Once upon a time, swapping in seaweed brine for a never-before-seen version of a Dirty Martini or making a drink that replicates childhood favorites like PB&J or cold pizza was revolutionary. But these days, true shock factor is hard to come by.
Each year, it feels like bartenders lean harder into the savory drinks trend — perhaps looking to tap into the success of food-inspired cocktails at bars like New York City’s Double Chicken Please or Barcelona’s Sips — with more culinary creations popping up on menus across the globe.
A quick glance at the World’s 50 Best Bars list shows just how much the industry encourages high-tech methodology and esoteric flavor profiles, so with every new opening and menu reveal, bartenders are upping the ante: If cheese-laced foam and chicken-skin garnishes aren’t enough to make a drink pop, can a Bramble infused with escargot or a Grasshopper served with a real grasshopper garner attention?
While top cocktail bars have long used eye-catching ingredients or luxury flexes like caviar or foie gras, it’s no longer just the ambitious, award-winning bars pulling off stunt-like drinks. Neighborhood joints and restaurants have started to experiment with out-there ingredients, too. These drinks provide the opportunity to spark a big reaction online — and bars are hoping that will keep customers on their toes and coming through the door.
But with more bars than ever tapping into this niche, how many obscure seafood garnishes or insect-filled cocktails can drinkers endure before the magic wears off? It’s possible this odd-ingredient arms race has left a number of bargoers jaded. So when puréed crickets and beef tallow are no longer enough to raise an eyebrow, it begs the question: Has the stunt ingredient gone too far?
Coloring Outside the Lines and Keeping the Lights On
Most bartenders admit that working with wacky ingredients isn’t a response to guest demand, but rather a way to show off their own creativity and test their skills.
Shinji’s, a cocktail bar in New York City’s NoMad neighborhood, is known for its highly technical approach to making drinks. Beverage director Jonathan Adler often draws on his culinary background when designing the menu. Such is the case for the Karaage, a fried chicken-inspired Old Fashioned that uses every part of a chicken in the drink. From fat-washing the tequila with roasted bones to curing egg yolk until it’s jammy enough to hold the garnish on the edge of the glass, the team ensures no piece of the bird goes to waste in this show of cocktail ingenuity.
“It’s purposeful and really there for a reason. We weren’t just doing it for shock factor.”
“We have always focused on pushing the boundaries when it comes to technique and used ingredients that mirror that,” Adler says. Since Shinji’s opened in the small space in front of Michelin-starred Noda in 2022, the menu has featured everything from a foie gras-filled riff on a Sidecar to a flip-style drink that incorporates Japanese sweet potato, and the ever-changing options keep guests coming back.
“Our culinary driven cocktails are actually extremely popular with our guests, especially the Karaage and Handroll drinks,” he says. “That being said, we also have quite simply prepared drinks that also sell extremely well. I believe it’s very important to have a balanced menu that provides something for everyone’s tastes.”
Credit: Joanna Lin
Because it’s challenging to execute these drinks properly, Adler says, they can be “considered a stunt” if each technique isn’t carefully executed, “but overall, I believe they play an important role in the landscape of cocktails currently.”
There’s no shortage of bartenders that agree with that sentiment and try to push the limits. Chicago’s Indienne restaurant uses scraps of sea bass from the kitchen to make a Gin Fizz with bursts of salinity. Blyth and Burrows in Portland, Maine, has a bagel-inspired Martini with smoked salmon. The Martini at Bistrot Ha in NYC has a briny oyster plopped right in the glass. Tokyo Confidential even had a hot dog-themed Martini dispensed tableside from a ketchup bottle.
Thinking outside the box also helps bars stand out in a crowded marketplace, says Adan Riess, head bartender at NYC’s L’Americana, a bar that once featured a frothy Yuzu Mustard Sour topped with spicy mustard seeds on its menu. When guests see a unique garnish or read a funky drink description on social media, curiosity drives them through the door. And while the drinks can be limited-time offerings that fizzle out of style, Reiss admits it’s worth it to keep pushing the industry forward.
“Some are trends that will come and go, but others have proven to be flavors customers return to again and again,” he says. “Either way, it is fun to see out-of-the-ordinary flavors explored through cocktails.”
Telling a Great Story
For some bartenders, ingredients are not about the flavor they impart or trying to go viral on TikTok; instead they are employed to share the vision behind a bar or restaurant. At the Las Vegas outpost of London-born Indian fine-dining restaurant Gymkhana, the menu is designed to take guests on a culinary journey through all of India’s vastly different regions.
The Bagheera cocktail is one example of this vision, made with mezcal, lime, Indian green chilli, cilantro syrup, and weaver ants that are native to the area’s jungles. This rare ingredient doesn’t add much flavor to the vegetal, Spicy Margarita riff, but it opens the door for the team to share more about Chapra, an ant-laced chutney that’s popular within tribal regions in India but doesn’t get much mainstream attention.
“If I get the bug drink and I can’t taste the bugs, I’m going to be pissed.”
Similarly, crème de mûre is replaced with a snail-infused liqueur in a refreshing Bramble riff called More Ducks at Seed Library in NYC. The bar team claims the gastropod adds body and richness to the drink, but more importantly, it chronicles owner Ryan Chetiyawardana’s commitment to sustainability and careful ingredient selection since it was inspired by a sourcing trip to a farm in upstate New York. “It’s a drink that has something that is quite unusual, but it’s purposeful and really there for a reason,” Chetiyawardana says. “We weren’t just doing it for shock factor.”
Credit: Nicholas Ruiz
Intriguing or Alienating?
While creative ingredients can be a draw, they can also be off-putting to guests who just want their go-to Margarita or Negroni, no gimmicks attached.
Bar Next Door in Los Angeles has played around in weird territory — its current menu features a highball called Tower Records, served in a glass brushed with a layer of edible paint. But bar director Brynn Smith says while these drinks might get people off Instagram and in the door, they won’t necessarily become a regular order.
“In general, people order what they know they like,” she says. “So a crazy, ‘stunt’ cocktail might be ordered once for the thrill of trying it, but simple, reliable drinks remain the backbone of any menu.”
Smith adds that she’s not against breaking the mold, but there’s a time and a place for these more esoteric drinks. “In a high-paced bar environment, some of the wilder ideas just don’t land as well,” she says.
Without experts behind the bar and high-tech equipment to make techniques possible, it can be tricky to get past the gimmicks and make actually great cocktails. Greg Benson, producer and host of “The Speakeasy” podcast, says he’s all for odd ingredients, so long as the drinks are executed well. “It’s catnip for sickos like me,” he admits. “I’ll say this, though: If your drink has a f*cked-up ingredient, I’d better be able to taste it. If I get the bug drink and I can’t taste the bugs, I’m going to be pissed.”
In an era of chaotic, maximalist cocktails, stunt ingredients like raw oysters and uni can start to lose their charm once they show up on every menu. It might even draw some consumers and industry pros alike back to appreciating the elegance of a simple, well-executed drink. Hong Kong’s Bar Leone, which topped 2025’s World’s 50 Best List, is a study in perfectly balanced Italian aperitivo classics with a few unique creations sprinkled onto the menu.
Credit: Firefly Bar
Ultimately, it’s all about balance, Dicky Hartono, the beverage manager at Firefly Bar in Bangkok, says. His bar’s menu ranges from classic cocktails to a drink called Where is the Cricket? that crushes up insects into a bug-based protein powder for added earthy flavor in this clarified milk punch.
“Not everything on our menu is overly complicated with so many unfamiliar ingredients. We have some simple yet powerful combination of flavors,” he says. “I still believe less is more and sometimes simplicity will help us to win our guests’ hearts and make them come back again and again.”
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