Batched cocktails are here to stay, but what’s good for the bar is not necessarily good for the guest, writes Satan’s Whiskers’ Kevin Armstrong.
For good reason, the pre-batching of cocktails has become standard practice across cocktail bars’ operations. And while I’m known for classic drinks made, let’s say, classically, I’m not anti-batching. I am more batching agnostic. I see some benefits, but I also think we should question its role as a default approach for all bars.
First though, the pros. Undeniably, the major advantage of batched cocktails is speed. Our testing has shown that if you are making cocktails à la minute, you will struggle to produce a standard round of cocktails any quicker than 70 seconds per drink, and even then you would need to be extremely proficient. Most bartenders don’t get near this.
Batching has the capacity to cut production times dramatically. A round of cocktails that might take six or seven minutes, longer perhaps, to reach a table, can be there within two or three minutes. Faster service, reduced labour and potentially quicker table turns (so long as you have the demand) are all big wins in our challenging business environment.
In some circumstances this approach is driven by operators needing to make their spaces work financially. Rents are high and good-sized spaces hard to find, so it makes absolute sense to maximise the space you can give over to paying guests and leave only just enough space for you to do the work that is required. As batching usually needs less service infrastructure, it means you can serve more guests from smaller bars.
The main attraction for me is that there are things that can be accomplished with batching that can never be practically achieved when making cocktails à la minute. Temperature of service and carbonation, for example, are huge plus points. A pre-batched and diluted Martini will sit happily in a freezer at -15°C – a totally unachievable service temperature if you’re making one from scratch. With carbonation, the same is true – a well-made and fully carbonated drink will likely come out holding its carbonation much better than taking 50ml of flat spirit and topping it with 100ml of carbonated mixer, but then again, that depends on what you’re making and what you’re trying to accomplish.
So, what is the problem?
First, batching is reducing the need for skilled bartending labour. The issues surrounding deskilling are something I will expand upon in the next edition, but we are getting ever closer to the point where a cocktail bartender need only open and pour a cocktail in the way a sommelier might pour wine. There is a value perception here too – or lack of one – and that is that we are depriving our guests of some of the hospitality experience they come for. It is the equivalent of booking a seat at a chef’s counter in expectation of watching the chef work, only for them to pull out a ready meal. Theatre and craft at the bar still mean something and I truly believe a lot of guests enjoy watching that process.
Another issue is the capacity for adjustment. Cocktail drinking is incredibly personal and one of the best things about being a bartender is being able to tailor a recipe to the needs of the guest, or even create something on the spot. Some of the best cocktails were created this way. Batched cocktails can almost never be adjusted. You get what is batched or you find something else to drink.
Fancy a little less tequila, a change of brand preference perhaps, and it can’t be done. And I’m yet to hear a guest request an extra pinch of malic acid when they want their drink a little sharper.
On the topic of acids, it is abundantly clear to me, and should be to anyone else with a decent palate, that while they can be used to facilitate the right concentrations of acidity in a cocktail, powdered acids in themselves do not provide a suitable flavour replacement for citrus. An acid solution-based Daiquiri or Margarita is never as good as the lime equivalent, or in general when fresh citrus forms such an integral part of a recipe.
In fact, in the same way that you can tell when stevia is used as a sweetener (it tastes unpleasant), you can also tell when acids have been over or misused (it’s similarly unpleasant), as I experienced recently at one of London’s hot new openings… my glass of flavoured acid solution was simply undrinkable.
I have found that in some bars that operate this way, there have been dramatic changes in beverage consistency, between visits or batches. I imagine these spaces might argue that à la minute production is also inconsistent, but with all the component ingredients to hand, a bartender can at least taste and adjust accordingly to suit the required profile. Batching has made us great at expediting cocktails, but we’ve sacrificed taste for haste. We may have reduced perishability but we’ve also reduced the customer experience to something less flexible and more transactional. In our quest for efficiency we can’t lose sight of what it is that makes drinking in a bar enjoyable.