Posts

Beverage Trends for 2016: Cocktails & Spirits

/in , , /by

It’s an exciting time to drink in America. In most cities, you can head in any direction and find a bar to saddle up to that will serve you an inventive and original house cocktail. The current cocktail and spirit renaissance has brought on a new golden age of imbibing. With a refocus on ingredients, technique, and integrity, bartenders have helped drinkers shake off the hangover from the days of over-sweetened drinks made with premixes of unearthly colors. Bar patrons only seem more curious and open to trying new things, so there doesn’t look to be any signs of the renaissance slowing.

What will the beverage trends for 2016 be?

Read more

Image of Culinary and Vegetable Cocktails

How Your Restaurant Can Create Innovative Cocktails

/in , , /by

Cocktail bars have reinvigorated drinker’s imaginations over the past decade. They’re the lifeline that has pulled cocktails from the depths of saccharine swamps filled with frozen daiquiris and sugar-rimmed cosmos. While these bars have certainly been innovative hubs of creativity, they’re most notable achievement, on a whole, has been as revivalists. While cocktail bars often look to the past for inspiration, one cocktail trend is set in the present. Culinary cocktails celebrate the philosophy of the kitchen. In today’s dining world, that means locally sourced ingredients with fresh flavors that reflect the seasons. Though exciting and inventive, culinary cocktails haven’t made as big a splash as some other beverage trends. More so, they’ve been a ripple: subtle but widespread. If you’re a restaurant thinking of revamping your cocktail program, you should look to the kitchen for inspiration.

Read more

Thinking Outside the Glass: Creative Cocktails

/in , , /by

Competition in the restaurant industry has always been fierce. Restaurants and bars continue to search for ideas on how to differentiate themselves from the rest and become the consumer’s first pick on their night out. As the industry evolves and Millennials take charge, food is no longer the only consideration when deciding where to go for lunch or dinner. Interest in cocktails has been growing, and the 2.2% increase in hard liquor sales from 2014 supports this trend. It’s time to customize your cocktails and Uncorkd has some ideas on where to start.

Read more

Trending Cocktails: Citrus and Grapefruit Flavoring

/in , , /by

Citrus has always been a favorite when it comes to both food and beverage flavoring, but trend reports show that 2015 is the year of the orange, grapefruit and lemon. Consumers tend to lean towards bold flavors and citrus helps spice up a meal or beverage without the added calories.

Read more

World Class World Cup Cocktails

/in /by

It’s sad that the US was eliminated from the World Cup… but that means that more people will be going out to eat again! Even though we can’t root for our own team, we can root for soccer in general, and with the sport on everyone’s minds right now, it’s a perfect time to highlight quarter-final-friendly World Cup cocktails on your menus and table tents. Here is one drink to get you started. If you think of others, please let us know about them by commenting. Read more

3 Springtime Drinks That Bring Crowds

/in , , , /by

Springtime is here, and that means that your guests’ drinking tastes have changed to reflect the warmer weather. In the springtime, your customers are clamoring for lighter, fruitier drinks that they can sip while lounging on your newly opened patio. These warm-weather drinks are the kind that inspire your customers to sit for hours in small, informal gatherings and laugh at the college students who walk by in flip-flops, shorts, mini-skirts… and goose bumps. To help you select your new featured drinks for your digital wine menu, I’ve compiled a list of what springtime drinks your customers are wanting right now. Read more

Cocktails: Flights of Fancy

/in /by

The idea of the “flight” – a sampling of three or four drinks that share a common theme – is no longer reserved as only a way to introduce your patrons to a fantastic selection of wines. Cocktail flights have become a big hit today, too, allowing customers to try several of your specialties drinks, all for a markup that’s higher than one might pay for just one cocktail – but also for a price that’s lower than what one would have to spend on three or four (while also being a lot easier on the liver!) While wine flights might consist of a roundup of varieties based on specific grapes or regions, where cocktail flight categories are concerned, the human imagination is really the only limit. New York City’s Flatiron Lounge, one of the first bars to offer high-end cocktails, for example, takes the lead when it comes to cocktail flight offerings, with a seasonally changing menu that includes everything from the “Flight Back in Time” to the tropical and fruity “Flight to Hawaii.”

Read more

The Cocktail: Here’s to Beauty and Simplicity – and Boosted Profits

/in , /by

What are some of the best strategies for developing a menu of cocktail specialties to boost bar and restaurant sales? According to Restaurant Business, Jon Taffer – who is host and executive producer of Spike TV’s Bar Rescue, as well as the founder and chairman of the hospitality consulting and business services firm Taffer Dynamics – says that drinks that offer visual appeal (and that can be made quickly, using what he calls “one minute mixology”) allow for the greatest return on investment. While exotic ingredients found in cocktails served at popular establishments in New York and San Francisco (Weather Up and Bourbon and Branch, for example) appeal to many consumers, it is how a cocktail is presented (both on the table and on the menu) that matters more than factors like using premium spirits and other special ingredients. A simple but eye-catching cocktail served in an attractive glass – and with a colorful garnish – is really what allows for a higher markup. Read more