When I talk about romancing cocktails, keep in mind I’m not referring to the names of the ‘Between the Sheets’, and ‘Flirtini’s of the drink world. Instead, romancing is an often overlooked art of creating cocktail menus for bars and restaurants. Back to the business aspect of running a bar, “knowing your customer” recognizes that, unless you work in the super-speakeasies and cocktail lounges of the world, the majority of your guests don’t understand a lot of flavour combinations hiding behind your bar.

Because of this, a simple listing of cocktail ingredients will no longer suffice in selling your creations.

For food, a simple listing of ingredients still has a place, as the average customer has a fairly complex understanding of the flavours of many culinary ingredients. How many of your guests have tasted Green Chartreuse and Galliano together before? Have they even heard of both liqueurs? The name of ingredients becomes less important in describing cocktails as guests will more easily recognize the flavours of herbs, spices, anise, and vanilla.

Quality cocktail lounges are rare in the world, and so too are the guests who will have a deep understanding of the quality ingredients us bartenders are working with on a regular basis. Sure, the cocktails on my menu contain Rhubarb, Celery, and Boker’s bitters (and of course, Angostura), but they have no place on a cocktail menu where their appearance would simply confuse my guests.

If the guest is curious to learn more, the bartender would be more than happy to go further into depth about our ingredients and our approach to creating quality cocktails, but for the ones who stick strictly to reading the cocktail menu, here are a few tips to put the romance back into your cocktails.

Emphasize flavours, rather than names of products. As I stated before, your guests are more familiar with flavours then they are with specific spirits and liqueurs. It may be very easy for them to recognize vanilla flavours, but they might not have ever heard of Navan before.

Offering something unique? Tell me About it. Maybe your bar has begun to explore the caviars and foams of the molecular mixology world. Great. Does your guest know what you’re talking about when you say “topped with raspberry caviar” ? If I think you’re talking about fish eggs, that sounds pretty repulsive to me in a cocktail.

There’s a specific opportunity in cutting edge techniques that requires you to go further in depth in explanations, and even embellish. Try,

“To finish your cocktail, our bar scientists have worked tirelessly to trap fresh berries in spheres that burst with flavour in your mouth”

I think that sounds a lot more enticing in the description of that cocktail.

Does calling by name and listing ingredients serve your best interest? While flavours are the most important in romancing your cocktail, if you’re offering a unique or rare spirit or ingredient in your cocktail, it’s presence in the description makes it just as important. By remaining vague on other ingredients, it leaves you open to tinker and perfect your cocktails as time passes, without the need to reprint.

If the cocktail’s good enough to make it on a list, be proud of it. Gloat. Your guest has chosen your bar for a specific reason, and it could very well be that your “Cara Mia Strawberry Sour” is the best cocktail they’ve ever had. If you are confident enough to put a particular cocktail on your menu, your description of that cocktail should mirror that confidence. It gives your guests piece of mind when choosing their drink, and your bartender’s a level of excellence to aspire to.

For an example of cocktail romancing in action, I’m very proud to present Johnny Rocco’s New Cocktail Menu.

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When I started at Johnny Rocco’s a little over two years ago, there was very little to differentiate our bar from any other chain restaurant in Canada. Unlike many of the bars and restaurants across the United States and throughout Europe, Canada has been slow to adopt a “fresh” cocktail culture, and finding a place here in Niagara to grab a quality cocktail was more than a little bit of a challenge any given night of the week. So much, in fact, that when I went to Tales of the Cocktail this year, it even warranted a story in the local paper.

About 6 months ago, I made the move from Bartender to Bar Manager, and we’ve slowly but surely been making progress in the way we approach our bar. As we get set to open our second restaurant in St. Catharines, Ontario, I’ve been given free reign over our wine and cocktail list. After countless days and weeks of meetings and tinkering with everything, I’m proud to present our new cocktail list. As we photograph everything, I’ll post recipes and photos.

Johnny’s Bellini
When it comes to Italian cocktails, the Bellini is king, and it’s no wonder why this combination of fresh peach puree and Italian sparkling wine is our favourite, too. Johnny’s over-the-top garnish is the perfect compliment.

The Rocc-It Caesar
Fueled by Johnny’s own secret blend of spices, this huge Skyy Vodka Caesar stands tall with an Antipasto skewer and a Montreal steak spice and bacon rim. Now that’s one bloody good Caesar.

‘Cara Mia’ Strawberry Sour
With hints of vanilla, and captivating strawberry Grappa, this strong and sour cocktail is complimented by a carefully placed tinge of Ruffino Chianti. Nothing short of love at first sip.

Supersonic Gin and Tonic
Gin is in, and this could quite possibly be the best G & T we’ve ever made. Packed full of fresh lime and slightly sweetened with a hint of Apricot Brandy, we dare you not to try another.

Sicilian ‘68*
Johnny’s favourite aperitif – a combination of Italian Amaro and Rossi D’Asiago Limoncello, complimented by fresh citrus open up the palate for a cocktail worthy of pairing with Nonna’s best meal.

The Villa-Perosa Cocktail**
This pre-prohibition tipple is making it’s return featuring exclusive G’Vine Floraison gin, sparkling wine, and fresh, seasonal berries for a quite unusually tasty gin cocktail sure to leave you wanting more.

Espresso Yourself
For the serious caffeine lovers, this bourbon based brew is served tall dark and handsome – rich in aroma and style, and finished with a sweet dessert topping.

Vino Vidi Vici
Julius Caesar may have “came, saw and conquered”, but we’re not that far off with this house specialty Vino cocktail. White Zinfandel and Sherry, paired with vanilla Cognac pave the way for the new king of Johnny’s cocktails.

All cocktails above will be sold for $7.99CDN, which, by the way, is a ridiculous deal.

*Sicilian ‘68: The “68″ is in reference to the year (1868) the distilleries for the two main ingredients, Averna Amaro and Rossi D’Asiago Limoncello were established
**The Villa-Perosa Cocktail: Initially, I had hoped to include a Bramble or Clover Club cocktail on the menu, but after playing around with recipes and adding some Prosecco into the mix, I realized my cocktail was getting much closer to a French 75. “French 75″ was the name of a French Artillery gun during world war 1, and the Villar Perosa is the name of its Italian counterpart

Please feel free to leave any questions or comments about the cocktails here for me. I’d be more than happy to chat with you about them. Cheers!

A note on the restaurant:
By no means are we “fine dining” at Johnny Rocco’s. Instead, what we offer is a family style, quality approach to casual dining, and because of that, it was important that our cocktail list reflected that.

One of the first things I learned about creating cocktail menus was that for most people, a simple listing of ingredients does very little to sell drinks. Instead, “romancing” ingredients and flavours to present a cocktail in ways less discerning guests will recognize will do a far superior job.

Who taught me that? A good friend and mentor of mine, Dean Serneels, of Flairco and Mad Mixologist fame. And oh yeah, by the way, I just hired him to tend bar at our St. Catharines location.

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