sauce that I had last night. And even that was extremely simple in terms of true gourmet cuisine.
In our culture, such a quest to find the best of something is looked upon as snobbery or elitism. For example, the fact that I won’t drink Coors or Bud because it’s garbage compared to some of the higher-quality brews, has really annoyed some people I know. I’m sorry…life is too short to drink inferior beer.
Mark at Drink Well has come to the same conclusion regarding mixology, and I look forward to reading the chronicles of his studies. Check out his blog.
Liquor in plastic jugs even has its proper place in the cocktail world. It’s worthy of being consumer filtered and then infused with new flavors. Break out that “bottle” of Popov, throw it through the Brita a couple times and make a tasty limoncello.
And while I do, as you know, agree with the statement, “life is too short to drink inferior beer” (with a few exceptions), I would broaden and invert it to say, “life is too short to not drink.” Sorry, Ken Jennings. I’ll take Potent Potables for pretty much any amount.