Cocktails: The New Golden Age

Cocktails really caught fire during Prohibition, when, of course, they were ostensibly outlawed. Back in the day, speakeasies became the illegal laboratories for developing new cocktails. Over the years, modern mixologists, working with superior ingredients, perfected the art, bringing the cocktail up from the basement and into the spotlight.

"Prohibition has made nothing but trouble."
-- Al Capone

Warning: martini purists should probably skip over this section.  For the rest of us, here are some funky, spunky martinis that give gin and vermouth the slip.

For when one, two, even three different kinds of booze just aren't enough. But be careful! Our advice? Jot down the phone number for the local taxi service and stuff it in your pocket before unscrewing the first bottle cap. Better yet, just stay put for the night. 

Here are the cocktails that go down easy when you're drinking before noon.

A cocktail party isn't really a party until something's engulfed in flames. Here are a couple drinks that call for a touch of fire. 

Feeling international? May we recommend a few national cocktails from around the world?

You can always mix up a bunch of Mocktails for your designated drivers. We're also big fans of Dry Soda. These delicious sodas from a Seattle-based company are on the dry end of the flavor scale, so they taste more grown-up than the typical soda. They come in such adult flavors as lemongrass, rhubarb, kumquat, and lavender. Dry Sodas are a tremendous and tasty alternative for teetotalers. But their clean unobtrusive flavors also make them excellent cocktail mixers. They're available at specialty markets throughout most of the U.S.