What is so special about a craft cocktail anyway?

Are craft cocktails only for bearded hipsters in Brooklyn? Or 80-year-old grandparents retired in Florida? Century-old classic cocktails, tiki drinks, or new-fangled expressions using fat washing, centrifuges, and liquid nitrogen? So, exactly what is a craft cocktail anyway? What’s an artisanal cocktail? Does it have to be hand-crafted by a tattooed bartender with a handlebar mustache?

Good news. If your drink is made with care and good ingredients, is balanced, and tastes great, it qualifies.

Barrelsmith fits that definition so we call our drinks craft cocktails. 

Also, all Barrelsmith cocktails are between 30% and 35% ABV (alcohol by volume), high enough to withstand the expected dilution from ice for proper taste in the glass. Don’t be misled by some other ‘ready to serve cocktails’ that are bottled or canned at 20%--they won’t taste right when poured over ice. And many single-serve cans of sparkling seltzers, malt liquors, and other ready to drink products are cocktails in name only but drink more like beer.