The Feminization of Alcohol: A Diatribe

[LinuxMintyFresh]

I hesitate to use the word "feminization," as I don't think that being feminine precludes what I have to say about good alcohol, but generally the people that influence these recent changes, I find, are young women, and their increasingly less-masculine male counterparts.

Since I was very young, my father being my archetype, I've associated good alcohol with a manly character, and being able to appreciate it with a gentlemanly essence. That's not to say that the only alcohol I consume is high cost or vintage alcohols, far from it, or even that I know a considerable amount about the different varieties of alcohol. I do know, however, that mixing your finely brewed, distilled, or concocted adult beverage with sugary drinks in order to subdue the flavor defeats the purpose of good alcohol. I find it akin to dowsing a $50 steak in A1. You might as well be eating Wal-mart ground beef; it'll taste the same.

Back on track here, I've been feeling as though there has been a trend recently that is steering us from the days of Hemingway into the days of Sex and the City. From a neat whiskey to a cosmo. I know full grown men that can't stand to drink even the most mild of beers. Supermarkets are now carrying items like Bud Light Lime, Mike's Hard ...,and dare I risk offending, Blue Moon. The liquor store carries a medley of flavored booze, and not just liqueurs, but Black Cherry Jim Beam, and a million-and-a-half flavored vodkas.

Now, in themselves there is nothing wrong with (most of) these drinks. I enjoy a Mikes Hard when I want something with my backyard BBQ food, and a rum daiquiri has it's place as well as my friend Tom Collins; that Red Stag wasn't bad, and I've chased whiskey with a coke before, but I feel as though we're drifting toward a world of bastardized beers, wimpy whiskeys, gingerly gins, and sugary concoctions to fit the needs of those that just want to get drunk without tasting it; those that want to pound a Pabst, not sip a bourbon. If anybody has read this whole thing I'd like to know what your thoughts are on the subject. Cheers
-Rob

Addendum:
Alright, after reading through the responses to what will probably be my most popular, or more aptly, infamous thread, I've decided to address some of the issues that people seem to have one way or the other with regards to this thread. Firstly, to the Blue Moon enthusiasts, calm down. It's a fine beer. My use of it above was to relate a growing trend that I see, of a movement toward ever-milder beers, driven by people who often lack any appreciation for what makes a beer distinct and, in a word, good. Most of the nancy-boys and girly-girls that I know, bold enough to drink beer, but too delicate for the likes of Michelob Ultra, drink Blue Moon coupled with a large slice of orange gently spritzed over glass to make it acceptable. Sorry, but I'm not sorry. It's a beginner's beer and as girly as regular beer gets. Secondly, there seems so be the sentiment that this thread is anti-cocktail, which I assure you it isn't. As I stated above, there is a time and place for just about every drink, and many a sugary concoction has spilled over these lips. It isn't the availability or the consumption of these drinks that irks me, but the consumption of them to the exclusion of quality, crafted- not manufactured- beverages. I feel that in our cookie-cutter, sugar-laden, artificially-flavored, red dye #40'd, mass-produced society that, much in the same way the instant cooked foods of the 60's laid the groundwork for today's supermarkets full of laboratory foods, today's market for what can only be described as alcoholic candy, will drive the future of what is offered in the liquor store. This leads me to my last addition of information. Many of you have expressed the idea that you don't care what others drink, as long as your particular favorites are available. To that I can agree to some extent, but I also feel that the very act of, what one poster described as the wussification of the alcohol industry, forcibly excludes quality booze from the shelves. Liquor stores (especially here in Utah) already have very limited shelf space, and the bars will only sell what brings them a profit. As long as people are ordering (and I kid you, not) cran-raz-mango-tinis, they will not be likely to stock a Guinness draught. That tap at the end of the bar, you know the one that used to house your favorite microbrew, now stocked with Bud Light Lime. B&Bers, I thought, would sympathize more than most with how I feel regarding the ways in which quality has been, and is being, brushed aside in favor of inferior, yet easily sold products. Gillette anyone?

 

[SiBurning]

Last time I checked, most of the trend bars had some top shelf goods in the bar. It mostly seems to be vodka and tequilla, but how many bars ever really had a good supply of bourbon or scotch anyway? Matter of fact, last time I was in a trendy bar, I had a shot of Bookers.

As long as I can have Bookers, let them drink slake.

 

[Hughies_online]

So-called girly drinks often have a high alcohol content so they drink less of them which benefits us when we have to pay for their drinks! As long as a bar has a good double-malt and some good beers, this is likely to keep me happy.

 

[Mr_Amazing]

I think setting has everything to do with the drink. As the times go on, people are becoming more casual. That means less $50 steaks and more ground chuck. That isn't to say there isn't a time for a good drink, but the setting plays an important role. Watching the game with the boys is where your light beer is had. An upscale event/ expensive dinner is the proper place to indulge on the finer things. A casual atmosphere will lend itself to mixed drinks. That's how I sum it up.

 

[Mazeman]

The perfect example of cocktail feminization is the collapse of the venerable Martini.

A Martini contains gin and dry vermouth. At most, a dash of orange bitters as it was served in the 1930s.

Using vodka instead (for girls who don't like "icky" gin) was only the beginning. Now, almost any syrupy-sweet concoction you can think of is called a "Martini", as long as it's served in a Martini glass. Ridiculous. And sad. I really resent having to specify that I want my Martini made with GIN.

If you don't like gin, fine. Order something else.

Can you imagine ordering a Manhattan, but asking them to make one that's "chocolatey"?

 

[ouch]

All part of the detesticularization of America, conceived by the KGB and implemented via their koolaid drinking hipster spendthrifts (see, Pat?) to leave us unprepared for future conflicts.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to find some white peaches for a bellini.

 

[WhosYerBob]

Dunno about other folks here, but I really like my dark rum with just about any citrus I have on hand and not much else.

 

[jwhite]

The perfect example of cocktail feminization is the collapse of the venerable Martini.

A Martini contains gin and dry vermouth. At most, a dash of orange bitters as it was served in the 1930s.

Using vodka instead (for girls who don't like "icky" gin) was only the beginning. Now, almost any syrupy-sweet concoction you can think of is called a "Martini", as long as it's served in a Martini glass. Ridiculous. And sad. I really resent having to specify that I want my Martini made with GIN.

If you don't like gin, fine. Order something else.

Can you imagine ordering a Manhattan, but asking them to make one that's "chocolatey"?

This describes my feelings on the Martini perfectly, and I would add that cold vodka in a glass is not a Martini. I don't have a problem with the drinks themselves but in calling them martinis or by adding tini as a suffix. Just call 'em something else maybe frufru apple yum yums

That rant being over. I cant stand any domestic light beer and most domestic regulars, the exception being Highlife. Most taste like crap, they're watery corn and rice beer. Now if I'm offered one at a friends I'll take it and offer a sincere thanks. I respect the sentiment and the gracious hospitality I have been offered. The fact remains that for centuries Americans made, and do again today thank God, rich flavorful beers. These were often fruited or spiced, but mass market industrialization drove makers to try to make a more consistent product with wide distribution and the highest possible profit margin. This led large breweries to cut costs starting with product ingredients. Sound familiar my former cartridge fellows? The last remaining independent breweries were wiped out during prohibition. At the same time many of the sugary drinks we know either came into being or gained widespread popularity, you had to cut the bathtub gin and rot gut with something. At any rate we have to be careful that we don't confuse manliness with with inferior products that are supported by market hype. Either that or AXE does make you super sexy, and thin watery beer is for a real salt 'o the earth kinda guy.

 

[Emmett]

This phenomenon has nothing to do with feminization and everything to do with marketing. As long as most alcohol available was considered manly, it was harder to get women to buy their own drinks. R&D decided that women, being sweet and genteel persons, would obviously prefer sweet and non-challenging alcoholic beverages. Thus the alcopop, sweet-tini, and wine bars were created. This was a wise move, b/c it turned out that many men also preferred sweeter, dessert-like drinks like fru-fru apple yumyums (a phrase which I am adding to my vocabulary; thanks jwhite!).

As long as good beer remains available, I couldn't care less what others are drinking (unless they show an interest in my beer, in which case I beervangelize a bit). More choices never hurt anyone.

 

[clubman]

I hesitate to use the word "feminization," as I don't think that being feminine precludes what I have to say about good alcohol, but generally the people that influence these recent changes, I find, are young women, and their increasingly less-masculine male counterparts.

Since I was very young, my father being my archetype, I've associated good alcohol with a manly character, and being able to appreciate it with a gentlemanly essence. That's not to say that the only alcohol I consume is high cost or vintage alcohols, far from it, or even that I know a considerable amount about the different varieties of alcohol. I do know, however, that mixing your finely brewed, distilled, or concocted adult beverage with sugary drinks in order to subdue the flavor defeats the purpose of good alcohol. I find it akin to dowsing a $50 steak in A1. You might as well be eating Wal-mart ground beef; it'll taste the same.

Back on track here, I've been feeling as though there has been a trend recently that is steering us from the days of Hemingway into the days of Sex and the City. From a neat whiskey to a cosmo. I know full grown men that can't stand to drink even the most mild of beers. Supermarkets are now carrying items like Bud Light Lime, Mike's Hard ...,and dare I risk offending, Blue Moon. The liquor store carries a medley of flavored booze, and not just liqueurs, but Black Cherry Jim Beam, and a million-and-a-half flavored vodkas.

Now, in themselves there is nothing wrong with (most of) these drinks. I enjoy a Mikes Hard when I want something with my backyard BBQ food, and a rum daiquiri has it's place as well as my friend Tom Collins; that Red Stag wasn't bad, and I've chased whiskey with a coke before, but I feel as though we're drifting toward a world of bastardized beers, wimpy whiskeys, gingerly gins, and sugary concoctions to fit the needs of those that just want to get drunk without tasting it; those that want to pound a Pabst, not sip a bourbon. If anybody has read this whole thing I'd like to know what your thoughts are on the subject. Cheers
-Rob

Hmmm. Here's some thoughts on this:

• My 1947 copy of Trader Vic's Bartending Guide (the standard, as far as I'm concerned) has literally hundreds of sweet, syrupy, tasty drink recipes.
  
  
• Low-alcohol sugary liquers have been around for ages (Pimm's #1, et. al.)
  
  
• In the "old days", people in the US didn't sit around with a Glencairn glass filled with neat Bruichladdich. They drank blended whiskies (Haig, JW, etc.), on the rocks, with soda. They drank their bourbon/Canadian Club with ginger ale or seven-up.
  
  
• When I was a kid in the '70's, those premixed "Club" cocktails started appearing everywhere. Talk about booze bastardization!

Basically, I think the idea that our forefathers spent their Saturday evenings sitting around at the club toasting each other with snifters of Louis XIV more ideal than reality. Not a bad ideal, to be sure!

 

[Noebie]

i tend to agree with the first post - not in the sense that all drinks with syrup are "bad" or that people ought not be able to drink whatever they want, or that times have changed that much

but there used to be an ethic about "manly" drinks that went something like this

"the acceptable drink for a gentleman is a dry martini or a slug of whiskey"

although i sometimes drink mojitos or juleps or whatever, most of the time i stick with the dictum above

my favorite "cocktail book" is "the hour" by bernard devoto - and it pretty much holds to that ethic as well

i believe it has largely been lost in our culture today

 

[Obsessed]

Need it even be said that masculinity does not reside in the drink, but in he who drinks it?

All part of the detesticularization of America, conceived by the KGB .

Nah - they never really had the stones to carry out that plan.

 

[mmack66]

i tend to agree with the first post - not in the sense that all drinks with syrup are "bad" or that people ought not be able to drink whatever they want, or that times have changed that much

but there used to be an ethic about "manly" drinks that went something like this

"the acceptable drink for a gentleman is a dry martini or a slug of whiskey"

Was this in some sort of alternate universe where James Bond operated in the American Old West? I can't imagine limiting myself in such a manner for no legitimate reason.

 

[castlecraver]

All part of the detesticularization of America, conceived by the KGB and implemented via their koolaid drinking hipster spendthrifts (see, Pat?) to leave us unprepared for future conflicts.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to find some white peaches for a bellini.

Gems like that and I still have CrabFlatulence.

Quite frankly, there's a place for everything in cocktail culture. I'll be the first to admit that. The bar of palatability shouldn't be set so high that only the most grizzled lumberjack can enjoy a stiff drink. What irks me is, as has been stated here, people who drink "watermelon martinis" and are oblivious to the distinction with a true martini just because it's served in an "up" glass.

What does this result in? Legions of new imbibers who's go-to drink is some over-sweetened concoction they first ordered at TGI Friday's and (lo and behold) every fake "bar and grill" they've ever been to since happens to have a big gleaming picture of the same drinik on their cocktail menu flipbook. This is a passable cocktail to them, and makes them either reticent or ignorant when it comes to broadening their horizons, getting in touch with classic, properly-prepared cocktails, or simply developing an appreciation for unadulterated liquor. That's the real shame.

And as this proliferates, so does the flavored liquor market. The other week, I was chatting with my favorite bartender, and she lamented that her boss had asked her to come up with a drink recipe including... get this... bubblegum flavored vodka for an upcoming promotion. I actually had a sip of it. Ghastly. And how they got it past the "marketing naughy things to children" watchdogs I may never know.

 

[gollum83]

Blue Moon girly? Okay maybe its not the greatest example of a Belgian style wit, but it at least it tastes like real beer.

 

[FreezerBurns]

....but I feel as though we're drifting toward a world of bastardized beers, wimpy whiskeys, gingerly gins, and sugary concoctions to fit the needs of those that just want to get drunk without tasting it; those that want to pound a Pabst, not sip a bourbon. If anybody has read this whole thing I'd like to know what your thoughts are on the subject. Cheers
-Rob

Hey, what's wrong with PBR?! I wouldn't categorize it as bastardized or feminine, I happen to like it!

 

[Robxcarlson]

I used to wait tables and this post reminds me of a guy I once waited on like 10 years ago - he was with a woman, but I find it hard to believe that she might have been his wife/girlfriend. The guy ordered a Zima and when I told him that we were out he actually pouted and the woman is speaking low to him saying, "it's OK you can order something else." But he wasn't even speaking. So, she ordered him a strawberry daiquiri.

I too can't stand the proliferation of flavored beverages on the beer aisle. Fortunately, my wife, while she prefers wine, will drink beer on occasion and has no sympathy for those concoctions.

 

[mmack66]

Blue Moon girly? Okay maybe its not the greatest example of a Belgian style wit, but it at least it tastes like real beer.

Maybe if you drink it with the slice of fruit they always try to stick on the rim? I like it as well, though I am not much of a highbrow regarding such matters.

 

[gollum83]

Maybe if you drink it with the slice of fruit they always try to stick on the rim? I like it as well, though I am not much of a highbrow regarding such matters.

You let them get away with that? Citrus fruit and beer is a big no-no. It kills the head.

 

[mmack66]

You let them get away with that? Citrus fruit and beer is a big no-no. It kills the head.

I eschew the fruit slice, because it is dumb, not for any head-killing reason.