Happy Friday readers!   

If you have been following along with this blog, I would like to say thank you for sticking with us! I hope you enjoyed Sogand Karimi’s post last week and got to learn some things from a different perspective. 

This past week I spent time in the field with current and new customers in California. It is always an eye-opening experience to talk with restaurant owners and see their side of things. 

In this post, I thought I would discuss the logistics and investment required to start a cocktail program. Almost every time I meet with a new client their biggest concerns are, “what does it take to get a cocktail program started? What glassware do I need? Do I need a jigger? What the heck is a jigger? I don’t have a bar; how do I do this? I don’t hire bartenders; how do I do this and still make a great cocktail?” 

These are all legitimate questions and ones that any business owner should be asking. Afterall, consistently making a great tasting cocktail is crucial to a successful cocktail program, right? 

Well absolutely, consistency is king! Especially if you want to keep your regular customers coming back to your restaurant, it is important to create great tasting food or drinks that taste the same every time. However, it’s easier than you think. 

Let’s address the bartender question. Having a bartender on staff or anyone with bartending experience can certainly help with cocktail making, but it is not 100% necessary to have a successful cocktail program. The most important part is training and creating processes that allow for consistency. At San Gabriel Beverage Group, we have a four-step process that helps any restaurant owner create, implement, and grow their cocktail business. 

Step 1: In our first step, we work with the restaurant owner or manager to create a cocktail list, complete with recipes instructions. There are hundreds of ways to make any cocktail, and we want to make sure that the flavor profile of the cocktail matches the flavors of your restaurant. We will sit with you and tweak the recipes to match exactly how you want it to taste. 

Step 2: Once we finalize the taste of the cocktail, we help create recipe cards for your restaurant. These are like your cocktail “cookbook.” Complete with a list of ingredients, amounts used, and mixing instructions. This cookbook helps you train your staff as well as giving them a reference point that they can use every time they make a cocktail. I recommend that this recipe card be printed, laminated, and placed wherever you mix cocktails in your restaurant. 

Step 3: Marketing your cocktails is one of the best ways to see sales growth. How will your customers know to purchase cocktails if they don’t know you sell cocktails? SGBG has an in-house marketing team that will help design menus and table tents for your restaurant that will help bring attention to your cocktail program and increase sales. 

Step 4: Follow up. Cocktail programs aren’t made in a day. If you want to tweak your cocktails, add new things, or just want a refresh, our team is here to help. Visit our website or give us a call and we’ll help you with any changes or additions you want to make. 

When we break down the cocktail program to these four easy steps, we can help make sure your cocktail program is successful, even if you don’t have a bartender. 

Regarding financial investment to get started, the above process is 100% free of charge. We consider all our customers business partners, and, as business partners, if you succeed, we succeed. We are here to help! 

When it comes to glassware and other ingredient costs, I like to tell people that you don’t need to get too fancy when you are first starting out. You can make a cocktail in a beer/water glass, and you don’t need to buy fancy glassware. You also don’t need to come out with 20 new complex cocktails. Do you sell lemonade, fresh juice, or tea? Why not “spike” them? I have worked with many customers that start their cocktail program with a spiked lemonade. Take the ingredients you are currently using and add 2 shots of vodka or tequila. Voila, you have a cocktail! 

I believe it was Leonardo da Vinci that said, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”  I always preferred the marketing term K.I.S.S “Keep It Simple, Stupid.” We don’t need to make it overly complicated to be good. Sure, bartenders flipping bottles behind the bar and lighting shots on fire is entertaining, but I have never seen someone pay for that show. So, let’s keep it simple, once we perfect that, we will help you grow to more complicated things. 

Shoot me an email today, and we will get started on your cocktail program. 

Cheers! 

-Nick