Are cocktails gender specific? As a male or female are there certain drinks you just won't order because of their color or gender association? Apparently there is a large majority who do believe certain cocktails and even drinks are associated with certain genders. For example a Shirley Temple is identified as a girls drink and the boys equivalent is a Roy Rogers. The same applies to cocktails. A drink like an Old Fashioned is interpreted by many as being a man's drink and a drink such as a Pina Colada is interpreted as a female's drink. An international bar chain restaurant called Burger & Lobster did a social experiment in London to see if different genders would order drinks they normally don't if they changed the color and name of them but still use the same ingredients. The bar took 5 popular cocktails: Mojito Twist, White Cosmopolitan, Margarita Twist, White Negroni, and Pina Colada Twist. They used two locations of their restaurants to serve the colorless drinks. At one they displayed the cocktail's name and at the other location they numbered the drinks No. 1 through No. 5, not disclosing the classic cocktail's name, just the ingredients. The results were very interesting.
- The most popular drink that was ordered was the No. 1 which was the Mojito Twist and a majority of men ordered it when the ingredients were just displayed, not the name.
- However 31% of men at the location that displayed the name of the cocktails were indeed put off by the name of the cocktails and did not order ones like the Pina Colada.
- Surprisingly enough women, about 11% were put off over the cocktails such as the Negroni at the location that displayed the name of the cocktails. They found the drink to be too masculine for them when associated with the name.
I think this is a fascinating social experiment. I personally think it's more a problem among men ordering cocktails that are deemed "feminine". It seems more common place for men to receive a hard time over being anything less than what society deemed as masculine. I was surprised by the females who were put off because I don't know any women who would not order a drink because it seemed too masculine for them. Overall I agree with Burger & Lobster that hopefully this social experiment encourages people to order outside their comfort zones and go against what stereotypes dictate them to do. If you're a man and you want a Pina Colado, I say live your life! Who am I put a man down over his drink choice. I understand as a society we've been taught to do that but I think we need to be untaught about these gender norms when it comes to flavors and colors.
-Producer Lightning