Utah's drinking game
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When it's time to have complicated repair work done on your automobile, you're wise to have a trained mechanic do the job. Our guess is that Utah's governor and members of the Legislature would not question such logic.
Yet this vast assemblage of Beehive State teetotalers is, on their own, determined to retool Utah's liquor laws. Predictably, confusion is the result.
The goal, so far as we can discern it, appears a good one: Huntsman and certain legislative leaders have decided it's time to remove a couple more oddities within Utah's liquor laws in order to make them appear less wacky to tourists. Absent the reputation for throwing up obstacles to getting a drink, the thinking goes, Utah will be an even more attractive destination for out-of-state and out-of-nation travelers. Good intentions alone, however, don't always get the job done.
Currently, Utah law allows only 1 ounce of alcohol in cocktails, and bartenders aren't permitted to pour "doubles." Utah law, however, does allow an additional 1.75 ounces of "flavored" spirits in that drink, and a work-around to that restriction on doubles: In addition to the potential 2.75-ounce initial cocktail, a 1-ounce-of-alcohol "sidecar" -- basically a second 1-ounce shot of alcohol -- may be ordered simultaneously and poured by the customer into the original drink container.
So, while a bartender can't pour a double, he or she can pour two drinks and the customer may combine them. That, it would seem, meets anyone's definition of odd.
Huntsman and lawmakers are proposing to change the law this way: Allow 1.5 ounces of alcohol per drink, and do away with the sidecar. To political leaders' way of thinking, it reduces the overall amount of alcohol likely to be consumed, and makes Utah's liquor laws more like those of other states in this narrow regard.
But the hospitality industry is split on the changes. One faction says people who are used to having a couple of drinks will continue to have the same number of drinks, only now they'll be consuming the alcohol content of three drinks instead of two. Besides, they say, removing the sidecars will mean it's impossible to make lots of specialty drinks dependent on the added liquor flavorings that were provided via the sidecars. Oh, and one more thing: The state-controlled liquor stores will sell a lot more liquor this way, and so profits will increase.
Does you head hurt yet? Ours does, and we didn't even drink too much last night.
The hospitality industry supporters of the changes to the law base their argument on value for the customer's dollar. The profitability of the 1-ounce drinks is attractive to bar owners, they say, but a rip-off for imbibing patrons. Besides, a change in the law would help tamp down Utah's reputation among tourists as a miserable place to try to get a drink -- what with private club membership requirements and the bizarre cocktail-ordering minuet now required.
We're all for permitting responsible alcohol consumption for those over age 21. But we don't want to see per capita consumption of alcohol increase or watch private clubs harmed financially because they can no longer offer a wide array of mixed specialty drinks. Then again, maybe the motivations for changes to the law really are about profitability -- the state's as much as the bar owners'. In any event, before making the proposed changes to Utah's liquor laws, we hope the governor and lawmakers will seek more expert advice.
Add Your Comment
Why can't the ruling majority leave those of us who like to drink alone? I am so tired of each change made being more bizaare and restrictive than before. I can just imagine how well it will go over for our tourist industry. The "moral majority" might not see this as a big deal, but in the Real World, it's a very big deal and a very important part of Normal Adults socializing. There are days I really hate this place.
And yes, JHL, you are very wrong. Go do some research and then maybe we can try to have an intelligent discussion.