2025’s Drink of the Year Is the ‘Guilty Pleasure’ Cocktail

Cocktail history is a complex blend of societal trends, culinary advancements, and political and cultural shifts, with a generous dash of creative ingenuity. The story of the cocktail, more than 200 years in the making, reads like a tipsy game of telephone. Classic cocktail lore is rife with fuzzy origins and debatable attribution, passed down through generations of bartenders and drinks enthusiasts, some with questionable authority. 

It wasn’t until the craft-cocktail revival of the early to mid-2000s that the stories behind the drinks finally took clearer shape. Modern classics were documented in real time, paired with a flood of think pieces about the burgeoning cocktail scene. As the craft behind the bar leveled up, bartenders helped define the contemporary cocktail renaissance. A new golden age of drinks had arrived.

But, somewhere along the way, the cocktail got serious. Like, super serious — bars tucked out of sight, unsure if they wanted to be discovered, with house rules, specific attire for bartenders with waxed handlebar mustaches, and a level of pretension that attracted some and turned off others. 

The romanticism of the past resurrected long-forgotten recipes, and attention to detail helped hone the “craft” in the craft cocktail industry. But it all became quite earnest. 

The post-craft-cocktail revival

By the early 2020s, bartenders and consumers alike were itching to return to a sense of fun, and cocktail menus reflected this shift. In this new era, nostalgia for drinks is less about pre-Prohibition speakeasy vibes and spirit-forward classics, and more about the carefree cheesiness of the 1980s, ’90s, and early aughts. 

Now that we are on the other side of the cocktail revival, rules have been kicked to the curb, and there is no such thing as a guilty pleasure drink; there’s zero shame in sipping on an Appletini or a sugar-dusted Lemon Drop just for the fun of it.

Today’s most popular cocktails prove that we are in a post-craft-cocktail world. The drinks are handled with the skill, care, and quality ingredients that we’ve come to expect. But they’re an amalgamation of everything that’s come before — including the sweet, fruity, and creamy drinks that were once maligned at the height of the craft cocktail movement. 

Drinks that were the biggest punchlines during the cocktail revival are top favorites today. 

The Espresso Martini, created by iconic London bartender Dick Bradsell in 1983 at the onset of the colossal ’tini era, has experienced massive popularity since its steady return to menus across the globe. The MTV-era cocktail opened the door for Midori Sour riffs, Long Island Iced Tea variations, and endless twists on the Porn Star Martini, a perfumy combination of passionfruit and vanilla vodka. 

Cocktail trends around the country reveal that Cosmos are back, the 1970s scotch and amaretto classic, the Godfather is a bartender favorite to riff on, and Lychee Martinis are having a moment. 

Created in the early ’90s at the height of the ‘tini craze, the Lychee Martini had a sexy rise through the New York City club scene in the early 2000s, and was a favorite at Asian fusion restaurants, eventually ending up on the cocktail menu at P.F. Chang’s. 

At Lulu Kitchen & Bar in Sag Harbor, New York, bartender Tony Del Pino has created an off-menu, house Lychee Martini. 

“It’s one of those cocktails that, when executed well, is tasty,” says Del Pino. “You don’t need high-level techniques or a thousand ingredients to make a delicious beverage. 

If anyone has fully embraced the ethos that cocktails should be 100% fun, it’s the folks at Butterscotch Den in Sacramento, California. The grill-your-own steakhouse and cocktail lounge often features drinks that match their yacht rock soundtrack and kitschy aesthetic. For their Grasshopper variation, they’ve dusted off the original recipe and leaned into its dessert-in-a-glass roots, vibrant color, and all.  

“We wanted to stick as close to the original as possible, and that required us to not venture too far beyond the iconic green mint liqueur,” says co-owner Trevor Eastor. 

Traditional crème de cacao and crème de menthe are used for the recognizable green color and flavor combo, and standard heavy cream is replaced by a high-quality, locally made vanilla ice cream. Their secret sauce is a splash of Cynar, a bittersweet amaro, added for depth of flavor and a slight herbal bite. 

Garnished with a Thin Mint Girl Scout cookie and fresh mint, the cool, creamy drinkable dessert hits all the right notes for the modern drinker — deliciously balanced, nostalgic, and no doubt, very fun.