With so much emphasis on craft behind the bar, those sickly sweet 80s mocktails have evolved into high-quality non-alcoholic cocktails. But are people actually ordering these dry mixed drinks?

Simple, no-frills cocktails and the bars that serve them are often ignored in favor of more ornate drinks. Beyond the hype, what’s the real difference between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ cocktails? 

The bartender’s handshake may be more exciting to barflies than to bartenders themselves, but it offers a glimpse of the soon-to-be hot spirits in bars everywhere. Jack Lauterback explores this year’s popular bartender serves.

Bartender and broadcaster Jack Lauterback is a longtime American correspondent for MIXOLOGY. Today he asks, with the rise and, as some might say,

Can a person who is perfectly happy as a bartender be compatible with a companion who strives for the corner office?