Seventy-five years ago, during the Great Depression, Americans cheered and raised a glass to the repeal of prohibition. Largely viewed as a huge flop â considering that as soon as Congress banned the sale and service of alcohol, consumption rose to record levels (though just how much it increased is tough to judge as âgangstersâ didnât find it prudent to report their sales to the government) â there are lessons to be learned from the ânoble experiment,â which can be applied to the recession we face today.
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Reintroducing Quality Cocktails – A Fresh Look at Profits Behind the Bar
Does Passion Equal Profit?
Most managers in the hospitality industry have experienced a diamond in the rough. By this I mean a staff member who just seems to get service, and has that âX factorâ we can never seem to put our finger on. Having thought about it a fair amount, I have come to the conclusion that the aforementioned âX factorâ is passion. And while many of our staff members are admittedly on a career stopover, I believe that you can ignite this passion. How? By simply articulating the âWhatâs In It for Me?â
Turning Your Bar Green.
While the environmental movement is at the forefront of public conscience, more and more bars are making an effort to go green with their daily business practices. Iâm sure youâve heard all the popular catch phases: renewable energy, carbon neutral footprint and the uber-popular green is the new black.
What does this have to do with operating my restaurant or bar you ask?
First of all, itâs important to identify the difference between a green cocktail and the absurdity of the healthy cocktail. Ordering up a martini made with pomegranate liqueur is not going to earn you any points in the antioxidant cup. Cocktails are supposed to be a little bit naughty anyways…
It starts with the understanding that operating a sustainable bar or restaurant is easier than you think, not to mention the opportunities to save money and increase margins. Making each business decision with the environment in mind is rewarding in many ways: socially, economically and environmentally.
38-years-old and Never Kissed a Girl.
As I sit here writing this article and enjoying the last days of summer, Iâm thinking of things that are distinctly Canadian. A few come to mind â long weekends at the cottage, The Tragically Hip, maple syrup, and the Caesar.
Thereâs no question that Canadians are lovers of the savoury Caesar cocktail. As a nation, we consume three hundred million Caesars a year, which roughly means 10 per man, woman and child. This quintessential Canadian cocktail was born nearly 40 years ago when a man named Walter Chell was saddled with inventing a signature house cocktail for an Italian restaurant being built in the Weston Hotel in Calgary.
Can you afford to train… Can you afford not to?
Do you have unexplained losses in liquor or wine, in draught beer… in all three? If your restaurant is like most hospitality concepts, chances are your current bartender training is based on generations of bartenders who may not have been fully trained themselves. Most restaurants open with meticulous operational guidelines for how drinks are prepared, with detailed recipe lists that must be strictly adhered to along with opening and closing procedures, weekly checklists for cleanliness and follow up procedures. Does this sound familiar? Maybe itâs a distant memory…
What usually follows can be likened to a game of broken telephone, where each generation of bartenders passes on an adapted interpretation of your original training message. In the hospitality industry where employee turnover rates are commonly 50%-66% per year, it doesnât take long before your original training standards are barely recognizable.
Branding â Not just for Cattle.
If you look up the word âbrandâ in the dictionary, you will discover that a brand is, âa mark or symbol to differentiate oneâs cattle from anotherâs.â The key word in that definition, as it relates to your establishment, is differentiate. It takes courage to be different and faith in your vision to be successful in the long-term.
In todayâs highly competitive world, developing and promoting your difference or brand is increasingly difficult, almost as difficult as it is to find adequate bartender training. There are a few companies that have done it well and have enjoyed the rewards of successful branding. For example, when you think of the Bellini, most people think of Milestoneâs. The company has a great cocktail menu, yet the Bellini is their flagship cocktail, and the one that they are known for. Why is this drink so successful? Consistent quality and eye-catching presentation … you know that the drink is going to look great and taste great at the same time.
Cool as a Cucumber
Walk into almost any hip Toronto, Vancouver or Montreal restaurant and the cocktail menu you’re handed will likely describe mouth-watering concoctions that use fresh herbs, organic fruit and other top-notch ingredients.
Using cucumber in a cocktail may sound ridiculous at first. Until recently, only a few trained bartenders would even consider using cucumber as a garnish on a Bloody Ceasar or Mary, but all of that is about to change. Cucumbers have somehow made the transition from a low-cost garnish to a top-shelf ingredient â bar chefs have embraced cucumbers as a hot, or cool, new addition to menus, along with a host of other ingredients that are making the migration from the kitchen to the bar.
One Way Ticket to Margaritaville!
As a Canadian, when I think of tequila I get flashbacks of an all-inclusive vacation in Mexico with a hangover. To most of us, itâs simply a shot that gets thrown back with a lick of salt and a squeeze of citrus fruit to kill the after taste. All of that is about to change…
Tequila is one of the more versatile spirits. Itâs diverse and its great depth of flavour makes it a natural ingredient for cocktails. Despite a massive worldwide tequila shortage in 2000 and the resulting increase in price as supplies diminished, tequila remains one of the premier spirits on any bar south of the border. While vodka still reigns supreme as the number one spirit sold, the cosmopolitan falls a distant second to the margarita which is the worldâs most popular cocktail, and has been for years.
Sweet on Sours.
With the diversity of liqueurs on the market today it is possible to make a drink taste like virtually anything. Distillers have made it easy for mixologists to shape the profile of a drink. With base flavours like vanilla, cacao and hazelnut, itâs no wonder drinks like the Crispy Crunch shooter are consistently popular. I often wonder how long it will take before we see a chocolate martini dessert, where the kitchen begins to mimic the flavours being produced on the bar instead of the other way around. Perhaps the service of fusion dishes in traditional bar glassware like wraps in oversized shooter glasses and dessert mousses in martini glasses is an indication that itâs already
happening.
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Molecular Mixology
There are so many possibilities within Mixology; Incorporating one or more than one element of molecular can blow your guests' minds!
There has been tremendous buzz in the bartending world for the past few years regarding the term âmolecular mixology.â While the name itself can be a little intimidating, molecular mixology can be distilled down into one fundamental distinction. It is simply the process of changing the state of a liquid into a solid or gas.
While the bar and kitchen working together is certainly nothing new, the bar has begun taking cues from culinary predecessors; bartending is making a shift towards incorporating science into cocktails. The latest trend is something being referred to as âmolecular mixology,â the bar equivalent of a molecular approach to gastronomy, which has made leaps and bounds in the kitchen in the past few years.
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