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Are craft cocktail bars and craft spirits growing apart?
Hello all! I’m working a story and would love some input from distillers. When I visited great cocktail lounges a decade ago, they always liked to showcase the spirits they were using, especially local and artisanal spirits — on their menus, talking them up with customers. Visiting was a great way for folks to get exposed to new stuff.
But now craft cocktail bars seem to be downlplaying the brands used in their drinks, and play up their in-house infsuions, fatwashing, and other hacks. Is this something that you’ve noticed? If so, why? And have you found workarounds or other ways to encourage on-premise accounts to get the word out about your spirits?
I’d love to get your general impressions, and hope to follow up by phone with some of you.
— Wayne Curtis
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2 Replies
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We have taken the path of opening our own craft cocktail bar, using our own spirits, using the same approach (house made syrups, infusions, etc.). Its a far superior way to showcase your spirits, project your brand, and maximize tasting room revenue. So we have our beer, our cocktails, and food.
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Yes. Think of it from the bar’s perspective – If we use the standard spirits, how can we really set ourselves apart? Anyone can make a Old Fashioned/Manhattan/etc, so why would they come here? What is so special about here? All the crazy weird things they do are great at a small scale, but impractical at a larger scale. Also, there’s a ton of recipes for imitation Campari/Chartreuse/etc. Why not make something with cheap high proof vodka that has the exact nuances they want vs trying to mix and match things that might not do exactly what you want? Want a different color for this batch? Easy. Slightly different flavor for summer vs fall? Easy. A bartender with a great palate is worth more than anything else. It always has been. The “dive” bars won’t buy our products due to price and they don’t care about what make our spirits better than major brands. They’re just going to dump a ton of mixers on top of them so it doesn’t matter.
You’ve probably also noticed that a lot of small distilleries are more like bars that make their own booze than spirits companies. It’s the same idea. Differentiation is what you’re seeing. If you can’t grow, as it is much harder now, then you have to find a way of standing out.
The winners will be consumers that like weirder stuff. Kinda like you see in Europe – every town has it’s own spirit. It repents much more regionality which is awesome. Because of Prohibition we lost this and we’re just starting to see it come back.
The losers, eventually, will be the premium major brands. They will always be a variable balance, but that balance right now is heavily with the big guys. It is starting to sway back to the little guys.
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