Bars are wrestling with a “thorny” issue, said The Telegraph. With alcohol consumption on a downward trend, especially among Gen Z, hospitality businesses are being made to rethink their drinks offerings.
Many establishments have tried to combat the problem by expanding their range of alcohol-free tipples. But there is another option: “just make the cocktails smaller”. Instead of offering only “great vats” of margarita or negroni, bars are “discovering the allure” of downsized drinks.
Varying in size from “a shot to a few sips”, tiny cocktails have become a “staple” of drinks menus up and down the country – from the “snaquiri” (miniature daiquiri) at Manchester’s Blinker Bar to the “mouthful of clementine gimlet” on offer at Oma in Borough Market, said Vogue.
Aimed at drinkers who want to “keep a clearer head” while cutting the cost of a night out, “scaled-down” cocktails make a lot of sense in the current climate, said The Guardian. Normal martinis have a high price point, whereas smaller versions can start “from as little as £4”. It might feel like a new idea, but actually it’s only in modern times that glass sizes have “ballooned”. Historically, cocktail glasses were almost “pocket-sized”.
At Rita’s Bar in London’s Soho, mini martinis “hover around the 100ml mark” and are designed to be finished in a few sips. They’re served with a skewer of olive, blue cheese, anchovy and jalapeño. “The mini version opens up the palette,” the bar’s co-founder, Missy Flynn, told the publication. “It’s like a starter drink before moving on to something else such as wine.”
The “abstemious Gen Z crowd” have “brought back the shot” with a “twist”, said Metro. This is very different from the “sticky” glasses of sambuca that millennials were “knocking back” in the noughties. Instead, younger drinkers are looking for mini versions of their favourite cocktails with complex flavours and top-quality ingredients. “Like speed-dating for their taste buds.”
And if you happen to enjoy the “small serving”, said The Telegraph. “You can always get another one.”