Remember when molecular mixology was the hottest (and coldest) thing in cocktails? We’re talking clouds of smoke, color changes, and scientific wizardry designed to make guests ooh and aah. 
The downside? These drinks, while impressive, took themselves a little too seriously.
“Drinks are supposed to be fun. We as bartenders should be dedicated to our craft and push our limits regularly, but should always remember that we provide an experience first,” says Tyler Rothenberg, beverage director of Handcraft Kitchen & Cocktails in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.
In that spirit, here’s how some top bartenders are crafting fun and playful cocktails.
Tell a story.
When crafting a cocktail menu, don’t try to be different just to be different, Rothenberg says. Instead, “focus on the storytelling.” He developed Handcraft’s menu to tell the story of American cocktails in the past, future and present.
At London cocktail bar The Blind Pig, Chef Jason Atherton has taken the storytelling concept literally. He develeloped a delightful cocktail menu based on classic British children’s tales: Gruffalo Tea, Fizzy Lift (inspired by Charlie and The Chocolate Factory), and Grandma’s Surprise (inspired by Little Red Riding Hood).
Beverage directors and bar operators should ask themselves: What are you all about? What fascinates you? What’s the thread that connects your establishment’s personality, your community, and your drinks?
Reimagine seasonal drinks.
At “A Christmas Story”-themed pop-up in Vancouver, the bartenders served some surprising holiday drinks: “Drinks like the Blue Hawaiian and Christmas in Mazatlan call to mind the weird feeling of celebrating a winter holiday in a tropical destination fusing flavours like tequila and sherry, pineapple and nutmeg, eggnog and ice,” noted Vancouver Is Awesome.
It's a great idea: Delight guests with an unexpected take on seasonal offerings. For example, blend up some frozen cocktails for the winter months, such as a Frozen Cranberry Margarito or Frozen Irish Coffee.
Serve cocktails in unusual vessels.
Shinji’s, an exclusive cocktail bar in New York City’s Flatiron District, offers the Tropicana: a fun twist on the screwdriver that serves frozen vodka and house-made orange liquor inside a frozen orange, complete with citrus-leaf garnish and a red-and-white striped straw. It looks just like the orange juice company’s iconic logo.
Crafting the perfect frozen navel orange is an arduous process: It requires a balloon, a soldering iron, six hours of freezing and careful manipulation. But the experience is worth it: “With this drink I love exploring my own personal narrative and the narratives that we relate to from our childhood,” says operations director Philip Dizard.
Canon Seattle is famous for serving cocktails in creative vessels: an IV bag, a ceramic cannon, a glass apple, a miniature bathtub. You can do this too, as long as it aligns with your cocktail menu storytelling. Consider investing in some specialty glassware, new or vintage, that will enchant guests.
Accessorize your cocktails.
Want to serve playful and creative cocktails without a ton of prep work? Garnish with fun accessories. A few we’ve seen:
- An orange lifejacket on the Camp Tai Poutini (kirsch, agave, kiwi, fresh grapefruit, manuka honey, dry blood orange soda) at Canon Seattle
- A mini carpet coaster with the Jackie Treehorn, a dairy-free White Russian inspired by The Big Lebowski, at Shinji’s.
- A tiny jockstrap on the glass of the Jock Snifter, a concoction of vodka, guava jelly, grapefruit and aquavit at L’Opossum, a quirky restaurant in Richmond, Virginia.
Evoke an experience.
A playful cocktail isn’t just about flavor — it’s also about feelings.
On the Netflix bartending-competition show Drink Masters, one challenge was to create a drink inspired by a season. Boise-based bartender Aisling Gammill’s summer-inspired drink “was so epically good,” she later wrote on Instagram.
The drink included goat-milk washed tequila, marionberry cider, Rainier cherry and Makrut lime leaf tonic and calamansi (a citrus fruit from the Philippines), but the best part was the golden ice cube, gilded with luster dust.
“The metallic ice cube melted and created light catching trails that looked just like the trails of silt one sees when floating the river or kayaking during summer,” Gammill said. Don’t you just want to be there?
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