A Visual Timeline of the 21st Century’s Biggest Cocktail Trends [Infographic]

It’s generally agreed upon that the seminal moment that shoved the modern craft cocktail revival into high gear was the opening of New York’s Milk & Honey on Dec. 31, 1999. There were plenty of signs of things to come prior to its launch: Dale DeGroff’s important work at the Rainbow Room; the opening of the original Angel’s Share in 1993; the explosion of the London cocktail bar scene in the ’90s. But Milk & Honey — and its careful curation of cocktail culture channeled through the late Sasha Petraske’s efforts — was the touchstone that influenced the scene’s quantum leap into society’s collective consciousness.

Milk & Honey’s launch was perfect timing, and not just because it dragged cocktail culture out of its decades-long nadir. It essentially took its first breath at the start of the 2000s, thus giving us the most pristine starting point to track just how modern cocktails have evolved throughout the 21st century. Since we are now one-fourth through the epoch — let that sink in for a moment — it seems like an ideal time to reflect on what’s all happened since the clandestine door at 134 Eldridge St. became the portal to a grander universe.

Here, we explore 13 of the key cocktail trends that have impacted how drinks enthusiasts imbibed during the last quarter-century. In a way, they are more than mere trends. They are a reflection of an inherently curious industry that’s grown increasingly comfortable with exploration and experimentation in ways that occasionally cross-pollinate with art, history, and science. These attitudes can’t help but spark intrigue about what’s to come between now and the century’s midway point.

It can be difficult to pin down the exact moment these trends took off or faded away. Such is the nature of cocktail history. Fortunately, enough context exists for us to create a rough timeline tracing the cocktail world’s most pervasive trends, from the outrageously bombastic to the undeniably brilliant. Please enjoy below.

2000 – 2015: The Old-School Drink Revival

The craft cocktail movement took its biggest leap forward by looking backward. As the seeds of the scene began to flower in the wake of Milk & Honey’s success, bartenders across New York City (and eventually the country) began digging through long-forgotten recipe books and historic artifacts to uncover a liquid treasure trove of bygone drinks, including several pre-Prohibition delights. Old drinks were the hot new thing for a decade-plus.

By the mid-2010s, bartenders had mostly jettisoned the wax mustache and suspender look and turned their attention toward other concepts that were unfathomable at the revival’s outset. But by then, woebegone cocktails like the Sazerac, Negroni, Bee’s Knees, and Last Word had been rightfully established as timeless classics.

2007 – 2019: Fat-Washing Takes Hold

The craft cocktail scene had established a sense of permanency by 2007. However, it was time to evolve beyond historic discoveries and simple builds. The seminal East Village Bar PDT — specifically, bartender Don Lee — sparked this advancement through the science of fat-washing. Lee created his Benton’s Old Fashioned by infusing bourbon with bacon fat procured from famed chef David Chang, giving the spirit a texturally rich, slightly unctuous flavor. The inoculated bourbon, combined with a bit of maple syrup, transformed a simple drink into an otherworldly riff that blew minds and inspired bartenders to start experimenting with their own fat infusions, pushing the technique further into the cocktail consciousness.

By the mid-2010s, bartenders around the country were fat-washing drinks with a wide range of fatty and oily mediums, from duck fat to butter. The trend took a step back just before the pandemic went down, but it never really went out of favor. It just became more mainstream, similar to other infusion tactics.

2015 – Present: Smoking Guns, Flavor Blasters, and Other Gadgetry

As the 2000s drew to a close, bartenders started to swap out their suspenders for lab coats and mess around with technical and scientific doodads. Advanced gadgets like smoking guns and iSi whippers began turning heads thanks to the pioneering efforts of mad bar scientists like Eben Freeman and Dave Arnold. While the gizmos were initially regarded as fancy tools for elite programs, they became relatively common items by around 2015 or so, ready to be used by any bartender desiring to wow guests with extra sensory engagement and a little theatrical flair.

Specific contraptions have rotated in the spotlight in the years since. The flavor blaster’s ability to top drinks with smoky bubbles was quite the rage in the years surrounding the pandemic. Arnold’s own Spinzall centrifuge device allowed bartenders to deploy techniques like fat-washing and clarification with greater efficiency when it hit the market in 2017. These days, the iSi siphon has re-emerged as a ubiquitous device after years of quasi-dormancy. Cynics and old-school cocktail aficionados may dismiss these elements as mere novelties, but even if they are, there’s no denying they have staying power.

2017 – 2019: Tiny Clothespins Hug Every Glass

It used to be cool to treat cocktail glasses like laundry. Around 2017, bartenders began affixing rims with itty-bitty clothespins, with the drink’s garnished wedged in between the two objects. Reasons why varied. Some utilized the technique to prevent the garnishes from accidentally falling off the cocktail and/or into the drink. Others said it was a unique way to integrate the garnish’s aroma into the overall flavor experience. Either way, it looked like an adorable, quite literal side piece as its popularity climbed.

It didn’t take too long for the trend to lose its steam. Wooden pins gave way to cheap, plastic versions, which looked tacky and led to environmental concerns. By the time tiny clothespins started popping up at family-friendly chain restaurants, bartenders and cocktail enthusiasts had more or less turned their backs on them. They still make an appearance on occasion, but not nearly as much as they once did.

2018 – 2022: Acid-Adjusting is Liquid Gold

Not all citrus fruit is created equal from an acidity standpoint. Oranges and grapefruits may have terrific flavors, but they aren’t as tart as lemons or limes due to their low acid content. This poses a problem in cocktails, where sharp acidity goes a long way toward achieving flavor balance. This made these weaker citrus fruits somewhat of a pariah when it came to cocktail creation for decades despite their deliciousness. The solution to all this? Mimicry.

In the mid-2010s, science-minded bartenders started acid-adjusting cocktails, adding citric acid in malic acid to drinks built around fruits with low acidity. This gave the cocktail the barbed bite of a lemon or lime along with the flavors of other citrus fruit. It was alchemy that produced legitimate liquid gold. Acid-adjustment gradually shifted from cool trend to practical post-Covid bar strategy, as bars began to use the acid add-ons to reduce waste and costs in addition to boosting a drink’s balance.

2019 – Present: Coffee and Cocktails Collide

If there’s one trend in the last quarter-century that may produce a strong sense of deja vu, it’s the ongoing mashup of coffee and cocktails. After all, the Espresso Martini achieved rock star status in the ’90s, years before the resurgence of potent potables occurred. Yet when coffee cocktails made their comeback around 2019, it weirdly felt like a fresh new thing.

The reason for the vibe may or may have nothing to do with cocktails. The third-wave coffee movement spent the last quarter-century curating a culture that extends well past the rote morning cuppa joe, infusing the drink’s lexicon with terms like cold brew concentrate, single-origin, and terroir. The third wave crashed onto the public roughly around the same time as the craft cocktail revival; in a way, this gives both movements a shared sense of DNA, which could be why this fusion became popular and enduring. Either that, or it’s a nostalgia thing. The ’90s are back, baby!

2021 – 2025: Agave Drinks Beyond the Margarita

The emergence of mezcal and the increased appreciation of tequila as more than something you shoot at a dive bar set the agave market on fire at the beginning of the decade.
This boom was bound to have an effect on cocktail culture. Guests and bartenders alike became more curious about agave spirits’ possibilities within mixed drinks outside the traditional classics or simple-yet-delicious riffs. Suddenly, it was possible to see a tequila drink on a menu without it being a Margarita, a Paloma, or a similarly familiar beverage.

These newfangled agave drinks are no longer a shiny trend — just listen for how many people call for a Mezcal Negroni on your next night out — but rather a standard sight on the scene. Of course, this doesn’t mean that the Margarita somehow stopped being a banger.

2022 – 2026: Clarified Everything

Clarifying opaque liquids like milk is a technique that’s been around for centuries. It also used to be a laborious, time-consuming effort, which relegated it to niche status at best. Then Dave Arnold created the Spinzall, and clarifying via centrifuge became another tech tool bartenders could place in their arsenal. As the industry emerged from Covid, it seemed like barkeeps everywhere couldn’t wait to show off their new skill. They couldn’t wait to tell guests, either — if a drink was clarified, it was the first thing listed on its description.

We may also be witnessing the bubble burst on this trend in real time, to the point where predicting its demise by the end of the year seems like the right call: Gripes about the trend’s ubiquitousness have been around for a while, and they’ve only gotten louder in recent months. It may not look like the trend’s over based on what current cocktail menus look like, but it sure feels like it’s on life support.

2022 – 2025: Force Carbonation Bubbles Up

In a way, force carbonation seemed like an inevitable bar trend. Home carbonation systems like the SodaStream became popular in the 2010s, and the internet is chock full of instructions for building DIY carbonation kits. It’s easy to visualize bored bartenders stuck at home during Covid’s lockdown experimenting with adding bubbles to basic drinks. If such fiddling around occurred, it clearly was a success. The technique quickly became a hot post-pandemic trend for a few years, and has nicely settled into its current stage as an essential pre-batching technique.

Force carbonation became a bar mainstay because it’s much more than a neat parlor trick. The technique intensifies a cocktail’s aromatics, texture, and flavor notes. The process also helps balance a drink’s ingredients, which can also lead to more consistent cocktails. And while it’s a practical tactic, some bartenders use it to nerd out and do complicated procedures like canning, which can make unfussy drinks like a Paloma incredibly fussy.

2023 – Present: Drinkers Embrace Savory Cocktails

The modern cocktail movement’s trendy twists and turns wouldn’t have happened if guests and their palates didn’t evolve. The savory cocktail movement could very well be the peak example of this axiom. While concepts like the Dirty Martini and Bloody Mary have been around for decades, consumers really started to lean into drinks with vegetal, salty, and umami notes around 2023. It’s not only still going strong, it’s arguably the hottest trend in cocktails today.

Bartenders have also gone all-in on the savory trend, which makes perfect sense. The drinks give them free reign to open their cupboard and reach for wild ingredients that would have seen out of place during the revival’s early days. Fish sauce, tomatoes, habanero peppers, parmesan cheese, and other unorthodox foodstuffs are all fair game now. Compare that to 25 years ago, when most customers had never heard of orange bitters. We’ve come a long way.

2023 – Present: Spritzes Hit the Scene

As people eased back into society after Covid, a common narrative surfaced. People overindulged in alcohol during lockdown, had a Talking Heads-esque “My God! What have I done?” moment, and made a concerted effort to either drink less or consume lower-ABV drinks. Spritzes provided a perfect solution for these situations, and people figured this out and embraced the category wholeheartedly.

There were other reasons why spritzes ascended to stardom: Italian aperitivo culture gained a bit of a foothold as more folks started getting together in person again, and the brightly colored drinks look pretty on TikTok. Still, it’s hard to imagine spritzes taking off as they did without people needing to slow their roll. These days, the trend keeps rolling on because they’re delicious and surprisingly versatile.

2024 – Present: NA Drinks That Aren’t an Afterthought

Chatter about people drinking less was inescapable after the pandemic. It made no difference whether the conversations stemmed from Gen Z’s perceived lack of drinking habits or people taking extended post-Covid booze breaks. By 2024, it was loud and sustainable enough to compel bars to move their spirit-free cocktail options beyond the realm of forgettable slapdash concoctions of fruit juice overwhelmed by sugar.

A new era of complex, nuanced non-alcoholic cocktails gradually emerged, bolstered by the growing proliferation of top-quality NA spirits in liqueurs on the market. These drinks presented new challenges for bartenders, who had to account for the differences in mouthfeel, viscosity, and “burn” between existing alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. They’ve proven to be deft at clearing these hurdles, and it doesn’t look like they’ll be slowing down any time soon.

2024 – Present: Maximalism Takes Over

All of the trends and innovations to come after craft cocktail revival’s initial educational phase have coalesced into a maximalist movement that almost seems weirdly antithetical to those early days. Over-the-top techniques, theatrical presentations, esoteric ingredients, and decadent cocktail builds that overwhelm the senses and push toward experiential luxury have been in full force, and guests have lapped them up the last couple of years. Bold beverages with brazen builds aren’t exactly new (hello, tiki drinks), but these indulgent expressions feel a bit like a final exam of everything we’ve learned about cocktail evolution in the last 25 years.

Maximalism remains a bona fide trend, but its shelf-life remains to be seen. There’s a chance it could end abruptly. In music terms, the proliferation of maximalist cocktails feels like the height of the progressive rock movement in the early-to-mid 1970s, when 15-minute songs replete with wild time-signature changes, fantastical lyrics, and virtuosic instrumentation took up a healthy chunk of the landscape. The genre (which is interesting and has its merits) was kicked to the curb by the punk rock scene in the late ’70s, which brought rock back to its basic foundations. Perhaps we’ll see a similar phenomenon, where bartenders collectively reject the excesses of maximalism and bring the scene back to its original Milk & Honey-era roots. God only knows, but only time will tell…although there are signs that the time may be now.

*Image retrieved from mediha ekici via unsplash.com

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