The Brookhaven Cocktails on the Rise

by Kevin Smith Author

Better to try something you might like than to live without knowing. It’s a great adage for getting out of your comfort zone or for trying out new cocktails. Today, we’re talking about the latter. New cocktails are created every day. New bars are opening all the time. You’re not wrong for being curious.

Believe it or not, there are cocktail trends. Drinks surge in popularity in different areas and in different cultures. The trends revolve around a specific liquor, flavor, or cultural movement. The more successful cocktails might stick around. Who knows? Your next trendy cocktail could be a part of bartending history.

The Rum of All Beers

If there’s one cocktail trend unique to the Atlanta and Brookhaven area, it’s the rising popularity of rum cocktails. Rum drinks, like the Old Fashioned and the Dark ‘N’ Stormy, showcase the liquor’s class and spiciness respectively. Keep an eye out for strange sounding rum cocktails. A new trend is blending rum with ginger, jalapeno, and stout beer. It’s a hot twist to the classic Dark ‘N’ Stormy. If well made, this cocktail demonstrates how complex rum can be.

Kombucha? I Hardly Know Ya

Some people swear by Kombucha and other weird fermented delights. You might be one of those people. If you’re not, here’s a quick run-down. Kombucha is a fermented tea, lightly sweetened, and touted as a beverage with many health benefits.

Outside of its popularity for possible health benefits, bartenders are finding clever uses for Kombucha in their cocktails. One drink boasts a medley of gin and kombucha mixed with ginger, lemon, and carrot juice. While the combination might seem out of place for a neighborhood bar in Brookhaven, GA, the cocktail is a brave new direction and bold flavor for cocktail trends.

From My Head Tomatoes

A Bloody Mary is a great poster child for what a good cocktail can be. A concoction of varied ingredients creates a flavor that is more than the sum of its parts. Bartenders have taken note. Today, bartenders are using vegetable juices to make unique cocktails. Vegetable juice might not seem great on its own, but it can create a wonderfully complex and tasty drink with the right liquor and flavors.

Look at the celery margarita. A simple substitute twists a classic margarita into a new cocktail. All you need is tequila, lime, agave, and celery juice. Like the Bloody Mary, you may not like the sound of drinking each of those ingredients by themselves, but together, the combination is delectable.

Bartenders are creating new cocktails every day. You might have already seen some of their weirdest combinations already. You don’t have to like the cocktail. You don’t even have to order it. New cocktails, just like good food, can reflect the bartender or the establishment or the city. When you’re visiting your neighborhood bar in Brookhaven, GA, look at the menu and order something with a funny name. You’re tasting a bit of culture.