Cocktail of the Century
In basically a publicity-generating effort, bar glassware company Anchor Hocking conducted a survey of the most popular/defining drinks over the last century, divided into decades. (Also, the appropriate cocktail barware in which to serve them.) The martini was crowned Drink of the Century. Here they are by decade:1900-1910
Drink: Old Fashioned
1910-1920
Drink: Singapore Sling
1920-1930
Drink: Bloody Mary
1930-1940
Drink: Manhattan
1940-1950
Drink: Mai Tai
1950-1960
Drink: Vodka Martini
1960-1970
Drink: Whiskey Sour
1970-1980
Drink: Long Island Iced Tea
1980-1990
Drink: Sex on the Beach
1990-2000
Drink: Cosmopolitan
I would agree with most of the drinks up until the 1960's, then it goes a little haywire. That said, I don't have very good recommendations for their replacements. When I think of the 60's I think of I'm feeling Scotch on the rocks- something Steve McQueen would drink, or what everyone was enjoying during disaster movies. For the 70's, I'm stuck. But not a Long Island Iced Tea. Maybe a rum and Coke.(and snortable coke to help with digestion.)For the 80's the drink should be the wine cooler, but since we're talking cocktails here I'll say the Fuzzy Navel: a drink that luckily went away with the decade. (Second runner up: the Cape Cod. Third place: The Madras.) I can't argue that the Cosmopolitan was the drink of the 90's, even though it was of the last 2-3 years of the decade only, but boy is the name an inaccurate description of the era. It was all about dressing up garishly and getting sloppy. Good times, good times.
I have a bad feeling though that the drink of the decade 2000 - 2010 will be a Red Bull and vodka. Ack.
