LIVING REVIEW FOOD & DRINK: Classics Lesson ; Bars and Even Shampoo Firms Are All Inventing New Cocktails. but Lack of Knowledge and a Spirit of Adventure Just Don't Mix

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Food seasons are dead: you can get asparagus and strawberries in any month of the year. In cocktails, the same principle applies: it's silly season all year long. Bartenders need something to do in their idle hours, and their employers' publicity machines always need something new to shout about. So they invent concoctions that no right-thinking drinker would want to knock back. What's more, they have clients who value novelty over quality - and who go to bars looking for the Next Big Thing rather than a well-made example of something tried and tested. This happens all year round.

But there seems to be a lot of the silly stuff about at the moment. Drinks lists in my …