Boston Bartenders Discuss the Most Overrated Cocktail Ingredients

"Artisan-this, small-batch that. We've gone away from judging quality by the product itself and instead assign 'quality' with silly monikers." —Alex Homans, owner and beverage manager of The Frogmore

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"St. Germain. One of my bartenders said this, and I thought it was brilliant, he said it’s 'bartender ketchup.' It’s becoming a thing. I’m sorry, St. Germain people." —Naomi Levy, bar manager at Eastern Standard

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"I’d say St. Germain. I think a lot of people probably say that, and it’s sort of falling by the wayside anyway now, but I think that for a while it was on every cocktail menu. It’s good, but it’s a little bit of a cheat. There’s a joke that people call it 'bartender’s ketchup' because you can just put it in anything." —Nicholas Mansur, bar manager at Shepard

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"Pretension. We’re making liquid arts and crafts after all." —Fred Yarm, bar manager at Loyal Nine

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"Syrups. Now people are making syrups out of everything grown on Earth. Syrups are rarely made with consistency and simplify drinks by replacing cordials. I prefer to infuse a spirit." —Nino Nunziante, bartender at Tico

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"Orange, specifically orange juice. It has been beaten to death as a 'mixer' and doesn't offer anything that another citrus can't provide for a cocktail." —Kayla Quigley, bartender at Sweet Cheeks

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"Is pretension an overused cocktail ingredient? Maybe that makes me sound pretentious. I really think the thing that’s probably overrated is the ego in all of it. The things we make can be so good and so fun, we don’t need — and I’ve been as guilty of this as anyone else over the last number of years — but we don’t need to be snobs about what we’re drinking." —Tyler Wang, bar manager at Audubon

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"I think the most overrated ingredient is actually a garnish called a blue cheese-stuffed olive. Ridiculous." —Emmet Kelty, bar manager at 51 Lincoln

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"A garnish." —Thea Engst, bar manager at River Bar

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"St. Germain." —Will Isaza, spirit whisperer at Fairsted Kitchen

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"Maple. It is severely overused in these parts. I realize it is local and seasonal, two ideas I am a fan of. However, there are so many other fall and winter-oriented flavors to utilize. Nothing against Vermont; I’d personally rather use their apples!" —Todd Lipman, head sommelier at Bistro du Midi

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"The most overrated cocktail ingredient would be absinthe; it's often overpowering and used too liberally." —Michelle Raye, general manager of Vida Cantina in Portsmouth, NH

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"Orgeat syrup." —Shawn Westhoven, beverage director of Papa Razzi Trattoria and Papa Razzi Metro

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"Elderflower liqueur. I feel like this is a crutch ingredient for bartenders, as well as somebody ordering a cocktail due to this single ingredient. It can be fantastic, but I find it overused and often unbalanced in a cocktail." —Joe Fisketti, beverage manager at Rosebud American Kitchen & Bar

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"St. Germain." —Ludgie Beauvais, bartender at Aquitaine Boston

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"Ginger beer. There are some really great products out there, like Llanllyr Source ginger beer, but I’ve found that a number of places are being a bit too liberal with inferior products." —Dave Miller, lead bartender at Clink and The Liberty Bar in The Liberty Hotel

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"Sugar. Most certainly sugar." —Gabriela Garcia, bar manager at Taj Boston

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"I don't believe anything can be considered overrated if it's used properly in the cocktail and provides good balance. However, the one ingredient that I feel may be overused and can be substituted for something a little more exotic would be mint." —Michael Boughton, corporate beverage director of Boston Nightlife Ventures

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"Orange juice. It doesn't contain enough acidity to effectively balance a cocktail without another form of citrus accompanying it." —Tony Romano, bartender at BOKX109

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"Fernet." —Kaylee Platt, manager of City Bar Westin

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"Vodka. Vodka is like beige of spirits; it's like meeting someone who's really nice. Vodka is fine and all, but once you start mixing it, it just sort of fades into the background. I like spirits that are assertive. Give me some gin." —Dagan Migirditch, general manager of Franklin Oyster House in Portsmouth, NH

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"St. Germain." —Kevin Khem, restaurant manager at ArtBar at the Royal Sonesta

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"Orange juice. Just have never felt like it adds a lot to a drink. And it can easily overpower other flavors in a cocktail. I know people might think otherwise with their Sunday brunch mimosas, but I feel you can do so much more with other fruit juices." —Owen Wolfertz, general manager at Moxy in Portsmouth, NH

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"The most overrated cocktail ingredient to me is St. Germain." —Aaron Brooks, bartender at Zebra's Bistro and Wine Bar in Medfield

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"I think everything serves its purpose and has a time and place." —Rob Hoover, bar manager at La Brasa

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"The most overrated cocktail ingredient is bitters. In a lot of cocktails it feels like they are masking the taste of the main spirit and turning the flavor of that main spirit into something else. Example: I was at a bar and ordered a tequila drink, and the bartender says, 'Isn't it cool how I made the tequila taste like bourbon?' In my head I'm thinking, 'No. If I wanted bourbon, I would have ordered bourbon.'" —Sean Barney, bar manager and cocktail chef at il Casale Lexington, as well as cocktail chef for il Casale Belmont and restaurant Dante

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"Ginger beer." —Chris O’Neill, bartender at Deuxave

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"Fernet Branca." —Vincent Conte, lead bartender at Posto

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"Pumpkin and pumpkin spices." —Rob Ficks, lead bartender at Craigie on Main

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"Ginger beer." —Peter Szigeti, beverage director at Committee

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"Splash of cran." —Kerem Benyamini, general manager at Rowes Wharf Sea Grille and Rowes Wharf Bar at the Boston Harbor Hotel

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"Bitters, especially homemade bitters in crazy flavors. Just doesn’t do it for me." —Mike Thomas, bar manager at Gather in District Hall

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"St. Germain — it's a great spirit but often overused." —Lindolfo Silva, lead bartender at The Painted Burro

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"I would say St. Germain. Although a great spirit, it seems to be overused these days. If everyone has a St. Germain cocktail on their list, it may be time to try something else!" —Davide Crusoe, beverage director at Chopps American Bar and Grill in Burlington

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"St. Germain; it's almost cheating." —Eric Cross, beverage director at Five Horses South End

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"Green chartreuse. Well, maybe not exactly overrated — it's delicious — but definitely the most overused, and it tends to dominate cocktails if not careful. I feel like a lot of bars force a chartreuse cocktail on the menu because it's trendy, but it can easily become an unbalanced drink." —Mike Wyatt, bar manager at Ward 8

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"Jalapeno. I've had enough spicy margaritas for a lifetime." —Joe Cammarata, co-bar manager at Hojoko

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"Carpano Antica. Heresy, I know. Don't get me wrong; I think it's delicious, and I would happily drink it on its own, but it's very expensive, and it doesn't really play well with others." —Daren Swisher, co-bar manager at Hojoko

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"Red Bull. I hate Red Bull." —Jarek Mountain, bartender at Back Bay Harry's

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"Most overrated cocktail ingredient currently, I feel, is beer being used in cocktails. I love beer and I love spirits, typically not together, but that's not to say there aren't some good beer cocktails out there." —Dave Spielberg, bartender at The Salty Pig

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"Vodka. Why even bother?" —Timothy Kotkowski, Pastoral

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"House-made bitters — it's a fun project and in very specific flavors/applications they can definitely make a difference, but why make your own aromatic bitter when Angostura is so damn good?" —Jared Sadoian, bar manager at The Hawthorne

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"Pumpkin." —Chuck Guterl, beverage manager at Scampo

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"The most overrated cocktail ingredient, for me, has to be Angostura bitters. Between the great bitters in the cocktail world now and the ability to make your own, this one seems used too much. " —Justin Lipata, bar manager at Bukowski Tavern (Cambridge)

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"Beer. I would rather just drink a beer." —Nick Giannotti, bar manager at The Tip Tap Room

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"It has to be one of the thousands of flavors for bitters that are available now." —Patrick Foley, bar manager at The Independent

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"The mixologist." —Patrick Sullivan, executive director of bar operations for the Legal Sea Foods brands

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"Smoke. Don't get me wrong as I love to use it as well. I've been making smoke-infused lime juice for my Rum & Smoke cocktail for over a year now. I think the use of a smoking gun at the time of presenting a cocktail has become a bit overused, and most of the time that flavor doesn't have time to permeate the cocktail." —Paulo Pereira, beverage director at Brass Union

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"It's all about personal preference, but I think that green chartreuse, although delicious, is most often times used with reckless abandon, and it takes over the entire flavor of the cocktail." —Schuyler Hunton, beverage director at Foundry on Elm & Saloon

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"Sour mix." —Casey Furtaw, head bartender at Osteria Nino in Burlington

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"I think the most overrated cocktail ingredient is orange and grapefruit juice. They are far too flabby and sweet for a citrus cocktail to not also need hard citrus. Also, probably St. Germain. It’s a very specific product and I still don’t really see that many purposes for it. It’s usually added in a quote 'splash,' which really isn’t how a developed cocktail should be." —Seth Freidus, bar manager at Alden & Harlow

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"I know I’ll get a lot of flak for this, but bourbon. It’s such a powerful flavor that it overtakes everything else in the cocktail. Don’t get me wrong, I love Bourbon, but it’s rare for me to have a cocktail with it which doesn’t just make me wish I was drinking it neat." —Vikram Hegde, general manager at Island Creek Oyster Bar

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"I would say that used correctly, there really isn’t anything that’s overrated." —Todd Maul, bar director and partner at Cafe Artscience

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"Maple or maple syrup." —Ryan McGrale, beverage director at Tavern Road

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"Bacon. I feel like bacon has become this runaway train, careening along the tracks, unable to brake or slow down and clogging arteries everywhere. I was just as smitten with a piece of bacon in my bloody as the next person. But I think we’ve gone too far. It’s time for some veggies. Remember your friend Celery?" —Kyle Powell, bar manger of State Street Provisions (opening in November 2015)

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"Mezcal." —Tainah Soares, bartender at Trina’s Starlite Lounge

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"Plain white sugar simple syrup." —Corey Bunnewith, co-founder and proprietor of Boston Harbor Distillery

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"Flowers, botanicals, and other decorative garnishes that do little or nothing to affect the flavor of the cocktail. Every ingredient should function to enhance the cocktail's overall flavor, otherwise they should be left out." —Adam Avelar, bar manager at The Sinclair

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