Perks for Operators Serving Cocktails on Tap

• Speed and Precision: A key benefit of draft cocktails is their ability to come out exactly the same every time. This means your team can create high-volume batches and deliver consistent beverages in seconds.
• Drink Samples: It’s easy to offer samples of different cocktails with kegged drinks. Providing pre-batched cocktails allows guests to try different drinks without committing to one too soon. Offering drink samples will improve customer satisfaction and help guests make decisions or try something new.
• Less Waste: When working in a fast-paced environment, individual cocktails can be rushed and made improperly, resulting in wasted ingredients and unhappy customers. Draft cocktails are measured by a tenth of an ounce, so there are no unnecessary pours when serving cocktails on tap.
• Ease Pressure: A crowded bar can be highly stressful for any bartender (especially when working with new, inexperienced bartenders). With kegged cocktails ready to be served, bartenders can serve drinks quickly and easily without rushing to find the tools and fresh ingredients needed to mix a drink on the spot.

Perks for Patrons Enjoying Cocktails on Tap

• Convenience: Guests won’t need to wait for a bartender to mix their drinks. Instead, the cocktail that they want will be ready right on the spot.
• Cost: Thanks to draft cocktails, customers can sample drinks before buying a full one, so they won’t need to waste money on a cocktail they don’t like. Additionally, bars can offer draft cocktails at a low price thanks to operational benefits and increased margins.
• Taste: Bartenders mixing individual cocktails run the risk of inconsistent measurements, but this isn’t the case with cocktails on tap. Customers can expect consistent taste with every new cocktail poured.

How to Create the Perfect Pour

When putting together your big batch of cocktails, there are a few things to keep in mind. Like any regular cocktail, there will be some trial and error before nailing down a flawless ready-to-go drink. Check out this list of best practices for kegging cocktails.

To have the perfect draft cocktail, make sure you:

• Have an ice machine nearby and ready to go.
• Use a keg agitator, such as the Micro Matic Spinstick Mixing Base, to avoid separation.
• Clean the lines at least once a month with professional cleaning tools or local service. Drinks with intense flavors (like coffee) can leave behind unwanted tastes and impact the quality of your next batch of cocktails.
• Add the date the batch was created on your keg to know when a fresh batch is needed. Any batch that uses fresh juice should be used within five days. Otherwise, the taste will turn a little funky.
• Diluting: Pouring a draft cocktail over ice doesn’t dilute it the way shaking or stirring would. To compensate, you need to incorporate water into your recipe. Alternatively, you can stir or shake a kegged cocktail with ice before you serve it, but then you are reintroducing some of the à la minute labor you were hoping to eliminate. As a general rule, factor this equation into your batch recipe: Stirred cocktails = 12% dilution of total liquid volume. Shaken cocktails  = 18% dilution of total liquid volume.

Try to avoid:

• Using ingredients that might clog the lines, like pulp-heavy mixtures.
• Using ingredients that will go bad quickly.
• Keeping carbonated batch cocktails in storage spaces above 38 degrees Fahrenheit.