Delicious food and drinks go hand in hand to complement a restaurant menu and make it enticing for customers. However, pairing drinks, especially cocktails, with your cuisine can be tricky.
Creating the right drinks menu does not need to be stressful, but it is an art that requires thorough research with a splash of creativity. Drinks are as important as the dishes you offer on your menu, and you might incorporate a seasonal drinks menu for your restaurant.
If you have been struggling to create an enticing drinks menu for your restaurant, this guide is for you. Once you have selected your drinks, use a free menu maker to create a quick and professional menu.
How to Master the Art of Cocktail Crafting
Cocktails are great for showing your creativity and creating some amazingly refreshing drinks for your customers. Before designing your menu for drinks, you must first master the art of cocktail crafting. Here is how you can do so.
- Use the right glassware for the right type of drink. For instance, use a classic martini glass to serve martini while margarita, copper, collins, and rock glasses for serving specific cocktails.
- Understand different spirits as they are the main ingredients in cocktails. Commonly, gin, tequila, brandy, whisky, and vodka are used in most cocktails.
- Choose the mixers wisely to add flavours to your cocktail, and learn to balance the flavours.
- Shake and stir the drink properly to incorporate the flavours of all the ingredients. Both actions impact the drink differently, so learn when to do what.
- Garnishing can make a great difference to the presentation of the drink, so make it count. Use the proper garnish for each type of cocktail.
Tips for Creating the Perfect Drink Menu
An attractive menu template is not enough: you must complement drinks with your cuisine to attract customers. Follow these tips to create the perfect drink menu that makes an impression on the diners.
Cater to your Customers
There is so much variety to cocktails and other drinks that make it difficult to choose the best ones for your drink menu. Keep your customer’s preferences in your mind. You can run a survey or use historical data to determine the potential demand for the drinks.
Considering your customers also helps you price the drinks. Understand the demographics and then plan the right drink menu that would work the best.
Add Diversity
When crafting a drink menu, invest thought into the number of options you include in your menu. Ten to twelve types of drink are considered a good number, but you can adjust it depending on important factors such as your budget and customers’ preferences.
Besides cocktails, you can offer wines, beers, and non-alcoholic drink options. The diversity in your drinks menu will compel diners to try a variety of drinks with their food instead of regular water. Including non-alcoholic options help you cater to a wider range of customers.
Write Creative Names
You have the creative freedom to create innovative and attractive cocktail names. The names can significantly influence the customer’s attention. You can even use sarcastic or funny names as long as they are not offensive.
Include Enticing Descriptions
When you include cocktails in your drink menu, you must add descriptions of what the drink contains. You must list the main ingredients to help diners choose according to their taste. To be more comprehensive, you may also include quantities of each ingredient.
Writing captivating descriptions for drinks is tricky compared to food items but has a significant impact on convincing the diners to order.
Add Photos
Pictures can make a great difference to the effectiveness of your catchy names and descriptions. Make the most of professional photography by using aesthetically pleasing photos. Be mindful of the number and size of the pictures. They must not be overwhelming to the eyes but rather appealing.
Pair with Food
The best way to promote your drink menu is to pair drinks, especially cocktails, with food items. However, you must be mindful of making refreshing pairs rather than offering weird and unusual combinations.
Display Prices Cleverly
Intelligent menu designing allows you to shift the customers’ focus from price to menu offering. You must display prices cleverly such that they are less visible. The best placement is to add them below the description, so it’s not the first thing that customers notice.
This leads to product-based purchases instead of price-based decisions.
Emphasise High-Profit Drinks
Your drinks may have a variety of price ranges, so you must highlight the high-profit ones. You can do this by displaying it earlier, using a different font, including pictures, or placing them in a separate box from other items.
Create a Successful Drinks Menu
Whether you are redesigning an existing drink menu or creating one from scratch, you need some insights into the art of cocktail crafting. Follow this guide to get some inspiration and have a good addition to your restaurant.
Don’t shy away from following your creative instinct while keeping your customers’ intent in consideration to create a delightful drinks menu for your customers.
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