Fun and Fabulous

Over-the-top retro drinks make their triumphant return.

- Prairie Rose

SOMEWHERE AROUND THE MID-2000S, cocktails got serious. This was the moment for the world’s would-be speakeasies, hidden behind unmarked doors, with house rules, specific attire for bartenders (remember waxed handlebar mustaches?), and a level of pretension that attracted some but definitely turned others off. The intense attention to detail certainly honed the “craft” in the craft cocktail industry, but it all became quite … earnest.

Lately, though, bartenders and customers alike have started to wonder: Isn’t going out and having a drink supposed to be fun? And cocktail menus are reflecting this shift, embracing the carefree cheesiness of the 1980s, ’90s, and early aughts. A “guilty pleasure” drink? Why the guilt? I think I will have that sugar-dusted lemon drop, thank you very much.