For the past several years, a number of cocktails appeared to have cemented their positions on our most-popular list, landing toward the top year after year. Drinks like the Jungle Bird and Polynesian Pearl Diver, a fictional recipe pulled from the script of Quentin Tarantino’s film Django Unchained, were regular features that showed no signs of waning. That is, until this year. 2021, it appears, was weird. Not only did those stalwarts lose rank, the drinks that took their places are, in several cases, ones that on paper simply should not work. The Chauncey, for example, calls on rye, gin and Cognac in equal measure, while the Death Flip combines tequila, Jägermeister, yellow Chartreuse and a whole egg. Naturally, however, the Pornstar Martini is still No. 1. After all, who doesn’t want a Pornstar Martini?
