Just when we were getting used to sipping tiny martinis, and three-ingredient classic cocktails, the ‘less is more’ trend has come to an end.
These stripped-down drinks are so 2025, and we need to move on. They’re dead. Deal with it.
Why? Because 2026 is the year drinks are going to enter their maximalist era.
Over the next few months, expect to see plenty of in-your-face, over-engineered, bold, brash, brazen and nostalgic drinks, inspired by the beverages from our childhood.
More is definitely more, and so long as it comes garnished with sparklers, served in a mug that looks like a 90s pop icon and is mixed for us by a Cirque de Soleil clown, we’re on-trend.
@aleks.london.diary POV: You just found London bar where the 90s never ended ????️???????? At its heart, Bunga 90 is an immersive, multi-sensory celebration of the 1990s. You don’t just stroll into a bar — you enter a time capsule built with playful attention to detail. • The façade is styled as a retro video rental store — complete with VHS tapes, SEGA consoles, posters, neon signage, and old school tech. • Once inside, you’re guided through a “PEPSI Time Machine” into different rooms: a recreated Anglo-American family home, a teen bedroom decked out in fairy lights and posters, then the main bar area where 90s visuals play on a wall of vintage TVs. • The vibe is chaotic in the best way — games, karaoke, surprises, and “easter eggs” across the venue. • The toilets are a quirky highlight — every hour they “transform” into an M25-style warehouse rave, complete with UV lighting, smoke, and 90s dance anthems. • You’ll spot vintage arcade cabinets, a Jurassic Park pinball machine, random posters, props, and hidden surprises around every corner. The menu leans into the comforting and shareable: • Oversized pizzas (12″ and 20″) with all kinds of toppings. • Bar snacks such as deep-fried pizza dough strips, loaded baskets, chicken strips with garlic aioli, and other casual comforting fare. • On Saturdays, there’s a bottomless 90s brunch (live music drinks food) for those who want nostalgia with their daytime vibes. ????Bunga 90, 167 Drury Lane, Covent Garden, London WC2B 5PG #londonlondongirll90snlondonbarnlondontiktokn#london
What is a maximalist drink?
Essentially, if a drink doesn’t come accompanied by smoke, foam or a garnish in the form of a Sunday roast hanging off the side of the glass, it doesn’t count, and we’ll be sending it back.
We want more spectacle, multiple components, ramped up process and labour involved.
Give us Cacio e Pepe Martinis and drinks that are clarified, acid-adjusted, fat-washed, vacuum-infused, carbonated, and lacto-fermented. Any process that sounds like it’s come from a Swiss laboratory and we have no idea what it is, sign us up.
In terms of the glassware, it needs to be kitsch, themed, and excessive. Something that resembles an art installation, or a burlesque dancer.
Bonus points if the drink itself is a brightly-coloured liquid, resembling a Bake Off showstopper.
I think I’ve made my point.
Where can you order a maximalist drink in London?
Elliot Ball owns The Cocktail Trading Co. in East London, where you’ll find some of the ‘weirdest f***ing drinks’ in the city.
‘It started off with us doing them for competitions,’ he tells Metro.
‘We made the drinks absolutely insane, visually. Then we thought, if we can make something mad and hilarious, we should be able to do that for customers too.’
Of particular note on their current menu is the Blue Monday cocktail, with Volcan Tequila, blue peppercorn and mango tepache, Moet & Chandon Champagne.
It comes served in a sack, presumably that’s a reference to a ‘sad sack’.
Their Soccarat Swizzle looks like a paella, and is even served in a paella dish. It contains Eminente Rum, paella spice, Singani 63 (a Bolivian brandy) and sweet tomato-ginger brew.
Or there’s ‘Corn on the Cobbler’, served in a Green Giant sweetcorn tin, made of popcorn, Manzanilla sherry, acidified honeydew, Evan Williams Bourbon and a splash of Pedro Ximenez sherry. The whole thing is then garnished with a mound of actual popcorn.
Why so wacky? Elliot explains: ‘The whole point of a cocktail is that you are meant to change it. You’re taking a spirit, and then you add other things and make something new. And we’re finding more and more ridiculous ways to do that.’
Meanwhile, 90s kids will want to head to Covent Garden, to stop by Bunga 90, a Retro interactive cocktail bar. With the strapline ‘Oops, I sipped it again’, you can probably guess what’s coming next.
Yes, their cocktail, Britney B***h, is served in a cup shaped like school girl- Britney’s hollowed out head.
Then there’s the Fresh Prince, with Patron Silver, Aperol, pimento and prickly pear liqueur, hibiscus, lime and Ting grapefruit, served out of Will Smith’s mug head.
Lastly, ‘Kevin’, a blend of vodka apple, pear, elderflower, ginger, and lime, is served out of a Macaulay Culkin-shaped mug inspired by the scene in Home Alone, after he’s put on the aftershave and is clutching his face in horror.
You’ll notice that all of these cocktails have a shopping list of ingredients you wouldn’t stand a chance of being able to make at home. They also come with a snow cone of ice on top, and are accompanied by giant American-style pizzas and lots of karaoke. Suggesting the garish maximalist trend is about more than just drinks.
Over in Soho, The Little Violet Door is decked out like an actual flat, and it’s here you’ll find the sharing cocktail, Dirty Dancing.
It’s made from Grey Goose Vodka, Chambord, Passionfruit and a bottle of Mini Prosecco, all served in a giant disco ball.
If this isn’t for you, there’s always the LA Story, which combines Malfy Gin, Elderflower, Cucumber, lemon, bubbles, and is served in a vase.
Which maximalist drinks spot are you most excited to try?
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The Cocktail Trading Company
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The Little Violet Door
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So, the maximalist cocktail trend seems to be about a new kind of brag.
Whereas it used to be about perfecting cocktails with fewer ingredients (and always will be when it comes to many bars), the new flex is complexity.
If you want to look at it more deeply, this trend is a collective exhale by a bar industry that’s been serious for so long. A way of getting back to the fun side of making drinks. A break from the exhausting austerity of technique, allowing them to indulge in silliness and entertainment again.
We’re not talking about bringing back all the sugary abominations of the 90s, but cocktails that make you wake up, pause and ask yourself…
‘Did I really drink out of a paella dish last night?!’
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