The first phase of the Cocktails On Leo initiative is completed and the recipes have been incorporated into LeoGlossary. In this article, I will briefly comment on the progress so far, the next steps, and also address some questions I have gotten so far.
If you are active on Threads, you may have seen some cocktail recipes posted over the last few days.
Those are part of an initiative to fill the Hive blockchain with data that can potentially boost traffic in the long term. Cocktail recipes - or any kind of recipe - are particularly good for that purpose because they are "evergreen", meaning they don't lose value over time, in the sense that people may still be interested in them years from now.
This idea was inspired by what Taskmaster and a few other InLeo users are doing with the Music on Leo initiative.
Cocktails on Leo phase 1 completed
The first phase of the initiative consisted on uploading all the cocktail recipes from the International Bartenders Association (IBA). The IBA is an organization that aims to "promote and maintain International Relations among the Guild Members and to encourage a high standard of competence and conduct for the benefit and advancement of the profession of Bartending."
But that doesn't really matter unless you are or aspire to be a professional bartender. However, the IBA maintains a list of the most famous and most requested cocktails from all over the world so I thought it would be a good place to start.
Now, all the cocktails from that list have been uploaded to Threads and can be found on Leo Glossary.
Next Steps
So what does it mean to the project? Is it over? Is it on halt?
Not at all. The IBA official list contains only a fraction of known cocktail recipes which means there is still a lot of ground to cover.
The idea is to keep adding other cocktail recipes and also create some new sub-categories, such as the highly requested non-alcoholic cocktails.
I'm also considering a category for cocktails inspired by pop culture, whether they are "real" or not. What I mean is, for example, in one of the episodes of "The Office," Michael Scott creates a cocktail by mixing pretty much every type of liquor he can find. The final result is probably garbage but it's still a cocktail that could be listed on the Glossary.
Another example is the Vesper, which is a cocktail invented by writer Ian Fleming for his most famous character, James Bond. The Vesper became so famous that it was included in the IBA list and, therefore, is already on the Glossary along with the rest of the recipes, but it could also feature in this new session as it was originally inspired by pop culture.
Frequently asked questions
During this first phase, I got a lot of questions on Threads and while I always tried to answer the person who asked them, I thought it would be good to list them here so others can see them too.
Can I replace X ingredient for Y?
Yes. You can and you should. Recipes are merely a guide, a blueprint. By changing the recipe, you will be moving away from the original idea of the drink, but that doesn't mean your final result won't be as good as or even better than the original recipe, especially because that notion is entirely subjective.
In fact, that happens all the time. Many famous cocktails are nothing but variations from other pre-existing recipes that were well received by the public.
One example is the Boulevardier, which is a Negroni except that the gin is replaced by whiskey.
What the hell is an ounce? Why did I use ounces instead of millilitres?
An ounce, or fluid ounce, is a unit of volume typically used for measuring liquids. It's mostly used in the UK and United States and, even though the IBA lists volume in ml for their recipes, I decided to go with ounces because the vast majority of literature around mixology is made in the US or the UK so recipes are usually written in ounces in many sources. Also, it's quite common to find bar equipment with measurements in ounces, too.
In any case, just keep in mind that 1 ounce equals 30 ml and you can convert if needed.
I do this cocktail in a different way or I saw a different recipe for it on another website. Is it wrong?
No. Again, this goes back to the first question. These recipes are merely a blueprint. They are battle-tested and will work for the purpose they are intended but there are many variations that can be made. In some cases, the changes are very small and are restricted to quantities or proportions or even a complementary ingredient that will not change the core concept of the cocktail. In other cases, the changes are significant and the bartender may even opt to give the cocktail a different name but, in the end, none of this matters. Call it what you like and do with it what you wish. The important is enjoying the process and the final result.
Final thoughts
All IBA cocktails are now listed on Leo Glossary and recorded on the Hive Blockchain for as long as it exists. That's an important milestone but, as I mentioned, the project is far from over.
There are many more cocktail recipes to be uploaded, and I encourage anyone who wants to contribute to this initiative to go ahead and do it or even start their own thing. The important thing is to keep increasing the database with relevant information.