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Some new drinking and socializing trends involve no alcohol at all. The "power tea" is starting to catch on with businessmen in big cities. Rather than gathering for whiskey at the cocktail hour, executives are collecting in hotel lobbies from The Breakers in Palm Beach, Fla., to the Mansion in Dallas for decaffeinated Darjeeling and little sandwiches. Businessmen and -women talk deals at Boston's Ritz-Carlton, which offers a variety of teas, steeped in floral china pots. New York City's WaldorfAstoria reinstated tea service just over one year ago. Says Food and Beverage Director Thomas Monetti: "People like the relaxing harp music and the elegance of the brass tea trolleys. You often see papers and memos out on the tables." "It's a very graceful way to do business," says John Strauss, manager of San Francisco's elegant Four Seasons Clift Hotel. "Some of them add a glass of wine to the service. It's a kind of 'California' tea."
The way the nation entertains at home is also changing. The time when a host or hostess stocked up on whiskey for the winter, gin and tonic in summer, some bottles of white wine and a six-pack of beer year-round is gone. "I've had three cocktail parties recently," says Doris Yaffe, fashion and publicity < director for Saks Fifth Avenue in Boston. "I can't tell you how much liquor I was left with." The nation's caterers have seen hardliquor sales drop from more than half to less than one-quarter of their business. New York City Caterer Donald Bruce White estimates that "three-quarters of any crowd now will drink white wine." Joe Toboni, owner of five catering outlets in the San Francisco Bay Area, says that hard liquor is only 10% of his business, down from 70% five years ago.
Wine and beer make up an additional 65%, and the rest is bottled water. Some older people, however, still like the stronger stuff. "Out of 300 wedding guests, 250 will drink wine, the other 50 hard drinks," says Toboni. "But the father of the bride still wants the full bar because he doesn't want to offend his cronies." As alcohol's role as a social lubricant diminishes, both the appointments and the guests' behavior moderate too. "I remember one office party in particular where they filled the water coolers with vodka and orange juice," says White. "Now people say, 'I know it sounds silly, but could I have another Tab?' " Casey Jones, dining-room manager for Emily's caterers of Atlanta, notes that parties at which people drink less or not at all last longer. "Instead of walking around and talking for a few minutes here and there, they are sitting down and actually having conversations."