New style cocktails for beginners

[Anonymous]

I've never been much of a cocktail person - in my not so wayward youth I something drank a gin and tonic or a rum and coke, or similar. Mostly since then I am a wine/beer person, and lately sometimes bourbon.

I am curious to try some of these new hip cocktails, but have no idea where to begin - what would be a good baseline one to try that I can compare the more creative ones to?

[Anonymous]

What kinds of flavors do you like? Gin & tonic is WAY different from rum & coke in terms of flavors.

Lots of places have bartenders who are inventing their own cocktails, so if you order a Smokey Cockatiel* at one place, you probably won't find it somewhere else. I generally order by looking at two things--the flavor of the mixers, and the type of liquor.

Mixers tend toward the fruity/fresh side (e.g. fruit juices), or the bitter, or herbal (lavendar, basil, other kinds of herb ingredients) or sometimes spicy (jalapeno and spicy cocktails are big right now).

Liquors are either base spirits (vodka/gin/rum/bourbon/tequila) or liqueurs, which range from the familiar (e.g vermouth) to some new-fangled ones or else "rediscovered" old spirits which have gone out of favor (falurnum, elderberry liqueur), etc. Most drinks have one base spirit and then maybe another liqueur as flavor. Don't be afraid to ask the bartender what something tastes like if it's unfamiliar.

Basically, my approach is to read all the ingredients and decide which one off a menu I'd like the best. Sometimes I like it. Other times, not so much. And then just figure out from there what floats your boat.

*This is made up and not an actual drink.