The Drink Orders That Show You Know Your Cocktails

We've all been there. Sitting at the bar, watching a highly skilled bartender rolling out one smashable drink after another, desperately trying to catch their attention: not just to be served fast, or be treated like a regular on your first visit, but actively seeking to impress them because there are few things more fun than breaking down cocktails with people who know what they're doing. According to someone who definitely knows what they're doing behind a bar, there's a simple trick to showing off that you're someone who really knows their cocktails.

Cody Nicoll, sommelier and mixologist known as "Ottawa's top bartender," says he's impressed by people who know their way around classic cocktails. And when he's referring to the classics, he's not talking about a Whiskey Sour or a Margarita. "Typically, when my guests inquire about Prohibition-era cocktails, it indicates to me that they know their way around the classics," Nicoll, co-owner of Bar Ocelli in Ottawa, told Tasting Table in an exclusive chat. In fact, he gave a special shout out to a list of lesser-known cocktails that you can use on your next trip to the bar: The Sazerac, which involves rinsing the glass with absinthe; The Vesper Martini made famous by James Bond; a Vieux Carré, one of many reasons to visit New Orleans; The Last Word, which has mysterious origins; and The Martinez, which has been called a precursor to the classic martini.

There's a reason why ordering prohibition-era cocktails will catch a good mixologist's attention. "Classic cocktail recipes, often originating [in] the late 1800s-early 1900s, are the backbone of modern cocktails today," says Nicoll, who is also the managing partner of Ember Live Fire Kitchen. "The most exciting part about this today is that our quality of premium spirit is far superior than the spirits that might have originally gone into some of these cocktails."

This is true. When it comes to alcohol, old is not always gold (unless you're a dusty hunter seeking out glut-era bourbon). In fact, the nasty reason prohibition-era cocktails needed garnishes and sweeteners was to cover up the vile taste of poor-quality booze. By ordering cocktails from this era, you're essentially offering up the stage for top bartenders to shine. As Nicolls says, "Bartenders have the opportunity to reimagine and recreate old-time classics better than ever before, with better access to spirit and ingredient than the origin of some of these Prohibition era cocktail recipes."

Meanwhile, if you're looking to seriously impress the bartender, you might want to lean into a few from our list of 16 tips for upgrading classic cocktails (especially the one where you make a dirty martini even dirtier with a chicken soup broth).