A shorter cocktail list

We took five cocktails off the list this month. Nine drinks meant nine sets of measurements, several syrups and more open bottles than our small bar could use well. Some ingredients sat for days between orders. We were throwing away citrus mixes at the end of service and making another batch the next afternoon.

Owen laid out the prep sheets beside the orders from a normal week. We looked at how often each drink was made, how long its ingredients kept and what happened when several tables ordered at once. The drinks that needed a fresh garnish, a separate syrup and a bottle used nowhere else took up the most space.

Four drinks we can repeat

The shorter list has an amber spritz, a bar sour, a peach highball and a lemon gin drink. Each has a written measure and a glass kept within reach. We can teach the whole list at the start of a shift, then spend the rest of the evening checking the ice, juice and temperature.

For the spritz, we stir bitter aperitif and dry white wine over ice before adding soda. It comes with one large round ice cube and a lemon twist. The bar sour takes more shaking because of the egg white, but its ingredients are used steadily and we can prepare the citrus in small batches.

We press lemons before the bar opens, then taste the juice before measuring the sugar. A lemon that has been sitting warm on the counter can behave differently from one straight out of the refrigerator. Keeping the batch small gives us time to make another if the first one runs low.

Room for a change

The peach highball will leave when the ripe peaches finish. We are also testing an orange sour for September 20, using fresh orange and lemon juice with gin. The dried orange slice can be prepared ahead without taking space from the food prep.

Four cocktails give us enough choice beside the wine, beer and drinks without alcohol. We can still change a drink when an ingredient is ready. We just want every drink on the page to be one we can make consistently during a full dinner service.