What makes a great cocktail list?

With London Cocktail Week kicking off next week, Chivas Regal Global Brand Ambassador, Max Warner explains what makes a truly great cocktail list.

Max Warner, brand ambassador for Chivas Regal

Bartending culture has never been so varied and exciting, with new flavour trends emerging just as cocktail fans are catching on to the last big trend. So how do bars keep up? Having travelled the world for the Chivas Masters, visiting many of the best bars in the world as recognised by the industry, here are my top tips for bars looking to create a standout cocktail list.

Cover your bases.

Make sure you have some easily recognisable ingredients and crowd pleasers: drinks for the cautious customer who might not know their Plymouth from their Old Tom. Once you’ve done that, you can branch out. Your menu is your opportunity to educate, engage and entertain your guests before they have even tasted a drink.

Know your customer.

If you only compile your menu based on your personal drink preferences then everyone who drinks at your bar had better have the same tastes as you.

Hopefully large egos are diminishing in the global drinks industry as bartenders focus more on customer service and the overall drinking experience. People nowadays are more likely to blog, post and tweet with images about the taste, appearance and appeal of a drink than the size of the back bar and the amount of bottles, be them spirits, liqueurs, vermouths or bitters.

Make your menu visual.

Think about it as being a story with a beginning, middle and end. Sometimes images can be engaging, providing they are relevant. Make sure it is readable (not too small a font) and most importantly don’t make it too fussy. There are a few tricks you can use to draw people’s attention to the signature drinks, such as placing them in the middle of the page, where people’s line of vision will focus easily. I always found that using language like wild, special and rare before the names of the drinks made them more sellable because they tend to intrigue and excite guests. I saw this first hand at the Chivas Masters, where the world’s top bartenders each had to deliver a modern cocktail classic inspired by the great cocktail eras. The names of the cocktails were equally as important as their taste, presentation and the bartender’s interpretation of what makes a classic cocktail. You should also try to construct cocktail names that are amusing by using house made ingredients to enhance the identity. Gareth Evans and his team at the ‘Social’ empire (Pollen Street, City & Eating House…even the Berner’s Tavern) do this better than anyone I have seen, plus the drinks look and taste outstanding.

Know when to update your list.

Nowadays it’s no longer good enough to have a comfortable place to drink with soft furnishings, beautiful glassware and an attention to detail. Bars are forever pushing their boundaries in their quest to be better and exceed the expectations of their guests. The Dead Rabbit in New York has been open less than two years – Jack McGarry and Sean Muldoon have already launched their second menu (70 or so new drinks), which is more of a stunning compendium of historical imbibing. The Artesian in London has just launched its new menu (it launches at the beginning of July each year) which focusses on pushing the needle with contemporary offerings to enhance the senses. Learn to gauge the right time for your venue to bring in a change.

Don’t be afraid to push the boundaries.

This year I’ve judged the national heats for the Chivas Masters across 13 countries, which has been a great experience to discover the nuances in cocktail trends across different markets. Make sure you know what’s new in bars in your city, in your country, and the rest of world. I have seen bars in some countries that have successfully trained their staff and stocked their bar thanks to trailing through cocktail lists on the internet and training themselves on drinks through YouTube. There are no boundaries anymore – only the ones you don’t strive to break.

When all’s said and done, you’ll know you’ve created a great list when an experienced bartender walks into your bar and avoids the typical “I’ve been making cocktails all week so really fancy a beer and a shot” and instead is enticed to order a cocktail. Also make sure they are good enough to pinch, bartenders and drinks enthusiasts alike love a well presented cocktail list which they can slip in their bag, an inspirational collector’s item and a great advertisement for your drinks, your bar and the passionate team that has created them.