Revitalise Your Venue With Food & Spirits Combos
Boost customer experience in your venue with inspirational Spirit & Food combinations that take things to the next level.
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
REVITALISE YOUR VENUE WITH FOOD & SPIRITS COMBOS
In this article we focus on exciting Spirit & Food combinations for your venue that are sure to offer your guests a unique and heightened sensorial experience, elevating their visit to an unforgettable occasion.
SOME GREAT SUGGESTIONS TO GET YOU
GOINGCREATE A SHORT FOOD MENU TO ACCOMPANY YOUR COCKTAILS
The best way to promote a combined food and spirits offering is through a small, concise food menu that runs in conjunction with your normal menu. On the menu it will suggest some food options alongside a small list of cocktails and perhaps a one-liner sentence explaining why they pair well together.
TAILOR THE SERVINGS AROUND POPULAR OCCASIONS
Different flavours and different styles of drink fit into different occasions. For example, you are less likely to suggest a peated single malt Scotch served neat during a brunch occasion.
To get started, look at the times of day as your inspiration: Brunch, Lunch or Dinner. Lunchtime drinks are likely to be colder and more refreshing like cocktails or ciders, whereas dinners can start with apéritifs and end with digestifs.
The great thing about apéritifs is that they open the palate up, making it responsive to absorbing more flavours. Mentally, too, guests are awake and anticipating food so it can be a great time to offer novel drinks to more open minds.
DEVELOP A LANGUAGE OF FLAVOUR AND LET THAT BE YOUR GUIDE.
Break down each spirit brand into its fundamental flavours. Start to imagine how you can present and maximise these flavours in innovative ways alongside complimentary food.
This enables you to discuss food and cocktails in the same way, connecting both offerings in the guests' mind and your own.
When you plan your menu use this handy template to ensure you’ve considered all the factors:
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- Brand
- Flavour
- Type of drink
- Occasion
Let’s look at an example of a Food & Spirit combination plan here with this digestif example:
Brand - Zacapa 23
Flavour - Raw honey, toasted vanilla, caramelised pineapple, hazelnut, sherry, vinegar, mango
Type of drink - Zacapa Old Fashioned Cocktail
Occasion - Digestif – the rum’s sweeter pineapple notes and orange zest, closely tailed by layers of dark chocolate, make a Zacapa Old Fashioned a perfect after dinner choice
GET INSPIRED WITH OUR AFRICA TEAM
Watch this clip from our DBA Africa team as they take you through a mouth-watering combination of Chichinga Kebabs and Old Fashioned Whisky.
LASTLY, HAVE FUN EXPLORING THE FLAVOURS AND THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX TO PRESENT THEM IN A NEW LIGHT.
As a bartender, it’s so important to think of food and cuisine in terms of flavour. It’s one of the greatest sales tools we have in this industry, so let’s talk to our customers about what they can expect in the flavours we create and then take them on a flavour journey.