There is something about a well-made cocktail that hits all the right notes. A perfectly balanced "cocktail" of ingredients - some unremarkable by themselves but when they work together in concert it's a thing of beauty.
Over the years I've played "bartender" both at home and away and while I believe my palate has gotten more sensitive to the subtle nuances in flavor and scent profiles I'm still someone who is happy with something that requires a lot less effort if the occasion (or mood) demands.
While this post might seem like the start of a "How to" of cocktail recipes it's actually about some insights I've had watching people order drinks and how they could be applied to other products and services.
- People appreciate the fanfare - A well laid out bar, with all the bell and whistles (mixers, bitters, fruits, and herbs) is a rather pleasing sight and does a great job of enticing people to walk over to see what's brewing. Even those that end up with a glass of the same scotch they've been drinking for years tend to linger just a little bit longer if nothing more than watching others with bemused interest. So, present your product or service well, a little eye candy really doesn't hurt.
- Good ingredients make great cocktails - I'm a firm believer that investing in the right fruits/herbs/bitters/mixers/alcohol ensures you have a great cocktail. While there is nothing wrong buying ready-made mixers off the shelf sometimes going that extra mile does elevate the experience.
- A good story helps - While a key element of drawing people in is the visual setup, a good story behind the alcohol or the cocktail tends to hold attention for that little bit longer. I've seen it happen on more than one occasion where a person decides to take a leap of faith and try something that they haven't just because the visuals were packaged with an interesting story.
- Not everyone likes "bells and whistles" in their drink - just because you like a well-made cocktail doesn't mean there are others that do. Some like their scotch, vodka, rum either neat or with water or a single mixer. As with the product and service you offer you will find a target group that likes what you do or prefers something else entirely. The choice before you is, do you increase the width of your offering or choose a niche and become the best at it?
- Not everyone complains - Just because someone doesn't say they don't like the cocktail doesn't mean they enjoyed it. More often than not (in a social setting) people tend to reserve their opinion, however, a telling sign is that for their second drink they move to something else.
- Some just need a nudge - A number of people are fence-sitters for a variety of reasons, they aren't in the mood for a cocktail at that particular moment, unsure of what they want and so on. It takes just a bit of convincing and before you know it they're well on their way to their 3rd drink.
- A little personalization goes a long way - Understand what flavors, alcohol they like and then figure out a pairing that appeals to their palate. The result is an experience that's personal to that individual, something they won't forget in a hurry.
- Quality control goes out the window after the 5th drink - Most people will drink anything after their 5th drink so its rarely a time to decide whether your product was a hit at that point (Euphoria is short-lived, a hangover isn't). So don't base feedback on your cocktail making skills to be accurate at this point. It's also worth mentioning that your cocktail making skills might have quality issues as well if you're also on your 5th drink.
- Do it yourself - If you have a large enough group of people coming over you really can't do justice to the quality of the drink as well as keep up with demand. One way of addressing this is to layout ingredients so that guests are able to make drinks for themselves. Offer assistance every now and then to alleviate any fears about making a bad drink, and at the end of the day, you'll find there are actually a few who decide to assist you with handling the workload. Making this a fun, involving experience for everyone.
- More of something isn't necessarily better - I've seen enough instances where people put far more alcohol than is needed to make a drink (the philosophy being more is better) resulting in ruining the balance. Decide on a range that caters to different intensity levels without needing to destroy the drink itself.
- Listen to your guests - Each has a rather unique palate and unlike a professional bartender where one is rushing to deal with a large volume of orders there is a good chance you have a couple of minutes to spend with each person when you're mixing up that drink. Understand what works for them, get as much feedback as you can - then decide what you want to do with it.
- Stay the course - I've become a lot better at putting together drinks then when I first started out, as with any skills you need time to hone it. Just as with making a good cocktail and creating flavor pairings your business only gets better with time if you put the effort into your feedback process.
Having read this rather lengthy post, I would suggest grabbing a drink - and if you suddenly find yourself yearning to try something new, even better!