FSR July 2023
LIQUID INTELLIGENCE
Hutchins, bar director at Aphotic in San Francisco, California. “Beer is typically consumed straight, but spirits, you have a whole secondary industry where bar tenders elevate and combine them with [fresh ingredients] consumers already know, creating more excitement behind the spirit.” And distilled spirits are rocketing toward an even greater market share. A DISCUS report showed 83 percent of respondents wanted to purchase spir its-based RTD cocktails at restaurants and bars, and sales of spirits-based RTDs rose by 42 percent to $1.6 billion in 2021. Full-service restaurants are plucking higher-quality and a greater variety of spirits brands, as well as seeing bottom line expansion, while guests are desir ing larger bang-for-the-buck over beer.
experience with cocktails, he adds. “You’re also seeing, ‘My dollar isn’t as strong so I’m going to purchase an expensive cocktail, but I’ll have one or two versus two or three glasses of wine, or three or four beers,’” Raab explains. “Consumers gravitate toward sipping tequila or a top bourbon or whiskey, and choose their cocktails wisely because they’re more dollar conscious and want to get bang-for-their-buck when pur chasing a drink for the night.” Danny Williamson, director of oper ations at Furious Spoon Ramen Shop in Chicago, Illinois, says restaurants’ bever age creativity has gone beyond just add ing simple syrups to cover heavy alcohol notes. No longer tasting chemically man ufactured, but fresh with complex pro files, voluminous flavors in high-qual
“Consumers gravitate toward sipping tequila or a top bourbon or whiskey, and choose their cocktails wisely because they’re more dollar conscious and want to get bang-for-their-buck when purchasing a drink for the night.”
Nicolette Teo, co-founder of Cali fornia’s L.A. Spirits Awards, says spir its growth in full-service restaurants has been trending for a while now. “It’s another source of revenue that builds brand loyalty,” she explains. “The pan demic definitely accelerated innovation, but it’s using fresher ingredients, exper imenting with flavor profiles and herbs, and upping the quality of RTD cocktails. If you’re comparing to beer, spirits offer more because they’re not just malt-based and there’s many spirits, many ways to experiment, and demand is there.” Diners are now asking for products that five or 10 years ago you couldn’t give away, including mezcals and addi tive-free tequilas, says Brian Raab, part ner at Scottsdale, Arizona’s Fat Ox, The Mission, and Zinc Bistro, plus tequila life coach/consultant at Tequila Corrido. Guests’ spirit knowledge grew during lockdowns and they’re seeking unique out-of-the-bottle tastes in their dining
ity distilled spirits, RTDs, and cocktails to-go help. Plus, “pricing has definitely become more advantageous for us to uti lize in a program,” he adds. Meanwhile, the team at Z’Tejas in Austin, Texas, and Scottsdale, Arizona, stirs up innovation with a fresh jalapeno cucumber margarita showing off spicy tequila, agave, and squeezed lime juice, says chief energizing officer Randy Cohen. Christiaan Rollich, bar director at Scottsdale, Arizona’s Fat Ox, The Mis sion, and Zinc Bistro, took a salsa on their chef-driven, farm-to-table menu, broke down each ingredient, and used clarified tomato juice, cilantro, and jala peno in a stunning cocktail to “bridge that gap from kitchen to bar,” Raab says. Rollich also handmade pistachio syrup to combine with cucumber, Cor rido Tequila, and a dried chimichurri rim with parsley, cilantro, cumin, cara way, and salt to mirror their menu with a culinary-forward cocktail innovation.
TEQUILA CORRIDO (3) CONSUMERS ARE MORE OPEN TO TRYING MEZCALS AND ADDITIVE-FREE SPIRITS THAN FIVE TO 10 YEARS AGO.
JULY 2023
26
FSRMAGAZINE.COM
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker