www.cheersonline.com
10
• January/February 2017
Genuine Liquorette
in New York has
gained Instagram fame
with its Cha-Chunkers.
These cocktails involve
soda cans and upended
mini liquor bottles,
and frequently use
fl avored spirits.
By Thomas Henry Strenk
On-premise operators
weigh in on fl avored-
spirit trends
P
eople have been adding fl avor to
beverage alcohol for centuries.
Gin, for instance, is a neutral spirit
that gets its piney fl avor from juniper and
other botanicals, spices and citrus peels.
Commercially fl avored vodkas,
which hit the U.S. market some 30 years
ago, are now available in a stunning
array of fl avors. Whiskey and rum have
followed suit more recently, though the
fl avor expressions for these spirits have
been a bit more conservative.
Will the fl avors trend continue in
beverage alcohol? We interviewed
several on-premise operators to get their
take on the three major categories of
fl avored spirits.
VODKA
A neutral spirit, vodka is the ideal
vehicle for fl avors of all kinds. While
fl avored vodkas have been around since
the mid 1980s, thanks to Absolut and
Stolichnaya, the trend really picked up
in the past decade. Earliest entrants were
simple citrus or fruit fl avors.
10
• January/February 2017
