Who wouldn’t want to drink like an off-duty, world-renowned chef?

May 12, 2024 1:21 PM

Lest you believe that interest in studying the habits of unstudied coolness was limited to the world of food and drink, recall the concurrent obsession with “off-duty” beauty and style, a concept that lost its novelty with the advent of Instagram. These days, fascination with figures in the culinary world seems to be very “on-duty”—the tools they use, the shoes and jackets they wear. Today, few may remember that copas de balón were first embraced by lauded chefs rather than marketers at beverage companies ... But the allure of a choice that’s more utilitarian than aesthetic has helped the copa de balón endure. It’s unexpected and delightful, like a fancy sandwich served on a quarter sheet tray. from The Balloon Effect
posted by chavenet (17 comments total)

if you can't cook in a breaking Bad t-shirt, shorts, and flip-flops you're not doing it right.
posted by clavdivs at 1:29 PM on May 12 [4 favorites]

To think I've just been making whatever cocktail in whatever glass I have to hand like any schlub with limited glassware storage, when I could've been calling it "an off-duty gastronomical perspective."
posted by EvaDestruction at 2:39 PM on May 12 [5 favorites]

I know a minority opinion given the rise of these g&t's, but I hate drinking cocktails out of wine glasses. Your nose often gets too close to the drink, it doesn't feel right. I don't mind if that's all you got, lord knows, do what you can with what you have on hand. But the original drink was meant to be that ethos, to then turn around and deliberately do it doesn't resonate for me. I'm happy it does for others mind, just not a trend that worked for me.
posted by Carillon at 2:48 PM on May 12 [3 favorites]

As a bartender (ok, maybe I’m in recovery now) I have an appreciation of the glass since it serves as an excellent canvas on which the various garnishes which may be placed & positioned when crafting the drink al estilo espanol, with one’s very long tweezers, naturally.
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 3:05 PM on May 12 [3 favorites]

I miss MiguelCardoso
posted by TedW at 6:50 PM on May 12 [1 favorite]

I found the links good reading, and I appreciate the post, but I'm genuinely curious - when does a mixed drink become a cocktail? I've always considered gin and tonic, in whatever permutation it comes in, to be a mixed drink.
posted by mollweide at 7:21 PM on May 12 [4 favorites]

I'm genuinely curious - when does a mixed drink become a cocktail? I've always considered gin and tonic, in whatever permutation it comes in, to be a mixed drink

When you G&T it's a mixed drink
When I G&T, it's a cocktail
posted by Reasonably Everything Happens at 7:23 PM on May 12 [4 favorites]

Ah, rationalization.
posted by mollweide at 7:25 PM on May 12 [1 favorite]

Ah, rationalization.

I mean, these are the people that decided scotch required such purity that they made ice cubes out of [checks notes] rocks.
posted by Reasonably Everything Happens at 8:25 PM on May 12 [4 favorites]

In a cocktail culture that can often take itself too seriously

By the time the word "culture" has been tacked onto any human activity, people are already taking it far too seriously.
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:51 PM on May 12 [4 favorites]

The best is the battle scarred plastic water glass the bartender has a server slip you, it used to be clear but now it's kinda grey, and it's full of ice and wine booze watered drinkable, possible with lime, in exchange for that piping hot plate of french fries you sent over to the bar during rush, that no one actually ordered. Later, you meet up, but it was actually the fries and watered booze that were attracted, and you mutually agree that it should always be so. And thus we keep the balance.
posted by winesong at 10:20 PM on May 12 [4 favorites]

By the time the word "culture" has been tacked onto any human activity, people are already taking it far too seriously.

Safety that Browning...
posted by groda at 12:45 AM on May 13 [3 favorites]

I mean, these are the people that decided scotch required such purity that they made ice cubes out of [checks notes] rocks.

I've never understood this. The people that turn their noses up at ice in whisky aren't concerned with the water, it's the cold that's the problem. This literally tackles a problem nobody had.
posted by Dysk at 5:36 AM on May 13

Anybody else read that title at first glance with an Off-world Chef in it and think what the hey!?
'Mmm, Annunaki meatballs...' /drooling Homer
posted by y2karl at 6:12 AM on May 13

I wrote about a place serving this style of G&T. The owner's biggest complaint was that he couldn't keep glasses in circulation for longer than about a week. These crack and break with constant pressure and dinging from ice cubes.

One solution would be to make the glass thicker, but that sort of defeats the purpose.
posted by yellowcandy at 7:48 AM on May 13

A long time ago, I was sort of dating a woman in La Paz and we went out with a bunch of her friends, who were all young and didn't have a lot of disposable income.
They introduced me to their practice of buying Singani (a local grape brandy) and Coke and having it mixed at the liquor store in a plastic bag, then drinking it directly from said bag.
I wonder if this might catch on at some point?
posted by signal at 7:52 AM on May 13 [1 favorite]

"Sugar, water, and...of course...purple."
posted by praemunire at 11:55 AM on May 13 [1 favorite]