“Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.” 

- Albert Einstein 

To my knowledge, Einstein was no mixologist, but his maxim is my go-to mindset any time I am asked to create a cocktail for a multi-location account or a high volume bar. In early 2018 I was asked to create a cocktail menu for a new bar program in Austin, Tx. Their focus was delicious cravable cocktails that were as tasty as they were ​“Insta-worthy.” This whole bar was staged to be a destination for social media influencers and their aspiring followers. Every section of the room had a different backdrop environment perfectly placed to take the next potentially viral photo. The only thing they needed to close the circle was a #simplyperfect cocktail in hand. This is where I came in. I worked for weeks with the team from Patrón and Bacardi as well as our local distributor to make sure that the cocktails I dreamt up had all of the portfolio well covered. I leaned on our social media team at Patrón to provide a list of all of the most current trends in the world of #mixology as well as provide real data on what type of cocktails garnered the most likes and comments. 

I got to work creating a list of potential drinks to be able to present to their management and bar team. When all was said and done I had 12 drinks ready to show them. Granted these drinks aren’t a perfect fit for every bar but as for what the account was looking for it was absolutely on the money. They couldn’t have been more excited about the presentation and it was an awesome feeling to watch the group enjoy the drinks. Fist bumps and high fives from the team at the end let me know that we had knocked it out of the park. Ultimately they didn’t use all of the drinks that i showed which i absolutely expected and some ended up being switched around with other brands. I have added the original menu for the bar (keep in mind that i didn’t name all of the cocktails so don’t come at me :) ! )

The unexpected champion of the menu was far and away the ​“Wonder Water.” At its essence it was a pineapple twist on an Austin favorite called the Ranch Water. It is as much beloved as it is debated by its legions of fans in Texas where I live.

Wonder Water is tasty for sure but there was definitely more behind the reason for its popularity. It was a bottled drink that was resealed inside of a Topo Chico glass bottle using a custom bottle cap. Bartenders loved it since all they had to do was reach inside the cooler, crack open a bottle and serve a refreshing consistent cocktail as quickly as they could serve a bottle of beer. Guests quickly caught on that they didn’t need to wait as long to have one in hand for their next perfectly staged photo op — It was a win-win!

The breakthrough that we created that made this a game changer for the account was the introduction of a bottle wand. This meant that they could literally batch cases of the bottles in less than 30 mins. They would fill the batch bucket with the ingredients. Pour out 4 ounces of the topo chico bottle, fill each bottle using the bottle wand, and then using a bottle capper to bottle and store it in the fridge until ready to serve. 

The success of this cocktail spread quickly. We set up the ​“Loco Chico” program and created multiple different variants for different styles of bars. It has been estimated that over 10k of these variations have been sold since its creation. As you can see it is sometimes the simplest of things that can easily be the most effective. 

Author: Stephen Halpin