![image: Edible cocktails from The Drop, a restaurant and bar in Kansas City, Mo.](https://ideas.time.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2012/11/top10_food_molecularcocktails.jpg?w=260)
Edible cocktails from The Drop, a restaurant and bar in Kansas City, Mo.
Remember the exquisitely mixed manhattan, with its handmade bitters and small-batch spirits? That’s yesterday’s news. Today’s forward-thinking mixologist has a tank of liquid nitrogen on hand, the better to get on board with the growing movement toward so-called molecular cocktails. Once limited to a few avant-garde bars, the drinks are being served up by more places around the country and include bizarre infusions, smoked water or soda and fat-washing — the technique behind the famous bacon bourbon.