What's In

Old-fashioneds these days are oldfashioned. Manhattan has become a tight little island without Manhattans. So what are people downing instead? Growls Restaurateur Toots Shor: "Booze."

Increasingly, the booze is vodka, which for the past six years has shown the fastest-growing sales for liquor in the U.S. Businessmen like it in lunchtime martinis, in Bull Shots or Bloody Marys, because it leaves no after-breath. Purists are learning to drink it the way the Poles and Russians have for cen turies: straight and cold. Among artists in the Long Island Hamptons, this summer's favorite was 100-proof Polish Bison Brand Vodka, which comes flavored with a thin piece of stiff grass (the herb Zubrowka) in every bottle.

Bog-Fogs & Black Martinis. Because of its versatility, vodka has also replaced rum as the prime ingredient in the more outlandish mixed drinks. Fruggers at The Daisy in Beverly Hills between exhibitions fuel up with White Russians (vodka, Kahlua and cream) or with the vodka Orange Julius. Their counterparts in Miami and Palm Beach go for the Bog-Fog (vodka and cranberry juice--known to New Englanders as the Cape Codder) or the Palm Bay Intrigue (pineapple wine with vodka and a squeeze of lime).

Not all the In drinks require vodka. Members of the Burlingame Country Club, down the peninsula from San Francisco, have a special drink called the Menlo, a mixture of lemon syrup, soda water, sugar and gin. In Southern California, the Golden Cadillac (Galliano liqueur, creme de cacao, orange juice, cream) is catching on. Chicagoans have taken up the Black Martini (dry vermouth and blackberry brandy), the Brave Bull (tequila and Kahlua) and the Blue Blazer (mulled brandy, Southern Comfort and water). Washingtonians are drinking a new depth charge called the Kraatz No. 1 Special, invented by Hawaiian Businessman Donald Kraatz. The recipe: pour an almost-full tumbler of Tanqueray's gin over ice, add minute but equal amounts of Schweppe's quinine water and Rose's lime juice.

Kir & Campari. A growing number of businessmen are fighting the post-luncheon haze by switching to such lighter-spirited European drinks as Lillet Orange (Lillet vermouth, soda, a slice of orange), the Americano (Campari, Cinzano dry vermouth, soda) or just plain Campari and soda. Sangria, a Spanish punch combining red or white wine with fruit syrup and seltzer, has made a host of converts at Manhattan's new Fountain Cafe in Central Park. And, though it really caught on in Paris only this summer, a surprising number of U.S. bartenders have already learned to whip up "un Kir": a mixture of dry white wine and creme de cassis (black-currant liqueur), named for Canon Felix Kir, who also doubles as the Mayor of Dijon. So far, mercifully, returning American tourists have resisted importing one new drink that has already swept Italy and has become the standard order at Sibylla's, London's swingingest discotheque. The mix: Scotch and Coca-Cola.

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