Welcome to Mixer, a celebration of Orlando’s cocktail culture. Mixology, if you care to call it that (and most of us don’t), has gained a strong foothold here in Orlando in the past couple of years. It used to be that you’d go into a bar and ask for a Jack-and-coke or a vodka tonic; now, our choices have exploded with bars all over town exploring a profusion of cocktailing ideas.
Ideas, in fact, are what we are here to celebrate at Mixer. Creative bartenders who research innovative methods and techniques like barrel-aging and smoking. Bar managers who seek out the new and the niche, bringing the best new spirits to Orlando. Chefs who use their know-how with flavor profiles to create delicious sodas and mixers. Small-biz owners who capture wild flavors in a bitters bottle. Home bartenders who use Orlando Weekly’s monthly Remix column to mix their own cocktails at home. And most of all, the thirsty crowd of Orlando thrill-seekers who are always looking for a new sensation and a new destination.
This magazine also coincides with the Great Orlando Mixer, Orlando’s biggest cocktail party – a Jazz Age extravaganza featuring cocktails created especially for the event by some of Orlando’s most inventive bartenders, serving a crowd costumed in their finest Roaring 20s garb. Not to mention music, food and dancing, all in the beautiful antique setting of the Cheyenne Saloon. (Every now and then we need to remember Prohibition so we can be grateful that it’s over!)
There are so many reasons to raise your glass. We hope you find a few more in here.