How to write a cocktail menu
With nearly a decade of experience behind the bar, and having written several cocktail menus, from as small as five drinks to as large as sixty-five drinks, I wanted to share some lessons I have learned over the years.
Keep it simple
I’m not saying keep your drinks simple, but keep the menu simple. You don’t need more than 20 drinks. Personally, I’d go for no more than twelve cocktails, plus four mocktails.
By having a smaller number of house cocktails, it will allow you to maintain high standards, keep on top of prep work, and stay consistent.
Repeat custom comes from guests wanting that delicious drink they had to taste just as good as the first time.
Express yourself and your bar
What do you do well? What sets you apart from everyone other bar in town?
Use the answers to these questions to set the tone for your menu.
If you’re a speakeasy style venue, focus on classic inspired drinks. Twists on Manhattans, negronis and Tom Collins’.
If you’re a fun party bar, make fun party drinks that are easy to consume and look great. Bright colours, funky glassware and edible garnishes.
If you’re a restaurant, think about food pairing, aperitifs and digestifs. If you kick someone off with a negroni before dinner that’s extra few dollars over that glass of wine they were considering.
Give people a reason to remember your menu and why they want to keep coming back.
Be cost effective
Yes, that fifteen year old whisky would taste great in an Old Fashioned, but not everyone wants to pay the price. That being said, don’t be afraid to put an expensive drink on your menu.
Find a balance between entry level and expensive pricing.
The lower cost drinks can have less alcohol, a house pour base spirit, and be very easy to make. While the higher cost drinks should involve better quality product and prep work.
Make your profit on the simple drinks that you can bash out quickly and effectively, then you can afford to charge a little less for that top end cocktail.
Have a theme
This can be a fun way to creatively put together your cocktail menu and it can literally be anything you want, from foraging to foghorns…
Well, maybe not foghorns, but I’ll give you an example of some that I’ve worked with.
Golf, Scottish Inventors, Brooklyn 99, Tim Burton, Osmosis, and Green (yes, just the colour green).
If you don’t want to go with something leftfield, a good place to start is seasonal. Create drinks using flavours that are in season.
Not only will it fit better with what your guests will expect for the time of year, but ingredients will be cheaper and easier to source.
Use your team
Assuming that you don’t run a bar where you are the sole bartender working there, use your team around you. I try to make sure that every team member has at least one drink on the menu.
Not only will it bring in more ideas and creativity, it can help boost sales. Employees are more likely to push a menu that they themselves have contributed towards.
Also, it impresses the guest when they find out that person serving them created the very drinks they are enjoying so much.
Try not to put classics on the menu
It’s dull and uninspiring. Even if you can make a banging negroni, so can half the bartenders in the city.
Instead, put something like this on your menu:
“If you can’t find anything to your taste, or you’d like a classic cocktail, speak to a member of our team and we will be more than happy to accommodate you.”
This way people are more likely to order your house cocktails, the drinks you have so lovingly crafted, but now they know they can ask for a daiquiri if that’s what they want.
Know when to be open to feedback
Just like this article is not complete or perfect, neither is your menu. That may be hard to take on-board, but it is important to understand that customer feedback is valuable. However, at the same time you should be aware that you cannot please everyone.
I always like to have at least one drink on the menu that divides opinions. People will send it back, and that’s fine, I will make them something else to replace it. Just because some people do not like it, I’m not going to change the drink, or take it off the menu, because there will also be customers that love it.
The customer is not always right, but occasionally they get close. Be open to listening and trying out their ideas too.
Saying that, if you have any ideas that you think would be helpful, please comment. I would love to implement them on my next menu.
