An NYT article talks about differing philosophies amongst mixologists/bartenders/bar chefs in the great nation to our south. How grand! :)
Some bartenders fastidiously devote themselves to resurrecting century-old recipes, while others use chemicals and modern techniques. Seasonal fruits and fresh herbs come to the foreground at certain bars, but play a minor role in other establishments that try instead to wring maximum effect from the bottles on their shelves.
Sometimes, these approaches overlap. A bartender might add in-season blood oranges to a 19th-century-inspired punch, for instance. And there’s some danger to naming distinct schools of thought in an industry whose practitioners can’t even agree whether to call themselves mixologists, bartenders, bar chefs or some other name.
Nevertheless, some of the leading bars in the country may be placed in one of the following categories.
And those categories are (drum roll, please):
- Pre-repeal revivalists
- neo-classicists
- farm-to-glass movement
- liquid locavores
- home brewers
- minimalists
- molecular mixologists
- faux tropicalists
If you're looking for cutting-edge U.S. watering holes, the article provides a list.