From chicken-skin tuile dressed with egg yolk jam to an edible cherry-blossom cloud that floats above the glass, these bars are upping their garnish game.
After nearly a decade of clarified cocktails and minimalist serves, the pendulum is swinging hard in the opposite direction. Cocktail maximalism is back, and this time it's bringing edible mushrooms, torched marshmallows and even mealworms to your glass.
But this isn't a throwback to the cringe theatrics of the early 2010s. Today's garnish glory is more refined, more intentional and far more imaginative. Bars are pairing drinks with ornate, often edible garnishes that engage multiple senses and give guests something to talk about long after the glass is empty.
Minimalism had its moment for good reason. After years of sensory overload, the industry needed a breather and clean, transparent drinks dominated as bartenders explored subtlety in both flavour and presentation. But there's only so much anonymous transparent liquid the market can absorb before rebelling. Visual appeal has become crucial once more – and garnishes offer bars a way to differentiate themselves, deepen narrative and, sometimes, justify the price of the pour.
One of the clearest expressions of this shift is the rise of "snack-tails," cocktails that blur the line between drink and food. Death & Co in LA serves a maple-bacon fat-washed sour crowned with a crisp slice of bacon – breakfast reimagined as an evening ritual.
Shinji's in New York has elevated this trend into an art form. Their Kara-age cocktail – blending tequila, sherry, sparkling wine, chicken and brown butter – is garnished with a chicken-skin tuile dressed with egg yolk jam and alyssum flowers. The bar's Middle Ground comes with a house made beetroot liquorice twizzler: playful, technical and surprisingly elegant.
The Koji Hardshake is finished with a toasted marshmallow
Across the Atlantic, Ryan Chetiyawardana's Seed Library in London continues to treat edible garnish design like a science. The Koji Hardshake's torched marshmallow spritzed with truffle oil shouldn't work – but it does. The bar's Breakfast Bellini, a savoury blend of tequila, beans, fruit and champagne, arrives topped with a Haribo egg for a cheeky finish.
The revival is global and each region puts its own cultural stamp on the trend. Tokyo Confidential uses cross-cultural seasoning to brilliant effect: its Arigato El Gatto rims mezcal and soju with "Tajimi," a blend of Tajín, shichimi and worm salt. The bar's Sore Wa Subarashi layers nostalgia with white-chocolate "Frosties" perched on a milk-washed Cognac drink.
Scandinavian sustainability shines at Svanen in Oslo, where the Gin and Things pairs water-kefir citrus with a seamoss gummy – equal parts garnish, texture and nutrition. In Berlin, Mr Susan serves its house michelada with a tomato-kimchi popsicle that melts into the beer cocktail, deepening spice and umami as you drink.
Vancouver's Botanist Bar leans into local identity with The Raincouver, which features an edible cherry-blossom cloud that floats above the glass – a garnish almost too delicate to disturb.
The Rihlet al Sukkar is served in a hammered copper tumbler and finished with a citrus skewer
Back in London, Palestinian restaurant Akub uses garnishes to tell stories. Its Rihlet Qassab al Sukkar ("The Journey of the Sugar Cane") blends spiced rum, ginger, peach and bitters, topped with dried apricot and ginger. The drink traces the movement of sugarcane across diasporas from Jericho to the Caribbean to the Windrush communities of Notting Hill, the bar's neighbourhood. At the newly opened Labombe by Trivet, the Adana Margarita is rimmed with Turkish pepper – a small but meaningful tribute to co-founder Isa Bal's heritage.
Backdoor Bodega in Penang (winner of the Siete Misterios Best Cocktail Menu Award 2025) pushes the idea even further: its award-winning R.B.S., inspired by Malaysia's Ramly Burger (a local icon this is a patty wrapped in a thin layer of egg, and slathered in signature sauces and melted cheese), arrives wrapped in branded burger paper and topped with a scorched cheese garnish – think street food energy meets precision cocktail craft.
The Get The Worm cocktail takes its cue from sal de gusano, the worm salt traditionally served alongside mezcal
Some bars are even wading into provocatively sustainable territory. Fura in Singapore serves Get The Worm, a margarita crowned with an actual mealworm. Bangkok's Mahaniyom Cocktail Bar goes further still with a drink featuring three varieties of invertebrate. More than shock value, these choices speak to the future of food and drink.
Not all maximalism is bombastic. At Moebius Milano, the Pesto Martini comes with a single slice of parmesan – unconventional, simple and superb. Available at LPMs around the world, the Tomatini uses a single cherry tomato to define its savoury tomato essence profile. Edinburgh's Panda & Sons pairs its Coconut Daiquiri with white chocolate, creating a restrained but memorable dessert-adjacent flourish.
The Enigma at Paradiso is garnished with a brain-shaped raspberry and pine semifreddo that slowly melts into the cocktail
Then there are bars like Paradiso in Barcelona and Double Chicken Please in New York, where maximalism becomes a full aesthetic. Paradiso's current menu is a parade of theatrical serves while Double Chicken Please's Red Eye Gravy features a crisp sheet of dried prosciutto that brings both visual drama and real flavour enhancement.
The success of these bars on The World's 50 Best Bars lists has only confirmed what many drinkers already feel: going out should be an event, not a transaction. Elaborate serves make for great date-night moments and the kind of stories people remember.
Of course, no amount of garnish can rescue a bad drink. The liquid must still be balanced and delicious. But when it's done thoughtfully, great garnishes aren't frivolous – they can be imaginative, sensory and fun. After years of restraint, the cocktail world is putting on a show again.
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