The Top 20 best selling cocktails in 2017 based on Drinks International
The drink of the living dead. To make: pour the contents of your bar’s rum collection into a large glass along with some more booze in the form of apricot brandy, then lime and pineapple juice. Three bars said it was their top selling classic. Let’s take the recipe from tiki mecca Smuggler’s Cove: Jamaican, demerara and Puerto Rican rums, grapefruit and lime juice, cinnamon syrup, falernum, grenadine, Angostura bitters, drops of Pernod and a mint sprig.
Breaking the mould (sorry), our first scotch cocktail in the list comes courtesy of Sam Ross, ex-Milk & Honey bartender and now Attaboy (fifth in The World’s 50 Best Bars 2016) owner. The Penicillin uses blended scotch, lemon juice, honey-ginger syrup and Islay scotch and is garnished with candied ginger. This medicinal mix is one of very few cocktails to make neo-classical status.
If the Peruvians and Chileans can find consensus on anything it is that the Pisco Sour is the best vehicle for their national spirit. This cocktail was an early explorer, finding its way to the dock of the San Francisco bay in the 1930s and wasting little time before rising to popularity in New York in the 1960s. With Peruvian food now a fixture internationally, this limey cocktail is back in the limelight. About a fifth of polled bars named the Pisco Sour a top 10 classic cocktail.
Gaining a little altitude in the list – one place – is the Aviation. Essentially a refined Tom Collins with some maraschino, this is a top 10 seller in about a fifth of polled bars. The recipe first appeared in Hugo Ensslin’s 1916 Recipes for Mixed Drinks, where crème de violette provided an extra floral dimension.
This gin-turned-vodka-turned-gin-and-lime cocktail has moved with the times. With gin now back in favour, its vodka years are mostly behind it. In a sense this is a Daiquiri for gin drinkers and three of our polled bars said it was their most-made classic; about a fifth said it was a top 10 choice among punters. It’s essentially gin and juice but somehow has credibility beyond its ingredients. The ratio was originally 50/50, but that was when people didn’t care much for their teeth. Now a 75/25 gin-to-Roses lime cordial seems to be what the dentist ordered.
The Dark ’n’ Stormy is the 14th most likely classic you will drink in a top bar, says our poll, but the most likely thing to drink in Bermuda (that and the Rum Swizzle). The history of rum is never far away from seafarers and the Dark ’n’ Stormy is no different. To cut a story’s length, British colonialists brought the ginger beer, Gosling’s brought the rum. Add a bit of lime, and there you have it, the Dark ‘n’ Stormy – worthy of any bloke with a beard and tatts, on or off land.
With a rise of 15 places, the Boulevardier is a cocktail that’s garnering customers in the world’s best bars. More than a quarter of bars have it among their top 10 repertoire and likely not just because of how it tastes. It’s simple – just take a Negroni recipe and swap American whiskey for gin. The choice, which faces many a cocktail aficionado, is whether it be rye or bourbon. We lean towards the peppery, more jagged edge of rye.
Making drinking acceptable in AM is the Blood Mary. For those who like it (some say tomatoes are better on plates than in glasses) it is a staple of the day after the night before. It is also a drink that will never go out of fashion and among the top 10 selling classics in a quarter of bars we polled. At this point we defer to the Connaught. Ago Perrone uses Ketel One vodka, fresh tomato juice, a homemade spice mix, fresh lemon juice and celery air. It will seduce even the most devout Bloody Mary naysayer.
When Trader Vic’s brand of Polynesian restaurants globally proliferated, so did founder Victor Jules Bergeron’s Mai Tai, which can now be found in bars across the world – and possibly even in Polynesia. As a bastion of tropical culture the Mai Tai has been swept along by the tiki revival and come ashore in many of the world’s best bars. Just over a quarter, in fact, laid testament to its popularity credentials. Though outside of the top 10, this remains a kitsch classic loved by bartenders in their less serious moments.
Purists use cognac as the main spirit and so did bartenders in the 1850s, until phylloxera ravaged French vineyards and the American Civil War made the sourcing of cognac something of a triviality. It was replaced by whiskey and to this day some prefer the double booze hit to be propelled by the grain not the grape. At our bars, it was American whiskey, namely Bulleit, Sazerac or Rittenhouse. Rimmed with absinthe, a sniff tells you this is not a session beverage.
This Cuban classic might be a cocktail loved by the indiscriminate masses but it is still a fixture in the world’s best bars. More than a third of bars polled said it was among their top 10 sellers. Unsurprising, despite the sniffs, it remains a true classic. At its Havana home, La Bodeguita, it is made with rum, lime juice, soda, brown cane sugar, fresh mint and ice. Whatever the white rum (there’s a bit of a thing between Havana Club and Bacardi here), it should be of Cuban heritage, the greenery is best in spearmint form and the sugar dissolved, rather than granules that unpleasantly lurk deep in the glass. But that’s just us.
Perhaps a symptom of thawing attitudes towards vodka, the ice-cool Moscow Mule has risen from 12th to ninth to eighth in the past two years. It’s a crowd-pleaser in more than a third of our 100 bars, with popularity seemingly springing up from the US. Essentially this is vodka’s answer to the Dark ’n’ Stormy and is housed in the kind of copper mugs that make vodka, lime, ginger and soda a happy marriage, even outside of happy hour. Still, one for the less adventurous punters.
The Margarita is frozen again at no.7 this year, though mostly not served frozen at the 40% of polled bars that said it was a top 10 best seller. Tommy’s is a four-time member of The World’s 50 Best Bars this year, so let’s drop by Frisco-way for a Tommy’s Margarita. Owner Julio Bermejo uses 100% agave tequila, plus fresh lime juice and agave syrup. Don Julio, El Jimador and Olmeca Altos were the three favoured brands in 2016, according to our poll.
A surprisingly low placing for this boozy yet refined favourite, the Dry Martini was the top classic in one in 10 of our polled bars and among the top 10 in just under half. There are many bars that might claim to make the exemplar but Barcelona’s Dry Martini (multi-time member of The World’s 50 Best Bars) is one. The bar uses half and half gin to French vermouth, a dash of orange bitters, a squeeze of lemon rind and a green olive. If it’s a Martini for bar owner Javier de la Muelas, drop the lemon.
Up from six to five is dependable staple the Whiskey Sour. This simple bourbon drink is a top 10 favourite of nearly half our bars, though only two said it was number one. That’s not too surprising as this is an everyman’s drink, rarely a house signature. The recipe is bourbon, lemon juice and a teaspoon of sugar. Egg white is optional, but anything to add an extra dimension to this building-block drink seems worthwhile.
Down one from last year, the sweet queen of cocktails with an embittered spirit was a top seller in more than half our 100 polled bars, which most frequently make this perfect match of peppery rye, bitters and sweet vermouth with Bulleit, Rittenhouse and Maker’s Mark. This classic is thought to be from New York, so where better to head for the recipe? Jim Meehan of PDT suggests rye whiskey, sweet vermouth and two dashes of Angostura, stirred with ice, strained into a chilled coupe and garnished with brandied cherries.
The Daiquiri is the most ordered rum drink in the world’s best bars, so we should probably learn to say it right. It’s dy-key-ree. In Cuba, they can say it, and there is no better place to empty the glass than in Havana’s La Floridita. Take lime juice, white rum and sugar syrup. Shake, serve and repeat.
Like the Old Fashioned, the Negroni has passed over the counter from bartender to customer to now be appreciated on either side of the great divide. It remains the second most drunk cocktail in our sample. Count Negroni had the first, but count the Negronis made at the world’s best bars and you’ll see why it is second on our list. Three-quarters of bars said this was in their top 10 classics and one in five pronounced it to be their most made. Don’t mess with the recipe, says received wisdom, including the sagely Gaz Regan. It’s a third, a third, a third of Campari, sweet vermouth and gin.
Bartenders are not known to enjoy repetition, but the Old Fashioned, that vanguard drink of the classic cocktail revival, has been a fixture at the top of this list for three straight years. It shows no sign of waning – indeed, this American whiskey classic is gaining in popularity, says our poll. Three-quarters of bars said it was among their top 10 best selling classics and a third said it was their number one. Our bars opt for bourbon, but cocktail historian David Wondrich suggests rye would probably have been the likely choice way back when. He goes with: 1 sugar cube wetted with three dashes of Angostura bitters and a little soda, crushed, stirred with a large ice cube and two ounces of rye.
Related Page: Best Selling 2016
Based on 100 of the world's best bars to rank their top ten best-selling classics. Here are the results
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
20. ZOMBIE
 |
| Liquor |
The drink of the living dead. To make: pour the contents of your bar’s rum collection into a large glass along with some more booze in the form of apricot brandy, then lime and pineapple juice. Three bars said it was their top selling classic. Let’s take the recipe from tiki mecca Smuggler’s Cove: Jamaican, demerara and Puerto Rican rums, grapefruit and lime juice, cinnamon syrup, falernum, grenadine, Angostura bitters, drops of Pernod and a mint sprig.
19. PENICILLIN
 |
| Vine Pair |
Breaking the mould (sorry), our first scotch cocktail in the list comes courtesy of Sam Ross, ex-Milk & Honey bartender and now Attaboy (fifth in The World’s 50 Best Bars 2016) owner. The Penicillin uses blended scotch, lemon juice, honey-ginger syrup and Islay scotch and is garnished with candied ginger. This medicinal mix is one of very few cocktails to make neo-classical status.
18. PISCO SOUR
 |
| Cookpad |
If the Peruvians and Chileans can find consensus on anything it is that the Pisco Sour is the best vehicle for their national spirit. This cocktail was an early explorer, finding its way to the dock of the San Francisco bay in the 1930s and wasting little time before rising to popularity in New York in the 1960s. With Peruvian food now a fixture internationally, this limey cocktail is back in the limelight. About a fifth of polled bars named the Pisco Sour a top 10 classic cocktail.
17. AVIATION
 |
| Liquor |
Gaining a little altitude in the list – one place – is the Aviation. Essentially a refined Tom Collins with some maraschino, this is a top 10 seller in about a fifth of polled bars. The recipe first appeared in Hugo Ensslin’s 1916 Recipes for Mixed Drinks, where crème de violette provided an extra floral dimension.
16. GIMLET
 |
| Punch |
This gin-turned-vodka-turned-gin-and-lime cocktail has moved with the times. With gin now back in favour, its vodka years are mostly behind it. In a sense this is a Daiquiri for gin drinkers and three of our polled bars said it was their most-made classic; about a fifth said it was a top 10 choice among punters. It’s essentially gin and juice but somehow has credibility beyond its ingredients. The ratio was originally 50/50, but that was when people didn’t care much for their teeth. Now a 75/25 gin-to-Roses lime cordial seems to be what the dentist ordered.
15. ESPRESSO MARTINI
 |
| BASCO |
The late Dick Bradsell made the first – for a customer who wanted a drink that would “wake her up and fuck her up”. But the Espresso Martini also arouses and nullifies the senses at the world’s best bars, with just under a quarter of bars listing it among their regular roster. This after-dinner cocktail of espresso coffee, vodka and coffee liqueur is served in a Martini glass but bears little resemblance to the original Martini.
14. DARK ’N’ STORMY
 |
| Cocktail Kit |
The Dark ’n’ Stormy is the 14th most likely classic you will drink in a top bar, says our poll, but the most likely thing to drink in Bermuda (that and the Rum Swizzle). The history of rum is never far away from seafarers and the Dark ’n’ Stormy is no different. To cut a story’s length, British colonialists brought the ginger beer, Gosling’s brought the rum. Add a bit of lime, and there you have it, the Dark ‘n’ Stormy – worthy of any bloke with a beard and tatts, on or off land.
13. BOULEVARDIER
 |
12. BLOODY MARY
 |
Making drinking acceptable in AM is the Blood Mary. For those who like it (some say tomatoes are better on plates than in glasses) it is a staple of the day after the night before. It is also a drink that will never go out of fashion and among the top 10 selling classics in a quarter of bars we polled. At this point we defer to the Connaught. Ago Perrone uses Ketel One vodka, fresh tomato juice, a homemade spice mix, fresh lemon juice and celery air. It will seduce even the most devout Bloody Mary naysayer.
11. MAI TAI
 |
| Liquor |
When Trader Vic’s brand of Polynesian restaurants globally proliferated, so did founder Victor Jules Bergeron’s Mai Tai, which can now be found in bars across the world – and possibly even in Polynesia. As a bastion of tropical culture the Mai Tai has been swept along by the tiki revival and come ashore in many of the world’s best bars. Just over a quarter, in fact, laid testament to its popularity credentials. Though outside of the top 10, this remains a kitsch classic loved by bartenders in their less serious moments.
Purists use cognac as the main spirit and so did bartenders in the 1850s, until phylloxera ravaged French vineyards and the American Civil War made the sourcing of cognac something of a triviality. It was replaced by whiskey and to this day some prefer the double booze hit to be propelled by the grain not the grape. At our bars, it was American whiskey, namely Bulleit, Sazerac or Rittenhouse. Rimmed with absinthe, a sniff tells you this is not a session beverage.
9. MOJITO
 |
| BBC Good Food |
This Cuban classic might be a cocktail loved by the indiscriminate masses but it is still a fixture in the world’s best bars. More than a third of bars polled said it was among their top 10 sellers. Unsurprising, despite the sniffs, it remains a true classic. At its Havana home, La Bodeguita, it is made with rum, lime juice, soda, brown cane sugar, fresh mint and ice. Whatever the white rum (there’s a bit of a thing between Havana Club and Bacardi here), it should be of Cuban heritage, the greenery is best in spearmint form and the sugar dissolved, rather than granules that unpleasantly lurk deep in the glass. But that’s just us.
8. MOSCOW MULE
 |
| Liquor |
Perhaps a symptom of thawing attitudes towards vodka, the ice-cool Moscow Mule has risen from 12th to ninth to eighth in the past two years. It’s a crowd-pleaser in more than a third of our 100 bars, with popularity seemingly springing up from the US. Essentially this is vodka’s answer to the Dark ’n’ Stormy and is housed in the kind of copper mugs that make vodka, lime, ginger and soda a happy marriage, even outside of happy hour. Still, one for the less adventurous punters.
7. MARGARITA
 |
| Racheal |
The Margarita is frozen again at no.7 this year, though mostly not served frozen at the 40% of polled bars that said it was a top 10 best seller. Tommy’s is a four-time member of The World’s 50 Best Bars this year, so let’s drop by Frisco-way for a Tommy’s Margarita. Owner Julio Bermejo uses 100% agave tequila, plus fresh lime juice and agave syrup. Don Julio, El Jimador and Olmeca Altos were the three favoured brands in 2016, according to our poll.
6. DRY MARTINI
 |
| Liquor |
A surprisingly low placing for this boozy yet refined favourite, the Dry Martini was the top classic in one in 10 of our polled bars and among the top 10 in just under half. There are many bars that might claim to make the exemplar but Barcelona’s Dry Martini (multi-time member of The World’s 50 Best Bars) is one. The bar uses half and half gin to French vermouth, a dash of orange bitters, a squeeze of lemon rind and a green olive. If it’s a Martini for bar owner Javier de la Muelas, drop the lemon.
5. WHISKEY SOUR
 |
| BBC Good Food |
Up from six to five is dependable staple the Whiskey Sour. This simple bourbon drink is a top 10 favourite of nearly half our bars, though only two said it was number one. That’s not too surprising as this is an everyman’s drink, rarely a house signature. The recipe is bourbon, lemon juice and a teaspoon of sugar. Egg white is optional, but anything to add an extra dimension to this building-block drink seems worthwhile.
4. MANHATTAN
 |
| Liquor |
Down one from last year, the sweet queen of cocktails with an embittered spirit was a top seller in more than half our 100 polled bars, which most frequently make this perfect match of peppery rye, bitters and sweet vermouth with Bulleit, Rittenhouse and Maker’s Mark. This classic is thought to be from New York, so where better to head for the recipe? Jim Meehan of PDT suggests rye whiskey, sweet vermouth and two dashes of Angostura, stirred with ice, strained into a chilled coupe and garnished with brandied cherries.
3. DAIQUIRI
 |
| Gourmet Sleuth |
The Daiquiri is the most ordered rum drink in the world’s best bars, so we should probably learn to say it right. It’s dy-key-ree. In Cuba, they can say it, and there is no better place to empty the glass than in Havana’s La Floridita. Take lime juice, white rum and sugar syrup. Shake, serve and repeat.
2. NEGRONI
 |
| Punch |
Like the Old Fashioned, the Negroni has passed over the counter from bartender to customer to now be appreciated on either side of the great divide. It remains the second most drunk cocktail in our sample. Count Negroni had the first, but count the Negronis made at the world’s best bars and you’ll see why it is second on our list. Three-quarters of bars said this was in their top 10 classics and one in five pronounced it to be their most made. Don’t mess with the recipe, says received wisdom, including the sagely Gaz Regan. It’s a third, a third, a third of Campari, sweet vermouth and gin.
1. OLD FASHIONED
 |
| Liquor |
Bartenders are not known to enjoy repetition, but the Old Fashioned, that vanguard drink of the classic cocktail revival, has been a fixture at the top of this list for three straight years. It shows no sign of waning – indeed, this American whiskey classic is gaining in popularity, says our poll. Three-quarters of bars said it was among their top 10 best selling classics and a third said it was their number one. Our bars opt for bourbon, but cocktail historian David Wondrich suggests rye would probably have been the likely choice way back when. He goes with: 1 sugar cube wetted with three dashes of Angostura bitters and a little soda, crushed, stirred with a large ice cube and two ounces of rye.
Related Page: Best Selling 2016
Comments
Post a Comment