Mixology Overload

Tis the season… for drowning our financial sorrows and holiday woes in expensive, complicated booze. That’s what it seems like, anyway.

While we at Chowder can imbibe with the best of ’em, we’re starting to wonder how much of this cocktail-obsessed madness we can take. First the Art of the Cocktail party at Drink, then the Repeal of Prohibition anniversary party at ESK, then more Drink.

And now this: Tuesday’s cocktail-making seminar for local bartenders, hosted by Svedka Vodka at The Beehive.

Which, being part of the media instead of actual bar folk, we sort of crashed.

Which involved sampling eight high-octane beverages, each one more complex and obscure than the next, at 1 in the afternoon.

Which featured a larger-than-life, shaker-slinging “master mixologist” named Alex Ott, who, in addition to pouring Cosmos on Sex and the City and the Discovery Channel, has spent the last decade traveling the globe crafting wildly exotic drinks in even more exotic locales for Svedka.

Which almost, but not quite, made us feel a bit sick.

We’re not sure which cocktail to blame. Surely it wasn’t the Parisian Geisha, a refreshing mix of vodka, sake, lemongrass, and mint. Nor was it the Arabesque, an oddly appealing combination of Svedka Clementine, pear juice, curry powder and sour mix.

We’re guessing it was the beer-tini (a.k.a. the Plum Fizz).

Ugh.

Someone, please, clear something up for me. (God knows I can’t see straight.) Do you think we’ll be riding this complicated-cocktail wave for much longer? Will 2009 be filled to the brim with muddled fruit, herbal extracts, Benedictine, and St. Germain? Or is there a back-to-basics backlash in our future?

Opinions—and hangover cures—appreciated.