I HAVE SEEN many interesting cocktail trends on my travels over the past 12 months. The most original and inspiring has been the evolution of the Gin & Tonic. The Gin Tonica is a progression of a simple drink that incorporates all kinds of garnishes and little extras - depending on the venue and the drinker. It has been driven in part by the glassware. In my opinion, copa glasses make this drink. The trend for Gin Tonicas started in Spain and the long drink in its large, round glass is now seeding itself all over the world. 

Further afield in Australia, Bar Americano in Melbourne has done away with brands on the back bar altogether. It’s the job of head bartender Hayden Scott Lambert to know which spirits are right for the cocktails on the menu. All the liquids sit in beautiful decanters of various shapes and sizes and, for me, it also took away the dilemma of choosing the ‘right’ spirit if asked for my preference. 

Back in the UK, it’s hard to talk about innovation without mentioning Tony Conigliaro. The man behind 69 Colebrooke Row, Zetter Townhouse and Le Coq in Paris, he has designed the drinks menu at the Grain Store in London’s Kings Cross. 

As well as some killer cocktails, Conigliaro has been playing around with wine, exploring the Greco-Roman tradition for aromatising wine, and he says the addition of herbs, spices and honey “extend the bridges already present between wine and food”. 

Cocktail and food pairing still lurks in the background and is usually confined to places where a tasting menu has been created – like Dry Martini in Barcelona – but perhaps aromatised wines will plug the gap between wine and cocktails when it comes to choosing what to drink with dinner. 

The evolution of the cocktail competition has also driven both the craft of bartending and the skill and knowledge level required to create new cocktails and ultimately drive new trends. Although Diageo’s World Class sounds like a luxury holiday – a five day cruise around the Med this year – the challenges are gruelling and require careful research and preparation. For example, the Time to Play challenge featured a one-hour masterclass on botanicals and infusion equipment – before coming up with two contrasting Tanqueray 10 cocktails. And that was only one element of the competition.

So here, in this A–Z, we celebrate all things cocktail – from the bold to the slightly bonkers and beyond. 

A – Advanced cocktail cultures

There are certain places around the world – such as London and New York – where cocktail culture is so far ahead that trends are no longer evident, according to Beefeater global brand ambassador Tim Stones. 

“In the advanced cocktail cultures, I’m noticing that there don’t seem to be cocktail trends anymore. Each bar is doing its own thing and this makes for a more exciting drinking scene than loads of places jumping on a bandwagon.” 

B – Barrel ageing 

Oscar Dodd, business development manager for Le Fee absinthe, says barrel ageing started gaining popularity last year. 

One outlet, The Worship Street Whistling Shop in London, currently offers six barrel-aged cocktails and you can even get them to age one of your own creations. Try WS ‘Genever’: Tanqueray gin, Caol Ila Scotch, green malt, spices, sherry oak. £10.

C – Classics

There is a resurgence in popularity of simple and classic cocktail serves such as the Negroni, according to Giuseppe Gallo, global brand ambassador for Martini. Adding personal or signature twists to these drinks is also apparent – like the Negroni Slushy at Parson’s Chicken & Fish in Chicago. 

D – Draught cocktails

Le Fee’s Oscar Dodd says  “draught cocktails deliver great consistency and speed of serve”. Indeed, the house Old Fashioned was ready before the beer was poured on a recent visit to The Baxter Inn, Sydney. The Spoon Bar in Healdsburg, California offers six ‘cocktails on tap’, including Punch.  

E – Eggs

A staple cocktail ingredient for many classic cocktails, including sours, fizzes and flips. 

F – Food pairing

As the line between bartender and chef becomes increasingly blurred, food pairing is the next logical step. Pago mixing brand ambassador Mario Hofferer says: “We can forecast that the kitchen and bar scene will interact more and more and fit together. The best bars in the world work a lot with foodpairing, aiming to create a whole new taste experience.” 

And it doesn’t have to be a whole meal.Matthias Lataille, UK brand ambassador for Olmeca Altos, tequila says: “It is becoming increasingly popular to accompany cocktails with confectionary on the side, such as chocolate truffles. This adds an extra dimension to the experience of drinking a well–crafted cocktail. In both cases, the garnishing complements the drink very well.”

G – Garnishes/Glassware

Martini’s Gallo puts it like this: “There is still demand for theatre in the cocktail world. We are seeing big, attention-grabbing garnishes and alternative glassware in many of the top outlets, such as tea cups or even sea shells. Oversized modern garnishes or unusual glassware are a good way for an outlet to showcase their creativity as well as making the experience a difficult one to forget.”

H – Homemade

From bitters to liqueurs, tinctures and sugar syrups, the desire to create new products has not abated. 

UK Averna brand ambassador Michele Tuveri says: “Bartenders are aiming at preparing in-house whatever they can, from syrups to liqueurs to garnishes and even glassware (hollowed out pineapples, frozen hollowed out oranges and pomelos, coconuts).” Pago’s Hofferer describes it as “the only way a bartender can work without limits”. 

I – Ice

For a while, innovation with ice was the preserve of the Japanese bartender but ’tenders around the globe are starting to understand its importance as an ingredient all on its own. Whether it’s a diamond, a ball, crushed or in large cubes, it plays a role in how a drink tastes. 

J – Joint efforts

Earlier this year, Diageo held a competition to find a new spirit. A Bristol bartender won the chance to see her brand go into production. Dee Davies’ spirit – Jinzu – is a distilled gin “with a heart of sake”. Davies is now entitled to 5% of the net sales for the first five years of the product launch. Watch this space for cocktail innovations. 

K – Kummel

One of our predictions for the next wave of interest, this is a digestif flavoured with caraway seed, among other things. Other predictions for categories on the move include genever and mezcal. 

L – Liquid

Like any trade, choosing the right tools for the job is important. Check out the boxes to see which products align themselves with which cocktails. 

M – Molecular mixology

This trend is set to continue according to Monin UK ambassador James Coston. He says: “Tony Conigliaro at 69 Colebrooke Row in London is pioneering some really interesting techniques that turn the art of cocktails into a science.” He cites the venue’s Prairie Oyster Bloody Mary – which includes clarified tomato juice, reformulated to resemble an egg yolk. 

N – NPD (or new product development to me and you)

Berry Bros & Rudd brands marketing director, spirits, Luke Tegner says cocktail culture has a “strong” influence on new product development. “There is little point in developing a sweet cream liqueur if cocktail makers are looking for aromatic, spiced modifiers. 

“Part of our decision to relaunch The King’s Ginger liqueur, which since 1903 had been a little-known tot for the well-healed, was the rise of cocktail culture and a realisation that there were just a few canny bartenders who had discovered it as a modifier and base of great drinks.”

O – Openings

New bars will increasingly be bartender–owned, according to Beefeater’s Stones. He says: “My guess is that we’ll continue to see more bartender-owned bars and those guys taking things back to basics some more and avoiding gimmicks, just concentrating on drink and service quality.”

P – Proof

The strength of a spirit plays a big part in the balance of a cocktail but it’s also a cultural thing. Le Fee’s Dodd explains: “High–proof spirits are growing in popularity in the US, whereas in Argentina there is a limit on the amount of alcohol in spirits, so naturally trends differ there. In Asia we see great diversity in drinking culture – from South Korea, where spirits are often ordered by the bottle, to Thailand, where classic cocktails are starting to become more prevalent.”

Q – Quality

BB&R Spirits’ Tegner says “continued premiumisation of product and also of service” is crucial to the future of the cocktail.

R – Ready to drink cocktails

These seem to divide the trade, much the same as Marmite divides diners. Nevertheless, they are a part of cocktail culture and from Beam’s Skinny Girl brand to the relatively new Bloom & Fentimans tonic, there’s a lot going on. 

G&J Greenall master distiller and Bloom creator Joanne Moore says: “In recent years we have seen popular cocktails created as RTDs that can be purchased in off–trade and consumed at home. The drinking occasion is moving more towards drinking at home rather than at the bars so the cocktail culture can influence category growth by encouraging and educating consumers on how to create your perfect serve easily at home.” 

S – Spices and herbs

Seasoning a cocktail is very important. Usually bitters is cited as the ‘salt and pepper’ of the cocktail world, but herb and spice infusions are still popular. Monin UK’s Coston says his company “reacted by developing our own Monin Rosemary and Monin Tarragon syrups”, which he says have proved popular.

T – Tiki

The rum revolution continues apace and with every rum launch comes a new nod to Tiki bars. Ron de Preter, global brand ambassador at Wenneker Distilleries, says the Tiki trend will carry on into 2014. UK Averna brand ambassador Michele Tuveri says bars such as Trailer Happiness and Mahiki have driven the trend. “This influenced the scene and even bars not predominantly Polynesian or Tiki in style adopted flamboyant glassware and garnishes,” he adds. 

U – Unusual ingredients

This doesn’t always pay off – for London’s Nightjar, a whale skin-infused whisky got the bar into a spot of hot water with the authorities. Nevertheless, the quest to find new and unusual ingredients is evident with every product launch – especially when it comes to gin botanicals. 

V – Virgin

As trends continue towards lower-alcohol products, virgin cocktails will remain in the mix. 

W – Weight watchers

Though many see cocktails as a bit of an indulgence, some people want to have their cake and eat it, with skinny cocktails. London–based operator Drake & Morgan has cottoned on to this trend with a whole range of Skinny Cocktails. The tipple with the fewest calories is the Poptail – Pampero blanco, Aperol, watermelon and rhubarb bitters, served up soda pop style (76 calories).

X – Xylose

This is a simple sugar that comes from wood and it can contribute to the sweet tastes in whisky – it’ll probably alter the taste of those barrel-aged cocktails, too. 

Y – Yuzu

This east Asian fruit has been the citrus du jour for a while now. 

Z – Zany ideas

Monin’s Coston says: “I personally find it fascinating to watch top mixologists demonstrating crazy new ideas for using our products. “A great example is one of our previous Monin Cup finalists, Andy Mill, from Match Bar in London. He used his girlfriend’s hair straighteners instead of a red hot poker to warm his flip.” We bet there’s plenty more where that came from.