There is a quiet competition happening in cocktail culture right now — six ingredients, two techniques, three days of prep. I'm not dismissing it. A technically ambitious cocktail has its place: a special night out, a celebration, a moment when someone wants to try something they've never had before. But that's not every drink, and it's not every person. Most people, most of the time, just want something that tastes great and doesn't need a footnote to understand. The industry has been so busy impressing itself that it forgot who it's actually serving.

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I believe less is more. A cocktail should be delicious before it's beautiful. Simple, balanced, obsessively detailed — the kind of drink that tastes exactly right without asking anything of the person holding it. And practically speaking, simpler programs mean faster prep, fewer errors, and a team that actually retains what you trained them on.

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But here's what I think about more than anything right now: the next generation drinks differently. They drink less. They go out less. And instead of meeting them where they are, most of the industry is still rolling their eyes at them. That's a mistake we can't afford to keep making.

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The future has to include stronger non-alcoholic programs and genuinely good low-ABV options. Not an afterthought mocktail — real drinks, designed with real care. The industry is already moving: spirits brands launching at 20% ABV, non-alcoholic spirits sophisticated enough to fool a trained palate, bartenders experimenting with blending full-proof and zero-proof in the same glass to find something that works. We're doing the same. Is it perfect yet? No. But Sam Ross didn't nail the Penicillin on the first try either. Probably.

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We're working on it — and we think the bars and venues that start working on it now will be the ones still standing in ten years.

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— Rodrigo Alvarado

Founder, Fiesta e Festa