Bob Peters, mixologist at The Punch Room, at the Ritz-Carlton, Charlotte, will be the first to tell you that while his cocktails look extra fancy, he typically leans towards fewer ingredients. “Editing recipes down to truly showcase just a couple beautiful ingredients is the cocktail equivalent of an acoustic set from your favorite band—there are no distractions, just purity and clarity of flavor,” Peters says. “I think the trend of simple cocktails is a natural swing of the pendulum that travels back and forth many times when you look at the big picture. I think that a part of progress sometimes is simplifying things.”