From the freshness of the juices to the size of the ice cubes, a great cocktail is all about the details. Over the last couple of years, bartenders and drinkers alike have been exposing the importance of those factors, as high-end cocktail bars and restaurants with well developed drink programs have been opening all over the country. This is not a new phenomenon for the country, however, but more of a return to our roots.

The United States unabashedly has been a cocktail-drinking nation since the early nineteenth century. In his book Craft of the Cocktail, Dale DeGroff writes that spirit distilling began on our soil in 1640 with gin, but really gained in strength with rum over the next few decades. All this available spirit found its way to punches, and later to what DeGroff wrote was first described in 1806 as a mixture of "spirit, sugar, water, and bitters."

The Prohibition, which was in place from 1920 to 1933, marks a profound shift for cocktail drinking. David Wondrich, drinks correspondent for Esquire and author of Imbibe, a definitive book on American mixology by way of cocktail "professor" Jerry Thomas, said that the Prohibition killed a lot of the cocktail expertise that existed before it, since bartenders were no longer allowed to legally practice their craft.

"Cocktails were always an American specialty," he explained. "They fell on hard times in the 20th century, and now they are kind of getting back to their normal place."

Wondrich attributes the artificial products used to make drinks and the bad ice machines of the 1960s as being responsible for the paltry state of the cocktail until recently. Just like American diners and chefs now pay more attention to the origin of what they eat, drinkers and bartenders source out high-quality ingredients and are willing to pay more for well executed beverages.

"It's sort of the last wave of the culinary revolution," Wondrich said. "It started with wine and food, and now the last part of the restaurant is finally getting it. Once people started looking into it, they saw that there was lots there, and that cocktails are very rewarding."

But even if the public is more interested in good cocktails than ever before, as exemplified by the opening of "serious" cocktail bars around the country, including Pegu Club, Death and Company, Pegu Club, and PDT in New York, the Violet Hour in Chicago, and Alembic in San Francisco, it does not mean that alcohol consumption is going up. To the contrary, said Eben Freeman, bartender at Tailor in New York, where he creates what he calls progressive cocktails.

"Statistically, our consumption of alcohol is dropping," he explained. "When you look at national averages, it's obvious. So now that people are drinking less, they want to increase the experience of drinking. If they're having fewer drinks, they want the experience to be more profound. People like myself really benefit from this increase in moderation."

At Tailor, Freeman focuses on using ingredients that are not usually found in cocktails, such as smoked Coca-Cola, yerba mate, soy caramel, bubble gum cordial, and tomatillo. It is not about gimmickry, he and all those who enjoy his creations are quick to point out, but about pushing the envelope.

"I firmly believe that every student of bartending should study classic cocktails and know how to make them," he said. "Then explore as many innovations as you can. That's really where those different techniques are. It's mainly an example of how far you can take the form. Once you allow yourself to break the rules, you can really explore."

Because he is the bartender of a restaurant, Freeman says that he has access to a large range of ingredients, thanks to the kitchen's walk-in refrigerators. Not all bartenders have that luxury, but for the most part, sourcing out high-quality ingredients, such as fruits that they will then juice freshly every day, or making their own bitters is becoming part of the skill sets observed among the country's top cocktail makers.

"People are basically unlearning all the shortcuts of the 20th century," Wondrich said. "In the 19th century, they used fresh juices and big ice, natural ingredients."

The importance of ice comes back over and over in discussion of proper cocktail making. It should cool a cocktail without diluting it, to keep the drink in balance. If a cocktail is shaken with ice, the ice is then strained, for example.

"It should be cold, dense ice that keeps its temperature and doesn't melt immediately," said Wondrich. "A lot of places rediscover the Kold Draft ice machine, which makes a big dense cube."

The balance of a cocktail, what Wondrich call the careful management of sweet and sour, is another indicator of quality. While the classic perception is that all elements should coexist without one's taste piercing through too strongly, progressive bartenders like Freeman want to go beyond that notion.

"There's the classic balance of sweet, sour, and bitter," he explained. "That's important, but at the same time, some ideas need to be unbalanced. When you're dealing with new flavors, it's important that they are a prominent part of the drink. If there's beet juice, I don't want it to just color the drink. I want to be able to taste that beet."

Toby Maloney, owner of the Violet Hour in Chicago and bartender at the Rusty Knot in New York, describes his cocktails as Pre-Prohibition done in the East Coast style, with the East Coast being more traditional and focused on fewer, fresh ingredients than the West Coast, where bartenders use more exotic elements. He compares the balance of a good cocktail to that found in a dish.

"Three-fourth of the way through a good meal, you have all the components on your plate and figured out exactly what to put on your fork to taste a little bit of everything," he said. "It's like that with a cocktail. Every sip should be complex, balanced, and interesting. Up to five ingredients is good, just like for food. Once you have 10 things on your fork, it's more a stew than a bite."

Regardless of points of view, bartenders and cocktail experts agree that the cocktail renaissance the US has been seeing over the last few years is not a trend, but here to stay.

"It will go back to a much higher level than it was before," Wondrich said. "People are taking it much more seriously. We're getting a generation of young bartenders who takes care of making good drinks."

This new generation is building on the knowledge of established cocktail experts like DeGroff, Wondrich, and Gary Regan, who by all accounts have much to do with returning the cocktail to its glory of times past.

"The new generation does not have to reinvent the wheel," said Maloney. "I've learned from Dale, Dave, and Gary and from the people they mentored. I'm a third generation New York bartender doing this level of cocktails. And there's already a fourth generation doing cool and crazy things."

How can patrons know whether or not a bartender makes great cocktails? It starts with the name of a cocktail. Wondrich believes that a sophisticated name shows that the bartender takes pride in his or her drink, and doesn't just see it as "fuel for party kids." Looking at what bottles are behind the bar, and observing the bartender will also give many cues, he says. They should measure the ingredients, not free pour them, to keep the drink in balance when making complex cocktails. Shaking or stirring with some force to make sure that the components mix is also important.

As with all good things, cocktails should be enjoyed in moderation. "A proper cocktail lets you know that it's strong, so you have some respect," Wondrich said. High-quality cocktails are usually served in much smaller glasses than the overly sweet, artificial concoctions that have become the trademark of many a chain restaurant. These smaller servings make it easier to taste a few different drinks over the course of an evening, while still be able to get home.

— Anne E. McBride