Yes, it's not Friday, but it's still the weekend, so we can't resist posting this great piece from the Wall Street Journal about the booming liquor industry's variegated ways of putting more liquor on the market, from new flavors to vodka-soaked bubble gum. Link. Excerpts:
Now that Americans have been through Cosmopolitans, apple martinis and caipirinhas, what's next: ginger Cosmopolitans, cucumber-apple martinis and carrot caipirinhas? Actually, yes -- those combinations and even weirder ones are popping up on menus across the country. After two years of strong liquor-sales growth, the spirits industry want to keep the party going by making customers feel like they have to try the next new thing. Meanwhile, bars and restaurants, squeezed by higher wholesale food prices, are using attention-grabbing, pricey drinks to keep bar revenues high.
The bar at Ken Stewart's Grille in Akron, Ohio, serves a $10 martini with a pickled baby octopus draped over the side. In Kirkland, Wash., Jager Bar & Restaurant recently added a cocktail of cucumber, sake and vodka topped with lumps of wasabi and seared sushi tuna. The national chain Morton's is considering rolling out a new "Jameson and ginger" drink promoted by the whiskey's maker, the French conglomerate Pernod Ricard. And this season, Marriott sent out recipes to 320 hotels that included a new mojito that uses basil instead of mint. . .
Across the bar, flight attendant Jenni Tompkins ordered a "Cherry Cheesecake" with vodka, vanilla liqueur and cranberry juice. Her verdict: "It tastes like cough syrup." The manager, Kenny Stachovich, swapped it for a different drink but says the Cherry Cheesecake is very popular. "People get bored with rum and Cokes," he says.
The $49 billion U.S. spirits industry is banking on that. Spirits consumption has grown for the past seven years, and is forecast to jump another 4% this year, according to data from Adams Beverage Group. Much of the increase in sales has been fueled by new products. Spirits companies introduced 53 flavored vodkas and 26 flavored rums in the past two years, up from 17 and 12 respectively in 2002, according to the Distilled Spirits Council in Washington. . .
