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Cocktail Family Deep Dives

Martini & Manhattan: Spirit + Vermouth

The Martini and Manhattan share the same two-ingredient DNA — spirit and vermouth — but produce radically different drinks. Understanding their shared template reveals why.

Cocktail Family Deep Dives

The Spritz: Italy's Gift to Happy Hour

The Spritz — bitter liqueur, prosecco, and soda over ice — transformed aperitivo culture from a regional Italian ritual into a global phenomenon. Its formula is simple; its cultural power is enormous.

Cocktail History

The Golden Age of Cocktails: 1860-1920

Between the Civil War and Prohibition, American bartending became a high art. Jerry Thomas, the grand hotel bar, and the birth of the classics defined an era.

Cocktail History

The Craft Cocktail Revival: 1990-2010

Dale DeGroff, Milk and Honey, Sasha Petraske: how a small band of obsessives in New York reclaimed the craft and changed bars everywhere.

Cocktail History

The History of the Negroni

A Florentine count, an Americano, and a splash of gin: how the Negroni became the cocktail intelligentsia's favorite and spawned a global family of equal-parts drinks.

Cocktail History

Women in Cocktail History

From Ada Coleman at the Savoy to Ivy Mix at Leyenda, women have always shaped cocktail culture — even when the industry did everything it could to pretend otherwise.

Cocktail History

The Future of Cocktails: Trends & Predictions

Low-ABV, non-alcoholic spirits, sustainable bars, and AI-designed drinks: the forces reshaping the cocktail world and what they mean for the glass in your hand.

Flavor Science & Pairing

Balance: The Foundation of Great Cocktails

Discover how the four primary taste elements interact to create cocktail balance, and learn practical ratio theory for diagnosing and fixing off-balance drinks.

Flavor Science & Pairing

Bitterness: The Acquired Taste

Bitterness is the most complex taste receptor, and the key to depth in great cocktails. Explore the neuroscience of bitter, the history of bitters, and the full amaro spectrum.

Flavor Science & Pairing

The Cocktail Flavor Wheel Explained

The flavor wheel is a systematic map of taste and aroma descriptors. Learn how to read it, identify primary vs secondary flavors, and use it to train your palate like a professional.