Latin Drink Trends for 2013

Ringing in the New Year is about more than having achieved last year's goals and setting new ones – it’s about the cocktails with which you celebrate them. Each year, bartenders invent and popularize new ways to enjoy fine spirits and fresh ingredients redefining the way we drink and exposing us to little-known but welcome new libations.

To find out what new Latin-inspired drink trends are on the horizon for 2013, TLK caught up with Julian Cox, executive beverage director at Los Angeles restaurants Short Order, Playa, Rivera, Sotto, Picca Peru, and Bestia. Cox is recognized for putting mezcal on the map at Rivera, and was nominated for the James Beard Outstanding Bar Award this past year.

Here, six drink trends worthy of an exploratory night out on the town:

Smoked produce and syrups. Look for smoked produce, maple syrup, or agave syrup in drinks, which adds dimension to cocktails while also pairing well with Latin spirits. Bartenders might even substitute tabasco for smoked chipotle and smoked chili paste in mainstays like the Michelada.

Bottled cocktails. Popping a bottle of bubbly will obtain new meaning. Cox says bottled, carbonated cocktails will show up on menus throughout 2013, with innovative spins on classics, like the Paloma (Cox makes his, left, with mezcal, fresh grapefruit and house-made avocado soda).

Spicy drinks. If the drink is spicy, it probably also has tequila in it, says Cox. And while that part may not surprise you, spicy drinks are becoming more popular among tipplers who would prefer to tame the taste of alcohol. Cox references the Barbacoa – a blend of ginger, chipotle, bell peppers and mezcal that spurred the trend in Los Angeles.

More mezcal onbar shelves. Peat-loving scotch drinkers are getting turned onto the smoky, mostly artisan agave spirit, and bars are responding by stocking more of it.

Pisco cocktails, subbed for vodka. “Pisco is one of the faster growing spirits in the country, in part because of the growing popularity of the Peruvian food,” says Cox. “We make martinis with it. Vodka drinkers have been responding very positively.”

Domestic rum. There are many quality rums made domestically, such as those by St. George Spirits in California and Prichard’s in Tennessee. Curious bar-goers will notice their presence and prominence among well-known brands like Cruzan and Brugal.