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When entering one of New York’s many cocktail cathedrals — say the King Cole or Bemelmans — it’s likely the icy, textbook martini is shaken the same way it was when your great-granddad gargled them.
But if you’re starting to think “this certainly is a lot of liquor,” and “Wow, there’s a whole sidecar more chilling,” you’re not the only one stirred.
Now, drinkers are motioning for a cocktail reformation — specifically, smaller aperitifs suitable for shrinking stomachs and the health-conscious in the post-Ozempic world.
“There was a generation that really liked to booze it up,” Jason Hedges, beverage director at LT Hospitality, which handles the menus at the Kimpton Hotel Eventi in Chelsea, told The Post.
“They liked their martinis extra dry with no vermouth in those massive martini glasses, the ones you still see in steakhouses. They liked their three-martini lunches. That culture has changed. Millennials and certainly Gen Z want low ABV or even no ABV, but they also want quality.”
Hedges’ Back Room at the Eventi is joining the dozens of bars across the city giving their customers the ability to swill small. He’s adding a menu of mini cocktails — served as half portions — in the coming weeks that will include Lilliputian libations like martinis, daiquiris and Negronis.
“There’s a trend toward moderation,” he said.
But it’s not just a youth fad for kids who traded cocktails for ketamine. Millions of Americans are drinking less — thanks to the appetite-curbing effects of the “fat shot.”
As of last year, 1 in 8 adults in the US had used a GLP-1 drug like Ozempic or Mounjaro, which is now known to reduce alcohol cravings. That’s about 15 million skinny, sober citizens — a number that is growing rapidly.
Hedges witnessed the impact the drink-no-more drug can have firsthand, when his morbidly obese uncle got the jab and stopped the sauce.
“He was about 500-plus pounds, and he was a big boozer. Now, we go out and he’ll drink a little bit because he likes the social aspect, but I’ve seen how that drug can affect someone’s desires.”
“Ozempic is having an impact for sure,” added Nikki McCutcheon, senior Director of Beverage at TAO Group, which runs the Fleur Room, an after-hours hot spot atop the Moxy hotel in Chelsea.
“As an industry, we are seeing people eat less, drink less — and maybe doing other extracurricular activities — before heading out to the bars and restaurants. That’s definitely a big trend.”
At the Fleur Room, they rolled out a menu of mini mixed drinks as a happy hour attraction for the predinner, pre-party set. At $9 a pop, compared to $21 for the full-strength slug, they proved so popular that the club is cementing them into the menu. Now, they’ve added price-wise Cosmos and espresso martinis in micro variants, served in Instagrammable glassware.
“There’s a lot of office workers and a lot of companies around here,” said José María Dondé, head mixologist at The Bedford Stone Street in the Financial District, which has $10 pocket potions.
“People ask for the mini martini, because they are trying to take it easy. But in the end, they end up drinking four of them — which is like two full-sized ones.”
But bantam beverages aren’t just about doing your liver good, they’re about superior flavor and aesthetics, too, the pros say.
“That first sip is often the best,” said Charlotte Voisey, a mixologist and bar consultant, who was named “UK Bartender of the Year” and is a big fan of the teeny ‘tini trend.
“It’s that moment where you’re like, ‘Ah, a cold, crisp, balanced martini — perfect.’ Sometimes that’s enough. Sometimes just having that one small taste of something perfect is actually more powerful than overdoing it. It’s the idea of quality as a quantity.”
At Little Fino, the newly opened bar and cafe at the William Vale in Williamsburg, compact choices include the “Mole Martinez,” the “Lemongrass Vesper,” the “Dill Turf Club” and the “A Solid Dirty Martini” — ranging in price from $7 to $10.
The bar’s director Daryll Chan calls them the new ‘sip-able shot’ — investing in gorgeous mini glassware that makes his drinks too cute not to post.
“I just went down to Mexico [City] to Handshake Speakeasy and they have a list of mini martinis,” said Chan. “There were six of us and we were able to have 10 drinks without going totally crazy. They lend themselves to being fun and communal.”
Even old-school boozers appreciate that a smaller cocktail lets you try before you buy, and get a better taste for the menu, said Chan.
And for purists who are wary of anything followed by the word “trend,” there is actually historical precedent for drinking small and often.
“In the beginning, cocktails were definitely smaller,” said Voisey. “One of the origins of the word cocktail, coquetier, means ‘egg cup.’ They were small serves. The next time cocktails were appreciated was the 1950s and that’s when we started to see vodka replace gin and martinis that were shaken. Glasses got bigger, until you got to that cliche 1980s steakhouse martini, which is huge, way too big. You get halfway through and it’s too warm already.”
But not everyone is buying it. Head to Donohue’s on the Upper East Side, say around 10 p.m., and you’ll find the likes of writer Gary Shteyngart armed with a fat martini in one hand — and a double sidecar loaded with two more in his holster.
“Gary drink only big martini,” he told The Post.
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