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www.cheersonline.com
21
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2009
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Good to theLast Drop
Creating a successful cocktail involves morethan researching mixers and spirits.
By Jack Robertiello
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“You denitely need to know the history o our proession,” says Gina Chersevani, mixologist at Arlington, Va.’sEatBar. “I you don’t, you’re selling yoursel short.” A grounding in drink history helps with interpreting drink trends, and it lays a solid oundation or successul avor combinations. “For instance, knowing when and howlimes were introduced to the D.C. area helps explain why the Lime Rickey once was so popular here,” she says.Eric Felton’s
How’s Your Drink? 
(Agate Surrey, 2007) and
Imbibe! 
(Perigee rade, 2007), by David Wondrich, areinvaluable, she says.Older, pre-Prohibition drink books are particularly in vogue now. But the recipes oten need to be modernized,says Jamie Boudreau, who now oversees the drink program at Seattle’s ini Bigs.Sometimes, research takes cocktail craters down odd streets. For the drink program they developed or thehigh-concept Apothecary in Philadelphia, ippling Brothers consultants ad Carducci and Paul anguay poredover medical, holistic healing and natural remedy books as well as web sites. Tey boned up on traditional uses o roots, herbs, owers and tinctures in an attempt to create an anti-stress drink that helped digestion. Teir result,Meditation on 13th Street, is made with holy basil, kava kava and rosemary essences. It is billed as an “opponento stress and malcontent.”
Be a
History Buff 
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Use every available source to stay on top o current bever-age trends, says David Commer o Carrolton, exas-basedCommer Beverage Solutions. Commer uses the Internet totrack avor and trend ideas, reads beverage magazines, signsup or e-mail newsletters and “sits in on any and all trend orresearch presentations I can nd.”Te types o resources that Commer recommends canbe valuable sources o inspiration, says racy Finklang,corporate beverage manager or Louisville, Colo.-basedRock Bottom Restaurants, which operates 36 Rock Bottom Restaurant & Breweries and 100 Old ChicagoPasta & Pizza restaurants. “I never use their recipes,” shesays. “But I denitely get new ideas.”
Do Your
Homework
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very bartender dreams o creating a winningcocktail. While taking the prize can helphim or her gain career recognition, it doesnot always lead to the creation o drinks with widespread marketability.Rolling out cocktails that will gain mass acceptancedemands a sound product development strategy. In addi-tion to research and tasting, this includes constant recipetweaking as well as the ability to hit the right price pointand establish an appropriate market position.o nd out what it takes to really win in the gameo cocktail creation,
Cheers 
conerred with consultantsand beverage executives at independent and chain res-taurants, as well as with bartenders who have built theirown successul drink programs. Te result is 10 tips thatare crucial to good drink development.
 
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JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2009
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anguay says it is important to understand theenvironment in which the cocktail will be servedbeore developing the drink. At the same time,adds Carducci, having realistic expectations is key. Willie Shine, who heads up the New York-based consultancy Contemporary Cocktails with partner Aisha Sharpe, recently helped openPranna, a pan-Asian restaurant. “Te cool thing was that when we sat with them to get an ideao what they saw as their dream bar, they actu-ally had researched cocktails and gone to bars tostudy glassware and drinks.” Tis, says Shine, wasenormously helpul or matching cocktails withthe operation’s needs. But it is an anomaly.Chain and independent bars have diferent needs.Knowing how to make high-style ideas operationalor multi-unit restaurants is important, Commersays. “Tey’ll love a concept that takes 12 steps,” headds. “Ten, they come to me to nd out i I can doit or them in three or our.”I a chain cannot manage a resh juice program, orinstance, encouraging it to include
some 
resh juice,or to add resh sour mix may be the optimal solution.“Just because you can’t get a ‘10’ doesn’t mean youshould stay at a ‘one,’” notes Commer.It also is important that any new ingredient be ap-plicable to more than one drink recipe, says Finklang,and that the recipes are relatively easy to execute. “Iknow my bartenders,” she says, “and you can’t havedrinks with too many moving parts. I don’t makethem over-complicated.”
Establish a Clear
(and Realistic)
 
Vision
Know theDifference
BetweenChains and Independents
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Knowing the customer is crucial. “Remember, you’re develop-ing or the consumer, not the executive,” says Commer. “Knowingthe make-up o your customer base is very important.”Finklang, whose restaurants are beer-ocused, leans towardruity and sweet cocktails that play well with her emale clien-tele. Te drinks oten are made with vodka and pomegranateor cranberry juices. Tey appeal to those who are less likely toorder beer.Regional diferences are important. Gin may be hot in New York. “But where I am,” says Chersevani, “they’re more into whiskies. I cater to that.” When creating a resh sour or achain, Commer uses one part lemon, one part lime and twoparts simple syrup. While this works in some markets, it prob-ably would be too sweet or bars in an area like San Francisco.
Understand your
Demographics
6
Boudreau inherited a large drink menu at ini Bigs. More than 75 per-cent o the drinks on that menu were vodka-based. He ditched all but six o the original cocktails. In the process, he discovered some new avorites.“I added the Chocolat Cochon (bacon-inused Woodord Reserve,cherry, chocolate, amaro and bitters, served with a giant ice cube) and theRum Shrubb (Appleton rum, blackberry, raspberry, sugar and red winevinegar) mainly to get people talking about us. But these drinks havebecome our two best sellers.”rying new taste proles can have surprising results.
New Taste ProfilesMake New Friends
 At Tini Bigs, Jamie Boudreaudiscovered cocktail tastes that weremore popular than he expected.
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