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The demand for creative craft cocktails shows no sign of slowing, while bartenders struggle with how to serve drinks quickly without losing the taste.
But small bars and hotel chains in New York and elsewhere are making large batches of cocktails and connecting them to tap systems like those used for beer.
Cocktails on tap, also called kegged or draft cocktails, make it easier to serve mixed drinks at large events.
“You can sell it with the speed of a draft beer. It’s the best of all possible worlds,” says Anthony Caporale, a cocktail consultant and representative for Drambuie.
Part of the appeal of a cocktail has been watching the bartender mix it. While punches could be made in advance, cocktails needed to be made on the spot to blend the alcohol or give a gin and tonic the perfect fizz, traditionalists held.
But as bartenders have experimented with cocktails on tap, they found that, after some trial and error, they could come up with recipes that satisfied customers.
The easiest drinks to do on tap are made only of alcohol, such as Negronis or Manhattans, because the liquor doesn’t go bad.
Bartenders mixing large batches have to take into account factors such as whether juices will stay fresh, how carbonation from taps powered by carbon dioxide will change the acidity of the drink, how much ice might dilute the drink and how often to shake kegs that contain ingredients like cucumber or ginger to keep them from settling.
Ingredients that may clog the keg lines need to be strained. One thing that just doesn’t work, the bartenders say, are drinks with egg whites.
NBR Food Industry Week
Fri, 19 Sep 2014
Fri, 19 Sep 2014
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Cocktails on tap – help for busy bartenders
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