One of our viewers asked for us to explain how to set up a well system for a cocktail menu. We’re going to explain the basics of setting up a service well and use that same information to build out a cocktail menu well for speed, efficiency and possibly even cost cutting.
Speed Rack 101:
Basic Well System:
- Most service wells are set up in almost the same manner, Vodka followed by gin, rum, tequila, triple sec, whiskey, etc.
- The idea is that you are grouping ingredients together based off of their frequency of use together.
- Tequila next to triple sec for a Margarita, Whiskey near the Sweet Vermouth for Manhattans, etc
- This will help to construct drink orders quickly and efficiently
- Juices, mixers, syrups and garnishes should follow this same principal of organization: Oranges next to the cherries for an Old Fashioned
Steps for setting up a Cocktail Menu Speed rack
- The First thing that you want to do is to run a Cocktail report that focuses on what you top 5 house cocktails are and give them top priority in the Cocktail menu speed rack.
- Use the same principles in the well speed rack to build out the Cocktail menu speed rack.
- Group commonly used ingredients near each other
- Same applies for juices, mixers, etc
- See if you can create a few cocktails that can feature the same brand of base spirit.
- The example that I used in the video was a Last Word, an Aviation and a Negroni
- This will help to minimize the “footprint” of your bottles and can help to get your gin at a better cost.
I hope we answered your questions! If anyone would like to ask questions for your bar program, feel free to email me at chris@abarabove.com or comment below!
Chris Tunstall
Co-Founder of A Bar Above and career bartender and mixologist. I love experimenting, creating cocktails, and drinking Green Chartreuse.
Chris,
Good Evening, Sometimes while I am doing research (like your speed rack set up video)
I will periodically notice sweet and dry vermouth in a speed rack or well set up, but I also read that because vermouth is technically a fortified wine that they should really be refrigerated, I am just curious what the correct practice is for this?
Puzzled in PA
Sean O’Brien
Hey Sean,
Great question and from what I’ve seen there are a few things that you can do to help prevent your vermouth from oxidizing too quickly.
1. Use cheater bottles (check with your local laws first). Decanting your vermouth into smaller bottles that you can go through in a few days is a good way to keep your vermouth fresh for your customers.
2. Keep it cold – Consider keeping your vermouth in the same chilled containers that you hold some of your juices in. This won’t keep your vermouth from oxidizing, but it will help to slow the rate of oxidation.
3. Create a low abv cocktail that features vermouth as your main ingredient. This will help you to move your vermouth quickly and introduce people to the beauty that is fresh vermouth.
4. If you are really passionate about fresh vermouth you could go crazy and start using inert gas or a Coravin system, but that is an extreme scenario and could be way too expensive/time consuming to be realistic.
Hopefully these tips are helpful,
Chris