I just find it dumb that if I mixed Gin and Vermouth and added a flavouring (a syrup for example) that you would have to give credit to someone else and risk being sued over it.

They’re DRINKS for crying out loud. Do you want royalties on it or are you just so vain that you want popularity off it?

Currently, our restaurant-bar is serving a cocktail that was being served by a restaurant in another city. Since our menu layout does not have enough room to include the name of the creator or establishment, we felt justified in omitting that information from print. However, we are constantly telling customers who sit at our bar that the drink was borrowed from so-and-so establishment in such-and-such town–and (oh yeah!) they’ve got a really freakin’ awesome food menu too!

And what about recipes that customers relay to you (from another establishment) and become popular? Good luck tracking down some fresh, new DC bar (who had the strange notion to mix bourbon, ginger and elderflower) so you can ask their permission to use that idea.

When possible: give credit where credit is due. And if someone asks, tell the truth to the extent that you know it.

I never said that it should prohibit a bartender from modifying it; merely that they should attribute it and if they modify it regularly (e.g. on the menu) mention it. A local bar, for instance, that does a modified Sazerac mentions it on the menu (“we use coffee syrup…” kind of a note) while if the customer asks for a modification (“Can you use agave nectar instead of simple syrup?”) that should be more than okay.

As for the original version of the martini, I have had many of the original variations (including the Martinez) and I enjoy them. Again, I’m not saying make bartenders robots – but a dirty vodka martini has about zero in common with the classic martini. Why call it a martini? Why not call it something different?

(I’m not even that annoyed with vodka vs. gin martinis, dirty or not (and I *like* dirty martinis, admittedly) – what I’m annoyed about is stuff like “Malibu rum, Midori, Absolut vodka, pineapple juice. Garnished with a cherry” a martini.)

Second, have you tasted the original published version of the Martini? You probably wouldn’t like it. It was adjusted and improved over time into popular cocktail it now is. Under your system, had it been trademarked, you would have to order something ridiculously called a Martini (TM) Modified No. 982a, instead of just saying, Gin Martini, very dry, slightly dirty, two olives. To force bartenders to make a cocktail according to a strict trademarked recipe would kill their creativity. It would make them robots. There probably isn’t a cocktail in the world that hasn’t been improved by an experimenting bartender. Furthermore, complaining that a margarita tastes differently in different bars is like complaining to a NY pizzeria that their pizza doesn’t taste like a Chicago pizza.

Finally, to your last point, if a drinker likes a margarita made a certain way, he should spend the time to found out what’s in it. A bartender will modify your cocktail to your tastes and specifications.

I will fully admit naivete. I even admit it in the post!

So if a trademark isn’t the answer – and many in our world complain about the various “martini”s, “margarita”s, etc., that plague the cocktail menus of the world – what would be the solution?

One thing I have learned as a student of the law is that people are assholes and they are even worse when they have the power of the courts behind them. Offering to weaponize an asshole is akin to handing a live grenade to a toddler (see U.S. foreign policy since the Spanish American War).

Criticism aside, I dig your blog and appreciate the discourse. Keep on keepin’ on.

As far as the community and sharing, I think I like the idea of guaranteeing that a Mai Tai is rum, orgeat, lime, curacao, and sugar, but I don’t think trademarks would work.

In a perfect world there would be a cocktail registry that dictates what the appropriate ingredients are so that you know what a margarita is…but I can’t see that happening.

the second problem I have with trademarking in this part of our industry is that I believe that it is contrary to the excellent tradition that so many of us are now striving to bring back. In this vein, would it have truly been possible to have great manhattans the world over if the manhattan club (potentially location of invention according to wondrich) had been lawsuit happy? there is a tradition of mutual respect and of sharing of recipes in this culture, and one that I believe is wholly important to its continued growth and also, one that is gravely in danger if trademarking is promoted.
As one last anecdote, Tiki is an example of how protection causes the demise of a good and educated drinks culture. I am of the opinion that because Don Beach and Trader Vic spent so much time trying to be secretive, when they died, proper Tiki died with them. thanks to the efforts of people like BG Reynolds, and Beach Bum Berry, it is coming back in a big way, but we will still have to fight the orange-pineapple-grenadine-dark rum float mai tai for many years to come.

I post these things not for the sake of being contradictory, but because I believe the best value that can come of this is the open discourse on the subject, and I hope that is appreciated.

Matt: I can’t believe I forgot that part, given how much time I’ve spent in the Trader Vic’s in Atlanta. To be honest, Trader Sam’s (as far as I’m aware) has a much higher entry cost than Trader Vic’s – you must have a ticket to Disneyland! Therefore, it still works as advertising if someone wants to go to a tiki restaurant, but doesn’t want to drop the ticket price to Disneyland.

Doug: And that’s the big thing: this is a small, small industry. How much damage has Pusser’s done to themselves by this action? Most consumers won’t ever hear about it, but if you consider bartenders and such ambassadors for brands and cocktails (through telling folks at the bar, blogging, etc.) enough to give them product / travel / etc., aren’t they enough of a one to tell folks “Hey, this stuff sucks”?