![Issue June 2013](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20130523194429im_/http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/newsroom/img/2013/05/14/0613Cover/mag-issue-medium.jpg?mmt3qh)
When That 'Local,' 'Craft' Liquor You Pay Big Bucks for Is Neither
Distilling deceit
Wayne Curtis is an Atlantic contributing editor.
The theory and practice of serving a drink vibrated, not stirred
How the liquor’s marketing success among both rappers and codgers has blinded consumers to its subtler pleasures
Liquor companies love to claim they use closely guarded, centuries-old recipes. usually it’s just marketing.
At the Aviary, in Chicago, bartenders experiment with cocktails that evolve as you sip them
A New Zealand bartender learns what pirates and sailors knew long ago: explosives and liquor mix just fine.
In San Francisco, two dominant trends of the cocktail world are converging, with exquisite results.
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