What makes a signature cocktail a true classic? From the Hurricane at Pat O’Brien’s to the Mai Tai at Bali Hai and the Painkiller at the Soggy Dollar Bar, PubClub explains why the world’s most iconic drinks make bars destinations—and why not every cocktail on a menu is a signature drink.
By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com Cocktails Editor
How many times have you gone into a bar or restaurant, viewed the menu of drinks, and seen a “signature cocktail” on it?
Several times this has happened, no doubt about it. Heck, I see this in nearly every press release I receive from PR people about a bar or restaurant.
But what exactly is a signature drink or a cocktail? What makes it so “signature?”
Here is the answer.
A Bar Or Restaurant Proclaiming It Has A ‘Signature Cocktail’ Doesn’t Necessarily Make It A Signature Drink
First off, a signature cocktail is not one the restaurant proclaims or PR people put out in press materials. The bar or restaurant can create one but it cannot name one.
Let me explain.
A signature cocktail or drink is something the bar or restaurant is known for by its customers. It’s why people go there in the first place and why they tell their friends and others about it.
It’s the drink that made the place famous, the drink that put it on the nightlife bucket list of places to go to and to experience in a particular city or town. The bar or restaurant or PR people don’t proclaim it to be signature cocktail, the customers do that for them. Because of the signature drink the bar or restaurant becomes a tradition. Locals go there for that specific drink and take vistors there for it. Tourists hear about it and say “we’ve got to to there and try that drink. Citizen journalists put endless videos about it on social media.
Often, they are created by a craft bartender by playing around with different ingredients. One of the most famous examples of this is the Long Island Ice Tea, made by “Rosebud” Butt in 1972 at the Oak Beach Inn in Hampton Bays on Long Island, N.Y. This bar is now, sadly, closed.
What drives me crazy is seeing this when a bar or restaurant first opens, proclaiming even a list of “signature cocktails.” How the hell can they be signature cocktails before anyone has had a chance to try them? They can’t, they don’t qualify and you won’t ever see PubClub.com calling them such in any article unless they have earned that legendary status.
Top Bars & Restaurants That Serve Signature Drinks & Cocktails
Here is a list of bars and restaurants that indeed have signature drinks and cocktails based on PubClub.com’s “boots on the ground “research.
• The Hurricane, Pat O’Brien’s
New Orleans
• The Old School Mai Tai, Royal Hawaiian
Waikiki Beach, Hawaii
• Pain Killer, Soggy Dollar Bar
Jost Van Dyke, British Virgin Islands
• The Pina Colada, Barrachina Restaurant
San Juan, Puerto Rico
• The Hand Grenade, Tropical Isle
New Orleans
• The Fire Chief, Old Tony’s
Redondo Beach, CA
• The Mai Tai, Bali Hai
San Diego, CA
• Shark Attack (Buckets), Sharkeez
Hermosa Beach, Huntington Beach, Long Beach, Manhattan Beach, Newport Beach, Santa Barbara, CA
• Mai Tai, Buzz’s Original Steakhouse
Kailua, HI
Related Post
• A Complete Guide To Signature Drinks Around The World
Kevin Wilkerson is the founder of PubClub.com, an award-winning journalist and nightlife expert who has written about bars and cocktails for more than two decades. While working as a newspaper reporter, he received an Associated Press award for investigative journalism.
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