Want a sneak peak at what you’ll soon be drinking at your favorite bars?
Every summer, about 15,000 bartenders, restaurant owners, and spirits-industry types from around the world gather in New Orleans. Why? For Tales of the Cocktail — a week of drink tastings, pairings dinners, cocktail-nerd seminars, and raucous parties. They mix, muddle, and mull what’s new and next in drinks.
So I did the "hard" work of deep diving into as many events I could cram in to a few days. I set out to find the craziest new cocktail trends that we’ll be seeing soon at bars across the country. Click through to see what we will be sipping in the coming year. Who knows, one of them might even end up replacing frosé as the next It boozy beverage.
Foamy Bubbles
No, the bathtub isn't the only place you'll be experiencing big, foamy bubbles this year. Instead, keep an eye out for the edible froth floating on cocktails.
This drink, made with Hendrick’s Gin and Earl Grey tea, was topped with “cucumber air,” which bartenders bubbled up by inserting a tube of air into the cucumber-flavored liquid to foam it up.
Photo: Courtesy of Gina Pace.
Layered Boozy Popsicles
We've made plenty of boozy popsicles at home. Now, mixologists are getting on-board with the college throwback. Smirnoff partnered up with the Pop Parlour to create these patriotic pops.
Don't want to wait for these cuties to land at your local watering hole? Make them for friends by combining 1/2 ounce vodka with 1/2 ounce grenadine for the red layer; 1/2 ounce vodka and 1/2 ounce lemon juice, 1/4 ounce lime juice, and 1 tablespoon evaporated cane juice for the white layer; and 1/2 ounce vodka and 1/2 ounce blue raspberry syrup for the blue layer.
Photo: Courtesy of Gina Pace.
Copper Vessels
If you only order Moscow Mules for the cup they come in, then this up-and-coming trend is for you. Absolut Elyx combined Lisa Frank vibes with medieval drinking vessels to create these stunning unicorns, which will start showing up at bars in early 2017. Inside is a drink called the Quiet Storm: a tropical coconut, pineapple, and guava libation topped with lime green Pop Rocks. Yum!
Photo: Courtesy of Gina Pace.
Snacks Pairings
Forget your typical peanuts and other free bar snacks. This granita-like cocktail, dubbed the Saturday Morning Zombie (created by Plantation Rum), came with its very own paired munchie — colorful rainbow cereal.
Photo: Courtesy of Gina Pace.
Shot "Experiences"
We usually want to throw back shots as quickly as possibly, so maybe that's why bartenders are looking for a way to make the experience more enjoyable. Tullamore Dew Whiskey took it back to basics — with a bit of a creepy dentist twist — by just giving revelers their “medicine” straight, as brand ambassador Tim Herlihy poured shots directly into "patients'"mouths.
Photo: Courtesy of Gina Pace.
Black Cocktails
Our going-out wardrobes consist of a lot of black already, so why not add some trendy cocktails to match? Bartender Christian Villalta of Square Root in New Orleans added an edible flower to a black cocktail made with Maker’s Mark Whisky, black sesame syrup, and, yes, activated charcoal.
Photo: Courtesy of Gina Pace.
Condiment Bars
We've seen do-it-yourself Bloody Mary bars becoming more popular, so why stop there? Crown Royal set up a condiment bar to customize whisky-spiked cold hot chocolates. Clearly, the way to go was to use whipped cream, marshmallows, M&M's, and Pirouline cookies.
Photo: Courtesy of Gina Pace.
Shakes On A Plane
Get ready to see cool craft cocktails where you least expect them. JetBlue teamed up with Spike TV’s Bar Rescue bartenders Mia Mastroianni and Phil Wills to surprise an unsuspecting flight from New York to New Orleans with three cocktails they mixed up in the aisle of the plane. Needless to say, there was no canned Bloody Mary mix being consumed on this flight.
Photo: Courtesy of Gina Pace.
Shot Pairings
Forget slamming down a tequila shot with salt and a quick squeeze of lime. This salt tasting from Montelobos Mezcal, tequila's smokier cousin, helps bring out different notes from the drink as you sip: green tomatoes and avocado salt bring out green, grassy notes from the agave; pineapple and black salt emphasize the sweetness; hibiscus salt and red tomatoes highlight smoky flavors; and dark chocolate and sea salt show the coffee and chocolate finish.
Photo: Courtesy of Gina Pace.
Barrel-Aged Cocktails
If you thought wine and hard alcohol were the only drinks that benefit from being barrel-aged — think again. Hudson Whiskey aged some Manhattan cocktails for six weeks in the pictured barrels so the flavors would marry together. The best part? You get to serve yourself, straight from the barrel.
Photo: Courtesy of Gina Pace.
Sesame
While we're constantly hearing about chia, it looks like the mixology world is going after a different flavorful seed. Sesame was a particularly popular ingredient this year, adding a nutty roundness to drinks like this one made with Hendrick’s Gin, cucumber, and sesame-seed rims.
Photo: Courtesy of Gina Pace.
Vapor
It's not jut about what a drink looks or tastes like anymore. Smell is becoming a whole new to way to add to a beverage. Michael Melton, the beverage director for the Aviary in Chicago, made a Rob Roy with Monkey Shoulder Scotch and sherry. But the show-stopping moment was when he a pumped a bag full of lavender-scented vapor, which was cut just before the first sip, so drinkers could inhale the scent.
Photo: Courtesy of Gina Pace.
Singed Garnishes
It's not just the alcohol that gets fiery treatment anymore. Garnishes are also getting in on the fun for added flavor. Gary Hayward, a brand ambassador for Bombay Sapphire, singed orange peels with Japanese wood charcoal for Negronis, giving the drink a caramelized sugar and citrus scent.
Photo: Courtesy of Gina Pace.
Smoking Drinks
Garnishes aren't the only thing getting smokey. In fact, smoke is being used as almost like an extra cocktail topping. Sebastien Derbomez, a brand ambassador for Monkey Shoulder Scotch, used a smoke syringe to create a Smoke Stack Sazerac, which has a layer of nicotine-less peach-flavored tobacco smoke floating on top. Say that five times fast.
Photo: Courtesy of Gina Pace.
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