February 2017 Bar Business

February 2017

THE HOW-TO PUBLICATION

BAR BUS NESS MAGAZINE

new Craft Cocktail

New Look For 2017!

Recipes Inside

Plus: Inside NYC’s new Harlem Renaissance (& Austin’s Ice Renaissance)

How TO:

Pos Systems Scheduling Software

Digital Jukeboxes: State of The Sonic Union

Alternative Energy Solutions

Changing your whole perspective on energy drinks See our ads on pages 9 & 27

Jon Taffer CAN INCREASE YOUR REVENUE UP TO 44% YOU’VE SEEN HIM DO IT. YOU KNOW HE CAN. LET HIM DO IT FOR YOU! TafferVT.com/barbiz

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We Consult To: • • • •

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VISIT OUR WEBSITE TODAY to receive your complimentary copy

Contents How Tos

14

Upgrade Your POS System

18

Monitor Portion Control

February

Now’s the time for a new POS system.

Leaky bottles or sneaky staff, stop loss now.

23

Update Scheduling Software

28

Tuning Up: Digital Jukeboxes

Strategies & solutions for all staff to thrive.

State of The Sonic Union.

Departments

4

From The Publisher

6

On Tap

10

A letter from our Publisher Arthur Sutley.

Industry news & announcements.

Behind The Bar

In-depth analysis of beer, wine & spirits.

42

Bar Tour

46

Inventory

48

Happenings

52

Q+A

Profile of NYC’s upper-Upper West Side, local-only, craft brew & bistro Hop House Harlem.

Featured product releases.

Important dates for the month.

38

Cover STory Alternative Energy Solutions

Exploring a new wave of healthier energy drinks & cocktails people won’t be embarrassed to order at the bar.

Chris Bostick – Austin, TX’s Half Step

Features

34

There’s An App For That!

Rounding up current, on-premise digital offerings to improve your bar

Contents photo: Laszlo Bar - San Francisco, CA

barbizmag.com

February 2017

Bar Business Magazine

1

THE HOW-TO PUBLICATION

BAR BUS NESS MAGAZINE

February 2017

What’s your favorite season for drinking?

Vol. 10

No. 2

Bar Business Magazine (ISSN 1944-7531) is published

by Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation 55 Broad St 26th Fl., New York, NY 10004

subscription department 800-895-4389

executive offices President Arthur J. McGinnis, Jr. Publisher Art Sutley 212-620-7247 asutley@sbpub.com

editorial

Editor Ashley Bray 212-620-7220 abray@sbpub.com

“All seasons with my glass of Crown Royal.”

Writer Christopher Tarantino Contributing Writers Elyse Glickman, Jeremy LeBlanc, Rachael Robbins

art

Creative Director Wendy Williams “Wintertime. Cocktails with peppermint or cinnamon for me.”

Art Director Nicole Cassano Graphic Designer Aleza Leinwand

production

Corporate Production Director Mary Conyers mconyers@sbpub.com Digital Ad Operations Associate Kevin Fuhrmann

circulation

Circulation Director Maureen Cooney mcooney@sbpub.com

“Fall. Fat-washing Bourbon & cold-weather cocktails!”

advertising sales Art Sutley 212-620-7247 asutley@sbpub.com

Bar Business Magazine (Print ISSN 1944-7531, Digital ISSN 2161-5071) (USPS#000-342) is published February, April, June, August, October, and December. January, March, May, July, September, and November will only be offered in a digital format at no charge by Simmons-Boardman Publ. Corp, 55 Broad St. 26th Floor, New York, NY 10004. Printed in the U.S.A. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY and Additional mailing offices. Pricing, Qualified U.S. Bar Owners may request a free subscription. Non-qualified subscriptions printed or digital version: 1 year US $45.00; Canada $90.00; foreign $189.00; foreign, air mail $289.00. 2 years US $75.00; Canada $120.00; foreign $300.00; foreign, air mail $500.00. BOTH Print & Digital Versions: 1 year US $68.00; Canada $135.00; foreign $284.00; foreign, air mail $384.00. 2 years US $113.00; Canada $180.00; foreign $450.00; foreign, air mail $650.00. Single Copies are $10.00 ea. Subscriptions must be paid for in U.S. funds only. COPYRIGHT © Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation 2017. All rights reserved. Contents may not be reproduced without permission. For reprint information contact: Art Sutley, Phone (212) 620-7247, or asutley@ sbpub.com. For Subscriptions, & address changes, Please call (800) 895-4389, (402) 346-4740, Fax (402) 346-3670, e-mail barbusiness@omeda.com or write to: Bar Business Magazine, SimmonsBoardman Publ. Corp, PO Box 3135, Northbrook, IL 60062-3135. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Bar Business Magazine, PO Box 3135, Northbrook, IL 60062-3135. Instructional information in this magazine should only be performed by skilled craftspeople with the proper equipment. The publisher and authors of information provided herein advise all readers to exercise care when engaging in any of the how-to activities published in the magazine. Further, the publisher and authors assume no liability for damages or injuries resulting from projects contained herein.

2

Bar Business Magazine

February 2017 barbizmag.com

JEVO ™ does all the work to make hundreds of gelatin shots in minutes.

The great customer experience, the high profit margin, these are reasons why we love gelatin shots. But making them is a hassle. Jevo is fully automated and makes hundreds of shots in minutes, turning gelatin shots into a steady source of fast, hassle-free incremental revenue for your bar.

Jevo also promotes at the point of decision and tracks usage. Then, it smartly ships you more flavor pod supplies right when you need them. Basically, Jevo is everything you could want from a profit center.

Š 2017 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.

- Andy Warhol

4

Bar Business Magazine

from the Publisher T

here are so many words to describe my excitement about the new look of Bar Business Magazine, and I hope that all of our loyal readers share in my enthusiasm.

The work put in by Creative Director Wendy Williams’ art department is clear.

Art Director Nicole Cassano’s and Graphic Designer Aleza Leinwand’s efforts are seen from the overall look of our publication down to the tiniest nuances. They are dedicated to delivering something visually exciting within a format that maximizes our ability to report on the best business practices. Let’s face it—we love to share the many techniques that help increase your bottom line, and we’re now offering new sections detailing more product and service opportunities for your business, signature cocktail list recipes, and a revamped monthly calendar to keep you organized and in the know on holidays, industry tradeshows/events, and regulation changes.

We’ll also be featuring industry book releases that we feel are a good read to keep your business’ growth on the up and up.

Amidst all of these changes, we’re continuing to develop our great how-to content, features, and highlights of successful establishments across the U.S. Be sure to also mind the new logo. Bar Business wanted to deliver a full-circle redesign, and a true logo that embodies hospitality, not just the words that echo it, was a must. We hope that moving forward, this new logo stands as a beacon that represents our commitment to being the educational magazine for all aspects of your business. We are ready and confident to deliver on our promise of providing great how-to content!

I am equally excited to make another announcement that matches the elevation

of the magazine’s stylish look. I have brought on Ashley Bray as the new Editor of Bar Business Magazine. She has been with our publishing company, SimmonsBoardman Publishing, for eight years.

She has been essential in building and creating amazing how-to content for a couple of our other leading industry magazines. It is this strength as a how-to writer that we are so thrilled to apply to our own magazine. A testament to this is her POS story on page 14, which will keep you up-to-date on the latest and greatest in this area. Stay tuned, as there will be much more coming from her moving forward.

I close with a big smile, an overhauled magazine, and the strongest of writers at the helm to build the best guide to bettering your business each and every month!

Now I’d like to hear from you, and I truly hope you share your feedback with us on this question: How do you like us now?

Art Sutley Publisher

February 2017 barbizmag.com

Margaret Pattillo

From The Publisher Editor

My American vodka beats the giant imports every day.

Try American! It’s better.

ON TAP trongbow Hard Apple Ciders, the number one–selling global cider brand, unveils its newest flavor, Strongbow Orange Blossom. The new flavor delivers a fresh, spring-like orange blossom aroma with a touch of sweetness and a juicy apple finish, and, like all Strongbow products, contains no artificial flavors or colors.

“We are welcoming spring this year with the newest edition to our family of hard ciders and are excited to share Orange Blossom with our fans,” said Jessica Robinson, Strongbow’s Senior Director. “It’s a fresh remix of natural f lavors that’s received consistently high taste test ratings; appeals equally to men, women, cider and non-cider drinkers; and has a higher trial potential than the leading hard soda brand. And overall f lavor trends are on our side as orange is a top three f lavor driving growth in f lavored spirits.”

Over the past year, Strongbow has outperformed the hard cider category by 6

Bar Business Magazine

over 20% and grew to become the number two hard cider brand in the US. Its Gold Apple flavor was recognized as “Best Tasting Hard Cider” in the “Common Cider” category two years in a row at the World Cider Championships.

Strongbow is known for its 125 years of cider-making heritage and its portfolio of award-winning flavors, whose consumers are always looking for new and exciting flavors. “Strongbow Orange Blossom represents our relentless commitment

to quality, taste, and product innovation.

We recommend serving it over ice to help bring out its distinctive orange blossom aroma and enjoy its crisp refreshing taste,” added Robinson.

Supported by TV advertising, consumer sampling, and in-store merchandising, Orange Blossom will be launched in six-packs in March, simultaneously replacing Strongbow Ginger in the 12-bottle Strongbow Variety Pack, alongside Strongbow Gold Apple, Strongbow Honey, and Strongbow Cherry Blossom. To drive awareness of the new rollout, the same four flavors will be offered in limited edition 4-pack mini-cans for a suggested retail price of one dollar starting in March. Strongbow Orange Blossom will also be competing at the 2017 World Cider Championships.

All flavors in the new Variety Pack are also gluten-free and sold in 11.2 ounce bottles. Gold Apple and Honey are 5% ABV, while Cherry Blossom, Ginger, and the new Orange Blossom are 4.5% ABV. strongbow.com

February 2017 barbizmag.com

Shutterstock / janaph

S

New Flavor Blossoms At Strongbow

See Tobin Ellis demonstrate new additions to his Signature Cocktail Station at the 2017 NAFEM Show. (Booth 2059)

Imagine bar equipment conceived by a renowned bartender, and built by Perlick Perlick’s new Tobin Ellis Signature Cocktail Station is a breakthrough achievement in underbar design resulting from an ambitious collaboration between 6-time national bartending champion and celebrated bar designer, Tobin Ellis and the award-winning engineering team at Perlick.

“Together, we’ve built a cocktail station that’s perfect for everything from craft cocktail bars to high-volume nightclubs and 5-star/5-diamond hotel environments. It’s the tricked-out station every serious bartender has dreamt about and every savvy operator has hoped for.”

Tobin Ellis

Exclusively from Perlick Contact Perlick today to learn more! perlick.com • 800.558.5592

ON TAP Your One-Stop Cocktail Shop is Here

Why Over-Complicate Things?

P

D

ennsylvania-licensed alcohol education school Aqua Vitae Institute has introduced their new Cocktail Laboratory and Team Building. The Cocktail Laboratory is a one-stop cocktail learning experience, either at their headquarters or at preferred, outside venues. The Cocktail Laboratory is a personalized experience where guests can learn to make their chosen cocktail and taste in-house constructed ingredients, prepared well in advance. AVI President Ariela Yankelewitz said, “The reason that I love these new offerings is because in just a couple hours, we revolutionize the way people think about drinking and elevate the cocktail to the same level they’d think about fine dining.” Team Building at Aqua Vitae Institute is another addition that simulates the pressure of working as a bartender and magnifies it. “Many people don’t realize that bartenders operate under extreme working conditions, while charged with still always keeping a smile on there face,” said Ori Geshury, Director of Sales. At the core of Team Building events are cooperative games where people have to communicate under extreme conditions to accomplish a goal. The Cocktail Laboratory starts at $79 per person with a $250 minimum for a two-hour event, while Team Building offerings range widely in price.

aquavitaeinstitute.com

rinks industry experts Chris Patino and Erick Castro recently launched Simple Serve, a San Diego, CA–based, trade-focused, boutique marketing agency aimed at filling the void in the ‘one-size-fits-all’ world of beer, wine, and spirits promotion. By combining trade insight and market analysis with a talent for trendspotting and storytelling, Simple Serve creates unique events, educational programming, and social media campaigns. By capitalizing on their extensive industry knowledge and robust networks, Patino and Castro aim to provide brands with insider access to the drinks industry, an asset corporate marketers and entrepreneurs sometimes lack, while crafting tailormade, advocacy-focused strategies that build the emotional connections needed to engage bartenders and deliver consumers.

When asked how to best describe

the company’s mission, Patino stated, “Think of us like strategic brand concierges. With the multitude of new offerings coming to market and a shift in the industry’s trends, it’s easy for brands to get lost in the shuffle.”

Together, Castro and Patino bring over 30 years of experience to their venture, along with numerous awards, nominations, high-profile speaking engagements, and the judging of international events and competitions. simpleserveinc.com

Beer Distribution En Masse

T

he Beer Distributors of Massachusetts have filed a bill giving brewers more choice and flexibility in distribution. “The Act to Promote Economic Development and Market Access for Emerging Businesses,” sponsored by Rep. John J. Mahoney (D), would allow privately owned breweries producing under 30,000 barrels a year to stop using any distributors at any time for any reason. “This proposal is an equitable solution for emerging breweries, providing unprecedented opportunity for smaller breweries to develop and grow their business, while protecting the independent local distributors and the jobs they create,” said President William A. Kelley. Under the current law, if a brewery wants to dissolve a relationship with a distributor after six months, it must have a good reason to do so. Under this new proposal, any Emerging Brewery wishing to end its sales to a distributor would need only to reimburse the distributor for the distributor’s inventory, and the fair market value of the business being taken from the distributor. mabeerdistributors.com

What’s On BARBIZMAG.COM Recipes

Magazine

News

How-to

Buyer’s Guide

Videos

Latest & greatest cocktails for your establishment’s signature drink list.

A library of signature “how-to” columns to better your business.

8

Bar Business Magazine

The past 12 months of issues in digital format.

Need a product or service?

We have you covered.

Additional industry news delivered daily to keep you in the know.

“How-to” cocktail-building videos to keep your bartenders at their best.

February 2017 barbizmag.com

NFL SUNDAY TICKET EARLY BIRD PRICING

NOW AVAILABLE!

The season never ends with DIRECTV.

Make your place the Sports Headquarters with the ultimate TV experience.

Get COMMERCIAL XTRA™ PACK, which includes ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNEWS, FOX Sports 1, FOX Sports 2 and more, starting at $60.99/mo.!

Price is for 12 months with 24-mo. agmt and Auto Bill Pay req’d. Add’l fees apply.

New approved commercial customers only. Credit card req’d (except MA & PA). Prorated Early Cancellation Fee (up to $960) applies.

Pricing based on Estimated Viewing Occupancy (EVO) for select packages.

Whatever your sport, DIRECTV has you covered with add-on options like:

Call us now at 1.855.714.7210 to order!

BASE PACKAGE OFFERS: Ends 5/20/17. New customers who subscribe to BUSINESS SELECT PACK or above with 24-mo. agreement and enroll in Auto Bill Pay will receive bill credit for 12 mos. starting in the second mo. After the promotional period (12 mos.) ends, then-prevailing rate for base package applies (currently: $61.99/ mo. for BUSINESS SELECT PACK; $102.99/mo. for COMMERCIAL ENTERTAINMENT PACK; $151.49/mo. for COMMERCIAL XTRA PACK), unless canceled or changed by customer prior to end of the promotional period. ABP OFFER: New customers who subscribe to BUSINESS SELECT PACK or above with 24-mo. agmt and enroll in Auto Bill Pay will receive $5/mo. bill credit for 24 mos. starting in the 2nd mo. After 24 mos. the credit will end and services will automatically continue at the then-prevailing rate. $15 OFF/MO. FOR 24 MOS. OFFER: New customers only. Requires Auto Bill Pay and activation of COMMERCIAL XTRA PACK with a 24-month agreement.

DIRECTV will credit the new customer’s account $15/mo. for 24 mos. starting in the second mo. In the 25th mo., the $15/mo. credit will cease and DIRECTV services will automatically continue at the then-prevailing rate. SONICTAP MUSIC CHANNELS OFFER: After 3 mos., then-prevailing rate for SonicTap Music Channels (currently $37.99/mo.) applies unless canceled or changed by customer prior to end of the promotional period. 2017 NFL SUNDAY TICKET EARLY BIRD OFFER: In order to receive NFL SUNDAY TICKET, customers must subscribe to a commercial base programming package with a 24-month agreement. Customers must order by 5/6/17 and activate by 6/6/17 to be eligible for the Early Bird 5-Pay or 1-Pay option. 2017 NFL SUNDAY TICKET price based on Fire Code Occupancy (FCO). The remaining balance of NFL SUNDAY TICKET will be charged to customer’s account in the event of early disconnect. NFL SUNDAY TICKET consists of all out-of-market NFL games (based on customer’s service address) broadcast on FOX and CBS. Other conditions apply. LIMIT ONE NFL SUNDAY TICKET OFFER PER ACCOUNT. Offer void where prohibited or restricted. NFL SUNDAY TICKET subscription will automatically continue in 2018 and each season thereafter at a special renewal rate unless customer calls 1-866-945-9940 to cancel prior to start of season. Subscription cannot be canceled (in part or in whole) after the start of the season and subscription fee cannot be refunded. Commercial locations require an appropriate licensee agreement. NFL, the NFL Shield design and the NFL SUNDAY TICKET name and logo are registered trademarks of the NFL and its affiliates. NFL team names and uniform designs are registered trademarks of the teams indicated. HARDWARE OFFER: Programming agreement, as defined by customer’s commercial programming rate card, required. Offer available to new commercial customers in commercial structures no more than three stories high. No single-family residences allowed. Up to four free HD Receivers per commercial location. Make and model of system at DIRECTV’s sole discretion. Offer void where prohibited or restricted. DIRECTV SERVICE TERMS: Subject to terms of DIRECTV Commercial Customer Agreement. Must maintain a minimum base TV package and Auto Bill Pay at point of sale. Additional Fees and Terms: In certain markets, a Regional Sports fee of up to $12.99/mo. will be assessed with COMMERCIAL XTRA PACK. Receiver fees of $15/mo. apply for each receiver for BUSINESS SELECT PACK, COMMERCIAL ENTERTAINMENT PACK and COMMERCIAL XTRA PACK. $19.95 Handling and Delivery fee may apply. Taxes not included. Programming, pricing, terms and conditions subject to change at any time. INSTALLATION: Standard commercial installation included for BUSINESS SELECT PACK and above customers. Complex/custom installation extra. Applicable use tax adjustment may apply on retail value of installation. Visit directv.com/legal or call for details. To access HD programming, HD equipment required. Number of HD channels based on package selection. All DIRECTV Receivers must be continuously connected to the same land-based phone line or the Internet. MLB: Getty Image. NFL: AP Images. ©2017 AT&T Intellectual Property. All Rights Reserved. AT&T, Globe logo, DIRECTV, and all other DIRECTV marks contained herein are trademarks of AT&T Intellectual Property and/or AT&T affiliated companies. All other marks are the property of their respective owners.

Let’s talk

WHISKEY

Buy locally, drink globally!

Take a ride to the dark side & learn how bright it actually is.

By Rachael Robbins

10

Bar Business Magazine

T

here’s a hot, new diet-style that joins the mindful vegetarian, pescatarian, vegan, and gluten-free diets, and that’s Paleo. The most googled diet since 2013, Paleo eaters believe that humans were genetically adapted to specifically eat foods that are readily available in their local environments. As a bar owner, your solution for staying on-trend and making customers happy is to adapt this to liquor and source that locally as well. But what if certain spirits only come from specific regions that are nowhere near your establishment?

Jersey Spirits Distillery

Bourbon and whiskey are in the midst of a huge revival at the moment, taking over cocktail lists all over the country. These two classic American spirits tend to evoke images of the Old South (in a good way though!), but their roots couldn’t be any further from the Mason-Dixon line.

The distillation process has been traced back to the Babylonians in Mesopotamia in the second millennium, and the very first license granted to distill whiskey was issued in 1608 to none other than the Old Bushmills Distillery in Northern Ireland. Typically, bar owners in other states would probably look to the likes

February 2017 barbizmag.com

All Photos: Chris Capaci

Bramble On

Behind The Bar: Whiskey of Kentucky or Tennessee to obtain the most ‘authentic’ versions of these dark libations. But luckily for us all, you don’t have to go all the way to Mesopotamia to find a real bourbon in 2017.

Believe it or not, technically, bourbon does not have to be produced in Kentucky to be considered authentic. There are probably a bunch of amazing whiskey and bourbon distilleries right in your backyard—possibly even literally— that are building stellar spirits. Some simple online sleuthing can reveal a surprisingly long list of local producers. We visited a few of New Jersey’s local distilleries to see for ourselves how these uber-popular spirits are created, and the myriad of benefits to shopping locally but drinking globally.

Paleo or not, today’s glut of information has helped consumers wise-up to the many choices at their fingertips, moving towards smaller-batched, geographically close, hand-crafted spirits, over heavily-hyped offerings from wellknown mega-producers.

As a bar owner, it’s important to make sure servers are thoroughly educated on these craft products, so that they’re able to pass this info along to customers, encouraging them to try something they may not yet be familiar with.

Consumers, like all of us, can easily get stuck in a rut of their go-to brand, but a well-educated bartender

can help to open up a whole new world of craft spirits to them, with a quick explanation of what makes these products special, and the unique stories behind them.

To get schooled in locallyproduced libations, I went straight to the source: John Granata, Master Distiller and Owner of Jersey Spirits Distillery, the first distiller of bourbon in New Jersey since Prohibition, who explained how he overcame the myth that all bourbon has to come from Kentucky. “The only people we have a hard time breaking the notion that all good bourbons come from Kentucky, are the good folks of Kentucky,” he laughed. “Now I understand why.

Back in the day, Tennessee set out to put a different spin on bourbon, calling it Tennessee Whiskey. Some people do believe that bourbon can only be made in Kentucky but are very accepting when they realize that a bourbon can actually be made anywhere in the USA.” Officially, to be considered a bourbon, the spirit must be 51% corn, produced within the US, and aged in brand-new charred oak barrels. After that, the barrels can be used to age any spirit.

One thing that caught my eye at Jersey Spirits Distillery was a white whiskey. Granata explained, “Basically it’s a whiskey that has not achieved color and flavor characteristics from a barrel. We take the spirit, derived from a bourbon mash and distilled,

1608 The first license granted to distill whiskey was issued in 1608, to the Old Bushmills Distillery in Northern Ireland.

PALEO The Paleo Diet is The most googled diet since 2013.

51%

Officially, to be considered a bourbon, the spirit must be 51% corn, produced within the US, and aged in brand-new charred oak barrels.

Rattlesnake Eyes

barbizmag.com

Jersey Spirits Distillery

February 2017

Bar Business Magazine

11

BEHIND THE BAR: Whiskey

A Night With Lemmy Jersey Spirits Distillery

3 oz Crossroads Bourbon Whiskey 1 oz Cherry Heering Splash Vanilla Cola Combine all ingredients in a pint glass and garnish with a bourbon-soaked cherry.

then prepare it for barreling as we would for any bourbon product. We then take that spirit and put it into a used bourbon barrel and immediately empty that barrel once it has filled. The spirit is now legally able to be called whiskey because it has not spent any real time in the barrel, and there are no color or flavor characteristics detectable.�

Upon tasting it, I can definitely concur. It was like 12

Bar Business Magazine

drinking an alcoholic corn field!

Wherever you may live, there are many reasons to support local distilleries. Customers have a sense of state pride. They love to root for their sports teams and, if educated and given access, would cheer for local booze as well. Also, Jersey Spirits Distillery sources almost all their ingredients from their home state. So, not only do they support local

February 2017 barbizmag.com

All Photos: Chris Capaci

Authentic bourbon does not have to be produced in Kentucky.

There are probably a bunch of amazing whiskey and bourbon distilleries right in your backyard that are building stellar spirits.

Behind The Bar: Whiskey commerce, but also give back to the community by feeding the Jersey cows! Yup, all that corn mash heads right back to the farm and is used to feed some very lucky bovine.

Don’t worry if you don’t Iive in New Jersey though.

Plenty of states are now turning out some amazing bourbons and whiskeys too. Like Fairport, New York’s Iron Smoke Distillery, which we also paid a visit to and where we were immediately drawn to their rock ‘n’ roll aesthetic.

Owner Tommy Burnett explained what made his products unique, “Our whiskey is Applewood-smoked using a fourgrain bourbon mash bill recipe. Smooth as smoke, it’ll make your socks roll up and down,” Burnett said, with all the swagger of a rock star. “Our other offering, Rattlesnake Rosie’s Apple Pie Whiskey, is a delicious concoction invented by our Master Distiller, Drew Wescott, using all natural ingredients including apple cider from Geneva, New York.

Mixologists all the way to New York City use our cinnamon sticks that have been used in our recipe steeped in Rattlesnake Rosie’s. These two products have also won us seventeen international awards in 2016 alone.”

Experiencing for myself how delicious they are, I wondered if being in upstate New York, five hours outside of the city, made it difficult to build a local customer base.

But Burnett explained, “Consumers are getting used to great whiskeys coming from different places now. If it’s good, it’s good. Period.”

But he also admitted that the ‘Buy Local’ trend has helped. “It’s big with us and with our drinkers because we live by a punk rock artisan work and lifestyle ethic,” he said.

“Live or die by DIY!” Another plus is craft distilleries tend to have great tasting rooms. This is beneficial if you are a business owner interested in stocking some homegrown brands. Go straight to the horse’s mouth, hear it from the distillers, and taste their products for yourself before buying. A customer is much more likely to pay a higher price for something they know is made with heart and soul versus something that comes from a robot-run factory.

There are few better ways to spend a rainy afternoon than visiting nearby distilleries, tasting locally made products, and meeting owners and distillers in person. We highly recommend googling your local distilleries and making a day out of it. What better way to set your establishment’s cocktail list apart from everyone else’s, all while supporting your home state, sampling some goodies, and expanding your knowledge!

Crooked Maple Finger Jersey Spirits Distillery 2 oz Patriot’s Trail Bourbon 1 oz Carpano Antica sweet vermouth ½ oz amaretto ½ oz maple syrup 1 dash pimento bitters Stir until chilled, serve in a coup glass.

NC&B Show Booth # 325

Rachael Robbins owns Chickologist, a cocktail consulting company. Her main objective is to infiltrate “the boy’s club of mixology” and show the world that ladies can mix a mean drink too. She’s tended bar in and around the NYC scene for many years, from nightclubs to chic lounges to strip clubs and everything in between. She eventually opened her own Jersey City speakeasy The Draper and began creating innovative cocktails that caught the attention of some of the top experts in the hospitality industry. Find her at chickologist.com or on Instagram at @chickologist and Chris Capaci @capacityimages.

For more info, tips, & recipes visit barbizmag.com/behindthebar

barbizmag.com

February 2017

Bar Business Magazine

13

How To With more selection and connectivity options, there’s never been a better time to look at new POS systems.

CHoose a POS System 14

Bar Business Magazine

By Ashley Bray

February 2017 barbizmag.com

How To: POS SYSTEMs

Shutterstock/Monkey Business Images

W

ith the new year upon us, many bars may be reexamining their business plans and finding it’s high time to invest in a POS (point-of-sale) system. “Any business looking to grow either needs or wants to take the next step in their use of technology because what you can do on a POS system is vastly more powerful than a cash register system or a simple handwritten system,” says Arie Paller, National Sales at Harbortouch.

According to a survey of just over 200 bars and nightclubs conducted by Software Advice, a POS reviews firm, 56% of bar and nightclub owners currently use some form of restaurant software, which leaves plenty of room for future adoption among establishments that are not. And for those looking to make the switch, getting a POS system right now is a lot easier thanks to significantly lower adoption costs and more control. POS companies offer everything from payment plans to free setup and installation with just a monthly service cost after that.

“It’s a huge change in the marketplace because, traditionally, if you wanted to buy equipment like this, you’d either have to have the funds or get a very large loan,” says Paller.

The lower cost of POS systems has made the biggest difference for chains and multisite bars that can now afford to automate processes and centralize data through all locations over a POS system. “Automation’s going to become way more important once you get multisite going. There’s a unique set of needs once the establishment owner gets over even two or three sites,” says Eric Elwell, CEO of 2TouchPOS. “There’s a huge opportunity for multisite guys to get big rewards from investing in software to knock out administration tasks.”

And whether a bar has multiple locations or just one, the biggest boon to owning a POS system is increased overall operational efficiency. “You want to be able to serve as many patrons as possible in a night. Without a doubt, a POS system increases that by an order of magnitude,” says Jared Isaacman, CEO of

barbizmag.com

Harbortouch Elite POS System (Hospitality)

Harbortouch. “Whether it’s table-turn or the efficiency to serve patrons around a bar, a point-of-sale system makes a nightand-day difference in terms of revenue potential in any given night.”

A POS system also automates tedious but important tasks like inventory management. In fact, according to the survey by Software Advice previously mentioned, 76% of bars request formal, built-out inventory management capabilities as a central component of their POS systems. Fortunately, inventory management is a standard capacity already rolled into the majority of POS systems.

Software Advice’s survey also found that bars are requesting sales and reporting analysis in almost equal numbers at 74%. And while inventory management is a big part of the reason for that data request, POS systems can now go beyond how much liquor or food is sold. “There’s just so much that we can learn from the ticket-level data about what’s being purchased and when.

Then we can take all the historical information associated with that, and use it to empower a business owner going forward on what they should and shouldn’t be doing,” says Isaacman.

2TouchPOS is currently working on engaging with Microsoft’s Power BI application, a suite of business analytics tools that analyzes data and shares insights. Using 2TouchPOS’ DataKey app, users will be able to take ticket details and other data out of the cloud and import it into the Power BI app. They’ll be able to pull in other outside data sources like the weather and events. “[You can] write reports and do comparisons on more

than just what the POS has to offer,” says Elwell. “The thing that’s most exciting about Power BI is how much control it turns over to the end user.”

Data in POS systems is also being used for marketing purposes. “Bars are starting to do giveaways and offer incentives for their customers, in exchange for their contact information,” says Paller. “You accumulate email addresses, names, addresses and can do direct mailings, as well as email and text message marketing.”

By leveraging data in this way, bars can offer patrons much more personalized offers and incentives. “That level of analytics really allows the smallest of small business guys that are using the right technology in the right way to really offer personalized, differentiated experiences, that really build sustainable customer retention and loyalty,” says Justin Guinn, Market Research associate for the bar POS system online marketplace, Software Advice.

The data also enables bars to measure the effectiveness of the incentives since they’re able to track them. “That’s one of the biggest challenges for small business owners: Am I deploying my capital efficiently in terms of marketing?” says Isaacman.

Unlike data capabilities, something customers and bar owners aren’t asking for in great numbers is the ability to accept things like ApplePay and Samsung Pay. Many POS systems already offer the ability to accept these types of payments, but there are a few hurdles.

For one, mobile payments typically require the tapping of a phone to a card terminal, and in most bar POS systems, that card terminal is attached directly to the POS. “It’s that initial linking of the

Pro Tip Decide if a traditional robust plugged-in POS is better for you than the more mobile, tabletbased system.

February 2017

Bar Business Magazine

15

How To: POS SYSTEMs patron to the POS system, or to your tab, that isn’t perfect yet,” says Isaacman.

“It can be super seamless in a bar that’s relatively empty and not busy. If there are fifty people crowding to get to the bar, it’s going to be almost impossible for that bartender to take the time to figure out who you are and link you to a ticket. And that can hurt the overall experience a little bit.”

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Bar Business Magazine

Another issue is the overall lag in adoption of mobile payments. Many bars, unless they cater to a younger clientele, like college students, aren’t seeing the demand for this type of payment just yet.

Which means if your bar hasn’t gotten hip to mobile payments, you shouldn’t worry about being behind the curve. “I think it might still be a few more years out,” says Guinn. “Once that consumer adoption

starts to increase, and people expect to pay with that capability, that’s where restaurants and bar owners will need to catch up just to meet customer demand.”

Smartphone payments aren’t the only mobile consideration a bar faces. They also have to decide if a traditional, plugged-in POS system versus a mobile, tablet-based system is right for them.

Some argue that a traditional system offers more robust capabilities and stronger internet connectivity versus mobile options. “The first question I would ask anyone who’s going mobile is - How does it help? What gains are you trying to get?” says Elwell. “I’d want to make sure they’re solving a real business problem.”

Elwell acknowledges that tablets offer a faster way to take orders, but this front-end speed may create a backlog elsewhere, like in the kitchen. “Faster isn’t always better. You have to optimize, I like to say. If all you’re doing is shifting a problem from the floor to the kitchen, did you really solve anything?”

Isaacman believes volume should be the determining factor of whether or not to go mobile. “I think a super busy bar or restaurant should never go the tablet route,” he says. “The brain and heart of the business should be run on a real POS system because it’s more efficient. It’s got more horsepower. It’s not going to get stolen and it’s not going to get dropped.”

Guinn thinks a mobile POS system is great for unique bars and eating spaces like brewpubs or food trucks. He even sees the potential for upselling in traditional bars using tablets. “One of the greatest features I think mobile POS offers for servers and restaurant and bar owners is the ability to send prompts to your servers as they go through the order-taking process,” he says giving the example of additional toppings on a hamburger. “As opposed to relying on servers to remember to ask these things and upsell, the tablets actually take care of that process. The server has to register and click through the prompts to carry on with the order.”

Still undecided? The bar owner who wants it all is in luck as some POS providers offer the ability to incorporate mobile options as a complement to a traditional system.

February 2017 barbizmag.com

How To MONITOR PORTION CONTROL From leaky bottles to sneaky staff, 6 tips to tighten the gap on loss.

T

By Heather Florence Marple

Pro Tip Invest in portion control pourers, which can sync to your inventory system and keep a running tally of quantity of pours per bottle per shift.

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Bar Business Magazine

monitor and control is portion control.

Everything from the seemingly minute detail like some inventory hitting the floor on a pour to the precision of your portion control system’s execution could ultimately determine whether your business becomes a local institution or whether your lights are off in a year.

When any bar is losing money or not making gains, you can bet that issues with portion control quickly accumulate over time. Depending on your price points, a mis-pour of even half an ounce could cost a place tens of thousands of dollars a year.

If you haven’t addressed this in your business, it’s long overdue that you did.

The good news is that every year more and more products and services hit the market trying to address this issue from different, constantly-evolving angles.

But it’s not about doing one or two things right; it’s about creating an entire system of checks and balances.

Here are some effective ways we’ve found to keep your pours perfect and your losses low.

1. Set Clear Staff Rules & Expectations This first tip requires zero dollars and zero tech. It’s simple communication on educating your staff about what the expectations and inventory control system are. If these are unclear to anyone, you’re already losing.

Upon hiring any employee, make sure your training places a strong emphasis on pour methods, technology, and acceptable comps and discounts, if any. It’s all too common for bartenders to sneak drinks themselves during a shift, which is obviously an enormous liability for you.

Make sure all rules are clearly outlined and have all employees sign something saying they’ll abide by these rules or face the consequences. Make sure the punishments are severe enough to warrant their attention.

February 2017 barbizmag.com

Photo: Shutterstock/Jag_cz

he National Restaurant Association has previously estimated that 75 percent of all inventory shrinkage occurs as a product of theft in one form or another. And most of that theft is occurring at the point of pour or in storage closets. One of the biggest keys to maintaining a profit in any business is keeping your margins tight. And in the bar industry, one of the most historically difficult areas to

How To: PORTION CONTROL

Remember that one of the highest liabilities there is is allowing a bartender to over or mis-serve customers. If you catch an employee stealing or gaming your inventory in some way, make sure they too pay a stiff penalty. A zero-tolerance policy is advised.

If you’re too lenient on theft, no matter how small, you could be sending the message to your employees that stealing from your business is tolerated. It’s essentially impossible to come back from that once an employee has so flagrantly lost respect for the business itself.

2. Notate Everything Make sure every single drop—from comps to spills to anything else—are notated in your POS system or whatever record-keeping system you use (see our POS systems piece on page 14).

Even if you have a small bar with 20

Bar Business Magazine

handwritten receipts, find some way to be sure all liquor that leaves a bottle is accounted for. Also, if you’re in the habit of giving out free drinks to

It’s your job to know how much inventory you have at any given moment.

regulars, you might want to consider shifting to a rewards program (“Fifth pitcher is free!”, for example) that will make this a lot easier to track.

3. Invest In Video Surveillance Video surveillance is basically a necessity for most brick and mortar businesses dealing in a high-volume of cash transactions and/or serving alcohol—both of which you’re doing.

Without it, it’s difficult to pinpoint the guilty parties. Even if you already have a surveillance method, you need to make sure someone has the bandwidth to monitor the tapes regularly. If your inventory count doesn’t add up at the end of the month, go through tapes from the point of pour and the point of sale. Also, make sure you have some form of monitoring in your storage area, as theft happens here as well.

4. Watch Over-Unders & Cash Transactions Some servers like to cheat by overpouring in the hopes of getting big tips, while some like to steal by underpouring (and then use that leftover

February 2017 barbizmag.com

Photo: Shutterstock/Joshua Resnick

Depending on your price points, a mis-pour of even half an ounce could cost you tens of thousands of dollars a year.

CALLING ALL

BEERS, WINES SPIRITS & MIXERS

May 2017

|

Chicago, IL

The competition is open to all commercially produced spirits, mixers, energy drinks, beers, and wines from around the world. This by-the-trade, for-the-trade competition will be judged by some of the top on-premise owners and mixologists in the industry. Winners in each category will be promoted within the pages of Bar Business Magazine both in print and online for the rest of the year.

Winners will also receive a two-inch round physical medal and the use of the digital medal image in any POS material. barbizbeveragecompetitions.com

BAR BUSINESS B E V E RAG E CO M P E T I T I O N By the Trade, for the Trade

How To: PORTION CONTROL for comp drinks, to overserve someone else, or to just drink it themselves). Even with modern portion control tech, there are ways to outsmart the system, so make sure managers are actively watching during shifts. Also, follow the money. Always make sure those overhead cameras can see registers to ensure the money actually ends up there.

5. Invest In Portion Control Hardware There are three basic ways to control the amount of liquid a bartender will pour: liquid guns, jiggers, and portion control pourers. Liquid guns may not aesthetically fit your vision and are more expensive, but they are generally effective. Jiggers are a bit obsolete, but if you use them, keep them out of sight (as they seem amateurish). Portion control pourers are the much more common and cheaper alternative to guns. We recommend finding one that’s customizable so you can program exactly how much is in each pour.

J

solid analog alternative. Their nozzles use a ball-bearing system to control pours and are also quite durable.

6. Stay On Top Of Inventory Counts It’s your job to know how much inventory you have at any given moment. Unless your operation is extremely small, we recommend using some software-based inventory. Mobile app Chanj FLOW is one specifically designed for bars that for premium use costs $99 a month.

It offers numerous ways to visualize your current inventory and where it is going and, of course, can sync with most modern pouring systems.

In addition to inventory software, we’d still recommend doing regular hand-count just to confirm your softwarebased system is accurate. Sure, this can be one of the duller tasks of the job, but it’s an important one. Whatever your system of choice may be, just make sure that it’s accurate so you’re not pouring your money down the drain along with your liquor.

Jevo™ uses precise pour technology to make perfectly delish, high-margin jello shots!

ello shots are a hit with customers, but they’re a hassle to make for bar operators. The monotonous task introduces opportunities for overpour from even the most experienced bartenders.

Overpouring by only 1/8th of an ounce costs up to three drinks (about six jello shots) per 750ml bottle. Luckily, automation has come to the rescue.

Forget everything you think you know about making jello shots.

Similar in concept to the Keurig coffee systems, Jevo’s easy-to-use automated process combined with their proprietary flavor pods allows you to make hundreds of gelatin shots in minutes. Users simply load the flavor pod and add their spirit.

Jevo uses precise pour technology that adds a half an ounce of spirit to each shot. This gets you a consistent product every time so you always know your exact profit margin. It’s

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And most of them can be synced to your inventory system to keep a running tally of quantity of pours per bottle, per shift.

If you buy in bulk, you can get them as cheaply as $3-$4 per unit. And they should last you several years if properly maintained.

For example, The Posi-Pour 2000 is an industry leader. Manufactured by Magnuson Industries, these pouring nozzles are relatively inexpensive and simple to maintain.

“Bar owners can reduce inventory costs by as much as 30% when they change from ‘free-pouring’ to using Posi-Pour, simply because spillage, waste, and over-pouring are eliminated,” says Bob Gough, Director of Sales at Magnuson Industries. “With no change in sales volume, overall profits are increased because liquor costs are reduced.”

If for whatever reason you don’t need to integrate your pourers with a digital inventory system, Precision Pours are a

Bar Business Magazine

also self-cleaning, which drives down labor costs even further.

It pays for itself — fast.

The total cost of goods in a single Jevo shot can range from $.0.51 $0.60, depending on the type of spirit used. And with a common sales price of $2.50 across the U.S., Jevo Shots average a 75 - 80% profit margin. This means most operators will reach ROI after selling 2,100 Jevo shots, usually within two to three months.

Jevo doesn’t just make perfectly portioned, delicious gelatin shots.

Its built-in inventory system automatically tracks usage and reorders pods according to your specifications, ensuring you never run out. The proprietary flavor pods are available in more than 10 flavors including Apple, Cherry, Piña Colada, and Birthday Cake. Each pod has enough gelatin ingredients to make exactly 20 shots. Plus, Jevo’s large

digital, internet-enabled screen and side panel displays allow on-premise accounts to advertise to customers at the critical point of decision.

“Automation is essential,” says Jeff Jetton, CEO of Food & Beverage Innovations, which manufactures and markets the machine. “We didn’t invent the jello shot, but we saw an opportunity to help our clients maximize those profits by turning an archaic, manual, and inconsistent process into one that’s fast, easy, and profitable.”

February 2017 barbizmag.com

How To Update Staffing & Scheduling Software Modern strategies & digital solutions to help managers & employees thrive.

Shutterstock/Iakov Filimonov

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he bar industry is constantly at the mercy of last-minute forces. Weather, holidays, crowds, special events, and other issues can make scheduling—the dark art of juggling employees and shifts—a nightmare for managers and staff alike. In fact, scheduling is one of the most underappreciated aspects of running a business, but it’s the literal blueprint of how one stays functioning on a granular level. If it’s not up-to-date, it’s irrelevant.

And if it’s taking hours a week, then you’re doing it wrong. It’s not just to save your time. A good, fair schedule lets employees know that they’re getting the shifts they want. A good schedule needs to be balanced so that everyone feels like they’re getting treated equally and that you’re not just copying and pasting the same shifts in each week.

The manager that can create a strong schedule strikes that delicate balance that makes everyone in the workplace barbizmag.com

By Heather Florence Marple ecosystem feel taken care of.

Classic scheduling—drafting schedules, printing, and posting physical copies in the back room— has gone the way of the buffalo. It’s become the equivalent of traveling by horseback: slow, inefficient and obsolete while still wasting valuable resources. So instead of scheduling as horrendous time-suck, we recommend conducting some due diligence and learning all of your modern-day tech options that you may not even have considered.

If you can modernize your game, you’ll cut down on wasted managerial time, and in the process, make the staff happier on all fronts.

Here are some tools and tech to start you on an improved path to get schedule chaos under wraps and tips to make sure you’re never short-handed.

Get Ready To Say Goodbye To Your Old Method If you’re reading this, you’re likely either

opening your first bar or looking for ways to improve your old one’s system, and we can almost guarantee you that you’re missing out on opportunities for things to run smoother while hopefully saving your business money too. If you come from an old-school mentality and your bar’s been open since the ‘90s—or God forbid, the ‘80s!—you just need to know that there’s a better way of doing things today (see previous horseback analogy). The Brave New World of

Pro Tip Moving your employee scheduling system online will relieve pressure on both managers and staff, save valuable time, and keep everyone happier.

February 2017

Bar Business Magazine

23

How To: STAFFING & SCHEDULING service industry tech should have multiple solutions to bring your business up to speed in 2017.

Research The Market For The Right Software Solution For You There are many suitable scheduling software options for basic needs. Call up some of these companies to get a quote based on your business size and take it from there. We can’t really tell you which is best suited to you, but know that there are plenty of solid, cost-effective options out there. There is one scheduling company we spoke with—perhaps the first in the digital scheduling space in America—who offers both basic and advanced services for owners and managers out there who really want to squeeze the most profit out of every shift.

Austin-based HotSchedules has been in the scheduling game since the beginning of this century. Co-founder Dave Contu conceived the idea “out of the frustration of running a 160-employee restaurant. The pain we

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Bar Business Magazine

had between staff and management were that staff schedules were dynamic; they were constantly changing. And because of that change, there were constantly

Regardless of your choice, do your homework and see which service best fits your bar’s needs.

issues of them misreading the schedule or thinking they had a shift they didn’t.”

Contu says he averaged about four hours a week building the schedule in his spare time. Scheduling became a

pain point not just for managers, but also employees.

“Managers are either short-staffed or get an employee who comes in who doesn’t have a shift. Our thought was ‘let’s get it on the web,” Contu says.

“Even having employees call into the restaurant was a burden.”

The benefit to the staff is freedom and flexibility. “There was always someone online going, ‘Are there any shifts available?’ We call them ‘shift sharks,’” Contu explains. “The manager can see that shift trade, the skill levels, whether that would push into overtime.

You could have multiple people trying to pick up that shift.”

HotSchedules gives the employee and managers the ability to swap shifts based on skill levels. It also helps increase visibility when an employee could start going into overtime. And HotSchedules offers 24/7 human assistance, which you’re going to want no matter what service you sign up for.

“We’ve done a lot of case studies on our site, and we think it’s 75% reduction in a manager’s time,” Contu continues.

“There’s a little over 230 PF Chang’s [one of their clients], whose managers are spending 30-45 minutes per week.”

It also saves the manager time of having to go down a list, calling employees. Instead, he just puts a notice up that a shift is open. But Contu and company had a vision that this data could be used to even further enhance a manager’s ability to run the business with the most relevant information possible. “[The service] gives managers the ability to go through all that historical data, schedules, when they requested time off, who made that approval,” Contu explains. It also helps managers clearly see how much a certain shift will cost them as far as labor is concerned.

The real advanced managers will want to check out their POS integration service, which gives them a mountain of statistical information that helps a business forecast future sales. “Where we’re different is at our point-of-sale integration,” Contu explains, “so you can pull a lot of data. That’s where it starts to scale up. The ROI we see is five times on the low end and on the high end could be 15-20 times.”

February 2017 barbizmag.com

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How To: STAFFING & SCHEDULING Regardless of your choice, do your homework and see which service best fits your bar’s needs.

Establish Relationships With Staffing Companies There will likely be times that your regular staff will not cut it. Whether it’s because you’re increasing in scale for special events, off-sites, catering, or

26

Bar Business Magazine

you’re having issues with being unable to fill a last-minute shift. Many bars will need to go outside their regular pool of warm bodies at one point or another, so best to have a plan in place for when that happens.

The problem with vetting and training new people, as you already know, is that it can be extremely time-consuming and its own vortex of energy. A good, competent

staffing company will take this off your plate—at a fee of course (usually a commission based on the part-time/temp staffer’s rate)—and be able to work with you given a few hours notice.

Chicago-based staffing company Shiftgig is a two-sided mobile platform that serves many verticals, including bar and restaurant and hospitality. They have offices in ten different markets and have worked with big businesses in virtually every state.

“The nice thing about the app— especially on the owner side—is that because it is on-demand, we do a lot of the background work ourselves and we onboard them ourselves,” Shiftgig’s Tricia Cagua says, which means all the part-time staffers they send out are fulltime Shiftgig employees. “They’re all fully vetted and background and skillchecked, so we know when our clients call us for a single shift or multiple shifts, whether it’s for tomorrow or 30 days out, they’re getting quality people.”

Once a client is onboarded, they can use Shiftgig as their needs dictate and simply pay a small per-shift commission, like at most agencies. “You can say ‘I need a server tonight,’ and we can service that up to a few hours beforehand,” Cagua explains.

The last-minute ability to fill shifts with qualified people has many applications.

“We were doing an event with the Cubs when they were in the playoffs up at Wrigley Field, and of course on a day-today basis, they wouldn’t know if they were advancing to the next game until the last minute. So we supplied them on demand once they knew,” she says.

I reached out to an Atlanta-based catering company that uses Shiftgig regularly. Jessica B. told me, “We’re always moving 1,000 miles an hour. and our clients love to throw us curveballs at the last minute. So we’ll go up in guest count or want to add a bartender last minute. Shiftgig gives me the ability to put a call out immediately. Or I can call up my account manager and explain the situation, and he’ll go out and bend over backwards for us and our client.

“I used to dread asking for outside help because I was always uncertain of what I’d receive. but now with Shiftgig, I always have confidence.”

February 2017 barbizmag.com

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BASE PACKAGE OFFERS: Ends 5/20/17. New customers who subscribe to BUSINESS SELECT PACK or above with 24-mo. agreement and enroll in Auto Bill Pay will receive bill credit for 12 mos. starting in the second mo. After the promotional period (12 mos.) ends, then-prevailing rate for base package applies (currently: $61.99/ mo. for BUSINESS SELECT PACK; $102.99/mo. for COMMERCIAL ENTERTAINMENT PACK; $151.49/mo. for COMMERCIAL XTRA PACK), unless canceled or changed by customer prior to end of the promotional period. ABP OFFER: New customers who subscribe to BUSINESS SELECT PACK or above with 24-mo. agmt and enroll in Auto Bill Pay will receive $5/mo. bill credit for 24 mos. starting in the 2nd mo. After 24 mos. the credit will end and services will automatically continue at the then-prevailing rate. $15 OFF/MO. FOR 24 MOS. OFFER: New customers only. Requires Auto Bill Pay and activation of COMMERCIAL XTRA PACK with a 24-month agreement.

DIRECTV will credit the new customer’s account $15/mo. for 24 mos. starting in the second mo. In the 25th mo., the $15/mo. credit will cease and DIRECTV services will automatically continue at the then-prevailing rate. SONICTAP MUSIC CHANNELS OFFER: After 3 mos., then-prevailing rate for SonicTap Music Channels (currently $37.99/mo.) applies unless canceled or changed by customer prior to end of the promotional period. 2017 NFL SUNDAY TICKET EARLY BIRD OFFER: In order to receive NFL SUNDAY TICKET, customers must subscribe to a commercial base programming package with a 24-month agreement. Customers must order by 5/6/17 and activate by 6/6/17 to be eligible for the Early Bird 5-Pay or 1-Pay option. 2017 NFL SUNDAY TICKET price based on Fire Code Occupancy (FCO). The remaining balance of NFL SUNDAY TICKET will be charged to customer’s account in the event of early disconnect. NFL SUNDAY TICKET consists of all out-of-market NFL games (based on customer’s service address) broadcast on FOX and CBS. Other conditions apply. LIMIT ONE NFL SUNDAY TICKET OFFER PER ACCOUNT. Offer void where prohibited or restricted. NFL SUNDAY TICKET subscription will automatically continue in 2018 and each season thereafter at a special renewal rate unless customer calls 1-866-945-9940 to cancel prior to start of season. Subscription cannot be canceled (in part or in whole) after the start of the season and subscription fee cannot be refunded. Commercial locations require an appropriate licensee agreement. NFL, the NFL Shield design and the NFL SUNDAY TICKET name and logo are registered trademarks of the NFL and its affiliates. NFL team names and uniform designs are registered trademarks of the teams indicated. HARDWARE OFFER: Programming agreement, as defined by customer’s commercial programming rate card, required. Offer available to new commercial customers in commercial structures no more than three stories high. No single-family residences allowed. Up to four free HD Receivers per commercial location. Make and model of system at DIRECTV’s sole discretion. Offer void where prohibited or restricted. DIRECTV SERVICE TERMS: Subject to terms of DIRECTV Commercial Customer Agreement. Must maintain a minimum base TV package and Auto Bill Pay at point of sale. Additional Fees and Terms: In certain markets, a Regional Sports fee of up to $12.99/mo. will be assessed with COMMERCIAL XTRA PACK. Receiver fees of $15/mo. apply for each receiver for BUSINESS SELECT PACK, COMMERCIAL ENTERTAINMENT PACK and COMMERCIAL XTRA PACK. $19.95 Handling and Delivery fee may apply. Taxes not included. Programming, pricing, terms and conditions subject to change at any time. INSTALLATION: Standard commercial installation included for BUSINESS SELECT PACK and above customers. Complex/custom installation extra. Applicable use tax adjustment may apply on retail value of installation. Visit directv.com/legal or call for details. To access HD programming, HD equipment required. Number of HD channels based on package selection. All DIRECTV Receivers must be continuously connected to the same land-based phone line or the Internet. MLB: Getty Image. NFL: AP Images. ©2017 AT&T Intellectual Property. All Rights Reserved. AT&T, Globe logo, DIRECTV, and all other DIRECTV marks contained herein are trademarks of AT&T Intellectual Property and/or AT&T affiliated companies. All other marks are the property of their respective owners.

Tuning Up

HOW TO

go digital with your jukebox With more music options than ever before, why classic jukeboxes still matter.

F

By Christopher Tarantino

rom the original turn-of-the-century 78rpm jazz record-changers to the 45-filled, tableside doo-wop machines at the malt shops of the ‘50s to the hardrawking pool hall beasts in the mid-‘80s to the meticulously-curated indie compact disc rock-boxes of the 2000s, the jukebox has always been there, providing patrons with a soundtrack to the times. During Prohibition and The Great Depression—arguably when people needed music most, but often couldn’t afford it—jukeboxes were there

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Bar Business Magazine

too. In financially-trying times, the prevailing attitude became: Why buy music to listen to alone at home when you can simply rent your favorite songs to listen to again and again amongst all of your friends?

But then everything changed. Technology helped erase this crowd-sourced sense of community with 2007’s invention of the iPod, essentially putting a personal jukebox into everyone’s pocket. Omnipresent wi-fi connections then rendered music of any genre from any time period or artist equally and easily

February 2017 barbizmag.com

DON’T BELIEVE ME JUST WATCH.

GET THE ONLY JUKEBOX TO COMBINE SONGS, MUSIC VIDEOS, AND DIGITAL SIGNAGE.

Tuning Up: Jukeboxes

Virtuo

TouchTunes App

Playdium

The physically larger of TouchTunes’ two units, Virtuo comes equipped with karaoke, music videos, and a photobooth function.

TouchTunes first launched their app in 2010 and redesigned it last year. It currently has over 2 million active users.

Also running the OpenStage2 software, TouchTunes’ Playdium comes equipped with the same features as Virtuo.

searchable, obtainable, and own-able with the simple push of a “Buy” or “Stream” button. This gave us more music than we could listen to in our entire lifetimes.

So where does this leave our old friend the jukebox? Why compete for dominance when you can adapt for improvement?

Here are some of the recent advances that have married technology to the jukebox and why these classic machines in your bar still matter.

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Bar Business Magazine

BB_NightClubBar_Final.indd 1

You might be thinking to yourself right now, “Why would I need one of these physical devices in my bar in 2017?” Well, like ATMs, vending machines, video games, or any other kind of point-of-purchase devices, jukeboxes can be electronic golden geese, offering on-premise customer convenience to prevent them from having to leave the establishment to find what they want elsewhere.

AMI Entertainment introduced one of the first selective jukeboxes in 1927, and it still continues to innovate in the market today with its NGX models of jukeboxes. “Our Ultra music video jukebox plays both songs and music videos, as well as incorporating something called Ad Manager, which can connect to multiple screens and enables the owner to intersperse their specials or upcoming events between songs, basically turning the device into digital signage,” said Ron Richards, Chief Technology Officer at AMI. The AMI Ad Manager 2.0 allows bar owners to upload their own custom image or to choose from over 1,300 pre-made templates, ranging from food and drink sales to event promotion. The ads can even be customized with your bar’s own logo.

In 2017, AMI will continue their rollout of new geo-fencing technology along with something known as Beacons, which utilizes proximity marketing. All of this works though the company’s app, AMI BarLink, which lets patrons find, purchase, and play music on your jukebox right from their phones.

“If you have our app, as you enter a bar, it will let the customer know that there’s a jukebox on the premises,” said Richards, “[it also lets them] know about any specials or bar news. Music playing in bars and restaurants is often just background music, so you don’t have that interactive component. Jukeboxes still have the ability to create a unique experience that allows the customer to play DJ, which everyone likes.”

And while many industries have struggled to adapt to recent digital technology, jukeboxes have only been emboldened by it. TouchTunes, one of the industry leaders, revolutionized the business by utilizing the transfer of digital files directly to individual on-premise jukeboxes, as opposed

February 2017 barbizmag.com 2/8/17 12:23 PM

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Tuning Up: Jukeboxes

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to relying on bar owners to purchase the newest CDs or records to keep playlists current with the latest pop hits.

“We have over 55,000 locations in North America with TouchTunes jukeboxes, most of which are bars and restaurants and a handful of national clients,” said Marc Felsen, Senior Vice President, Corporate & Product Marketing.

TouchTunes offers the smaller Playdium unit and the larger and more robust Virtuo. Both boxes can also be used as a photobooth or for karaoke. The photobooth feature is also free for jukebox users and non-users, alike.

Both units also link to TouchTunes’ newly-redesigned mobile app, which has been downloaded over six million times.

“With mobile technology becoming core to our daily lives, the new TouchTunes app creates an interactive, one-of-a-kind social experience for every user and allows them to be the DJ at their favorite venues,” said Charles Goldstuck, Chairman and CEO of TouchTunes.

Felsen explains some of the features, “The app offers a lot of features and convenience, which millennials especially tend to enjoy. For example, through the app, you can build your own playlist, find out what’s currently playing or coming up, as well as cue up a song without having to lose your seat.”

There are functionalities for bar owners to take advantage of on the app, as well. A smart check-in feature automatically checks users in to locations visited frequently, and a venue staff messaging system allows staff to program custom messages to appear within the app when a user checks in to their venue.

“Our goal is to create that emotional connection to that moment that people are in,” said Felsen.

Which, in the end, is really what we’re all trying to do.

February 2017 barbizmag.com 2/10/17 9:36 AM

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February 2017 www.barbizmag.com

n ti n o

Th fu e y s so nct ay t ma ftw ion he co kin are of g sim mpl g th is ood ar ple ex a e th e 6 . If ppe at mo so ar By Ch do bil , he ri n’t e a re st o ph by pps er t e.

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Apps

hen Apple’s App Store and Google’s Android Market, now Google Play, first threw open their “doors” in 2008, they had just a handful of apps and still seemed like a somewhat dicey proposition. Would people really come out in droves to a tiny digital marketplace to buy intangible things for their smartphones that much? The answer, it turns out, is a resounding YES. Last year alone, Apple pulled almost two billion dollars a month down from the cloud, emerging as the clear market leader in software just as they are in hardware. In fact, on January 1 of this year, their App Store had its busiest day ever with $240 million dollars. That’s $10 million dollars an hour, people—and on New Year’s Day no less. The takeaway is digital has become big, big business and isn’t going anywhere but up.

Today there’s over two million applications available for download.

That’s more than enough to have to choose between to fill the dwindling space left on your phone. So which are good and which are bad? Well, there’s loads of both with more being released every day. While many have companion desktop apps, these are all primarily mobile-based apps, and would obviously require a smartphone, tablet, or smartwatch to use.

Now that we think about it, you’re actually holding a pretty digitallyminded issue—think of it as a smartmag—with How To’s on emerging portion control technology (page 18) and new staffing and scheduling software (page 23), as well as an in-depth discussion of current digital music options in Tuning Up (page 28).

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Photo Credit

Speaking In www.barbizmag.com

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Apps

But the six apps that follow are the ones that we have handpicked as the most helpful to you, the modern bar owner or operator in streamlining, organizing, executing, and elevating your business in this new digital world.

Partender Partender bills itself as “the world’s first inventory control system in your pocket,” and it has been featured on Spike TV’s Bar Rescue. It vastly reduces the amount of time spent on inventory by using your smartphone’s camera as a unique onscreen measuring tool to determine how much liquid is left in a bottle and how much that liquid is worth in sales—up to a 99.2% accuracy rate. It can also measure inventory on things like bar fruit and even cigars.

After every inventory is performed, the app emails you purchase orders, which can be immediately forwarded along to your liquor representatives and are also stored in the cloud.

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Barkeep This app “helps you understand and monitor how well your bar is performing by determining exactly how much liquor your bar should have used and then comparing that with how much liquor your bar actually used.”

This data can actually be synced across multiple locations and/or smartphones and even updated via a bluetooth digital scale to weigh partial bottles. Their online version also links to your data within the app to be able to access it away from your phone—or allow other employees to without handing over your own phone. The online version also offers additional benefits not available on the app like pour cost analysis, generating orders and managing suppliers, and backing up your data just in case you lose your phone.

The company also has another app called Bouncer, which functions for people as Barkeep does for bottles, keeping headcounts, managing capacity, gestalts and age-verifying patrons as they enter your establishment.

February 2017 barbizmag.com

All photos: Shutterstock.com

PRO TIP: Mobile app Tip Sheet helps employees monitor progress and hit goals and managers determine how their staff’s earnings stack up over days, months, or even years.

Apps Tip Sheet Track hourly employees shifts, hourly wages, tips, and total earnings to keep track of who’s earning what and when. For your employees, it can help them monitor their own progress and hit goals. For managers, it can be a useful tool to determine overall how your employees’ earnings stack up to other local bars, different cities, or even your other establishments.

Also, it enables you to see just what people are earning pershift, per-day, per-month, and year-to-date, that way next time someone complains about “not getting the good shifts,” you can consult this app to see if that’s true.

Cheapr Everybody likes saving money, right? Well, Cheapr helps you compare costs across the many different sizes of beer (or anything, really). You can use it to help set prices on bottles versus pitchers versus growlers or to decide whether it’s cheaper to buy a keg or multiple cases from a distributor.

Cheapr also works cross-culturally. Say for example you’re buying a new craft beer from Europe and, like any good American, are unfamiliar with the metric system. Cheapr can convert those very “foreign” measurements for you.

Mint Staying on top of bills isn’t easy, except maybe for accountants, but without having one of those, it’s up to you to manage. And in the same way that TurboTax helps you do your taxes, its makers now have Mint to help you create a budget, track and pay bills, monitor bank accounts, keep an eye on investments, and generally manage money coming in or going out of your business, all in one place.

Oh, and don’t worry about having to plug the cost of this app into itself once you start using it because it’s free.

Pour Cost In bars and restaurants in the US, we order bottles of booze by the liter, serve their contents by the ounce, and charge by the dollar based on a target cost percentage. This makes for taxing math that we’d all rather not do.

This app does that math for you, without the need to type anything in. You adjust the sliders to fit the product, cost, pour, and margin you desire and Pour Cost does the work. Think of it like a calculator for your bar.

Some of these are free to download, while others come at a cost. But the cost can be justified on a business-integration application intended for daily use that can save you quite a bit of money in the end—after all, profit never comes for free.

There are also countless bartender apps containing cocktail recipes and helpful, instructional how-to videos for bar staff that may need a refresher; numerous happy hour apps you may want to get yourself listed on to help handle promotion and marketing; a host of apps to help manage your social media presence; and some very helpful basic, although not specifically hospitality-based apps, like Numbers, Dropbox, Excel, Evernote, Scanner Pro, and Money Dashboard that can turn out to be very helpful to any business.

Or, if you really wanted to go all out, you could use companies like Appypie, Bizness Apps, or Amplify to create your very own app for your establishment and jump on this e-money train while it’s still leaving the virtual station.

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37 2/10/17 9:35 AM

E = MC²

(Energy=medicinal As culinary trends move towards healthier & more organic ingredients, cocktails now follow suit.

By Jeremy LeBlanc 38

Bar Business Magazine

E

2 Cocktails )

nergy drinks, and caffeine in general, can make you more alert, boost mental and physical performance, and elevate your mood, but are they any good for you? For years, energy drink consumers didn’t seem overly concerned with the answer to that question as the US market grew exponentially.

Sales in 2001 were just $8 million annually, but four short years later they hit $3 billion (that’s billion with a ‘b’ ), and $10 billion in 2010. Currently,

the growth shows no signs of stopping and is on target to become a $21 billion market this year.

That’s an absolutely astounding rate of growth of nearly 50% per year. But with a national move towards more knowledge and healthier solutions, the mainstream energy so many consumers ingest is now being second-guessed on nutritional grounds. Most contain one or more of the following ingredients: Yohimbe, taurine, guarana, niacin, or ginseng.

This pushed a new line of healthy

February 2017 barbizmag.com

Energy Drinks

Berry Bourbon Lemonade Sambazon 2 oz bourbon 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice 2 tsp blackberry simple syrup ⅓ cup Sambazon Jungle Love Amazon Energy, chilled 5 frozen blackberries Garnish with mint In shaker, combine bourbon, lemon juice, simple syrup, Sambazon, and ice. Shake until chilled. Strain into a tall glass over frozen berries instead of ice and garnish with mint, if desired.

energy options that avoid such ingredients, and they are now popping up at bars and on cocktail menus.

Patrons demand wholesome and nourishing ingredients when dining out, so why wouldn’t their energy cocktails follow suit?

“If there’s one thing we can all agree on, it’s that hangovers aren’t fun,” says Flavor ID cofounder Christine Dionese, also an integrative health and food therapy specialist.

“The new school energy drinks we’re seeing take this into account—nobody barbizmag.com

likes a speedy cocktail-high that leaves them swearing off alcohol the next day and new energy purveyors are now conscientious of this. Today, cocktails are being created with real fruit juices and hand-crafted syrups and bitters, all sourced from some of the same ingredients used in the ethical and organic nutraceutical and supplement trade.”

Nutraceuticals are pharmaceuticalgrade, standardized nutrients regulated by the Food & Drug Administration.

“Consumers want to have a good time, but don’t want their drinking habits to lead to larger health concerns,” continues Dionese.

Consider kombucha, a traditional food that was created thousands of years ago to enhance digestion. This simple energy drink is popping up in fizzes, floats, sours, and sparklers in bars and clubs nationwide.

Unique Energy Drink set an objective to change expectations within the energy drink category through a tasty and truly healthy luxury energy beverage that elevates any spirit mixture. Their products contain green tea extracts and powerful red reishi mushroom (ganoderma lucidum), both of which

provide significant health benefits.

Reishi are known to enhance the immune system, improve cognitive ability, prolong life, lessen fatigue, and reduce cholesterol and blood pressure. The ingredients in Unique’s blend also help to treat bronchitis, asthma, and insomnia by using ingredients like green tea, which contains properties that may improve brain function and increase physical performance.

Unique partner Chris Cook says, “Virtually everything about Unique is, well...unique. Our active ingredients of green tea and reishi make our flavor profile completely different from other energy drinks on the market, offering an enjoyable, lightly carbonated beverage.”

Their mission is to serve the world a sustainable, feel-good experience through thoroughly-researched and tested ingredients to focus on energy and health.

Since 2010, the UK’s Scheckter’s Organic Energy has spread its operations worldwide, providing an alternative energy solution to the US, South Africa, and the Netherlands. All the drinks in Scheckter’s range use only the finest ingredients, including organic lemon juice as the natural preservative and a unique blend of raw green coffee beans, organic tea extract, and guarana and ginseng extract, which means no jitters and no crash.

The company’s mission is inspired by a passion for natural ingredients, great taste, and performance. By only using clean, organic energy, Scheckter’s has become the only Informed Choice– approved energy drink on the market.

This means they have been tested for banned substances by a world class sports anti-doping laboratory and are suitable for professional athletes and military personnel.

Scheckter’s Organic Energy drinks don’t use taurine, which is banned in several countries, or synthetic caffeine that causes a spike and crash for people when they drink mainstream energy drinks. The level of caffeine in one 250ml can of Scheckter’s is 80mg, which is the organic equivalent of a February 2017

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Energy Drinks

Maçau Mule Sambazon 1 part Sambazon Jungle Love Amazon Energy 1 part ginger beer Squeeze of fresh lime Garnish with fresh mint, berries, and lime slices Mix ginger beer and lime juice in a copper cup and stir. Add Sambazon and ice, stir again, and garnish.

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strong espresso.

Scheckter’s rep Becky Maganzini states, “We never use any GMO ingredients, and we’re free from all animal flesh, meat or bone stock, animal or carcass fats, gelatin, aspic, or any other ingredients resulting from slaughter. We never animal test and have no chance for crosscontamination during production with non-vegetarian ingredients.

“Everything we do and every ingredient we harvest is done consciously and purposefully so we can uphold our promise to the Brazilian Amazon, the planet, and you.”

Sambazon is another company

dedicated to providing healthy options.

A tribe of conscious individuals started Sambazon with the belief that what they do can change the world.

Sambazon produces organic products packed with the nutrient-rich power of Amazon superfoods and açaí—an antioxidant-rich fruit that for centuries has been proclaimed as a healing, immune-stimulating, energyboosting fruit. Research has shown that this antioxidant-rich berry may be able to fight health problems associated with oxidative damage.

Açaí, while hard to pronounce, is known as one of the most important plant species on the planet and the

February 2017 barbizmag.com

Energy Drinks folks over at Sambazon have provided us with a delicious and nutritious alternative to Brazilian cocktails like the Caipirinha.

Lindsay Giacobazzi, director of Consumer Engagement at Sambazon, says, “Sambazon is chock-full of antioxidants, omegas, vital nutrients and trace minerals that only come from the açaí fruit.”

All of their products are organic, non-GMO, vegan and fair trade. The energy comes from the açaí berry and acerola cherry producing natural caffeine from yerba mate, green tea, and guarana.

Another new alt-energy drink, Hackamore, is the first to come in a glass liter bottle. The look is intended to mimic Grey Goose’s bottle to highlight that Hackamore should be “treated like a vodka” and also to allow the consumer to see that they’re drinking a clean and clear caffeine.

The most common ingredients in energy drinks are synthetic caffeine and added sugars or sweeteners, but Hackamore only uses natural caffeine obtained from decaffeinating its coffee beans. The raw caffeine is a mix of arabica and robusta coffee imported from Italy.

Founder Olivia Robinson has created the first energy drink for the mixology world with a highlyconcentrated caffeine content that allows it to be mixed with other liquors without diluting a carefully crafted cocktail.

Hackamore strategically uses its citrus lime base as a flavor profile to perfectly mix with any spirit. It doesn’t require refrigeration, even after opening, which allows it to sit on the back bar with the spirits or in the speed rack for up to one year after being opened.

“We don’t necessarily like to be compared to other energy drinks on the market because we break new ground in terms of concept, design, and execution,” says Robinson.

“Hackamore is the only beverage of its kind, and it wants to make the consumer aware that they can now order energy cocktails without being embarrassed.”

Devils Swamp Sambazon 4 oz Midori 4 oz Unique Energy Drink Add ice, Midori, and Unique.

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2/8/17 11:18 AM

Bar Tour F HARLEM, NEW YORK Far from the hipster din of downtown, this local-only craft bistro has carved out its very own space uptown.

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rom the mid-1920s to the mid-1930s, Harlem, New York City’s upper-Upper West Side, exploded onto the cultural map, making itself a de facto destination and safe haven for African-American artists of every stripe. “The Harlem Renaissance,” as it was known, saw musicians and writers, poets and photographers, artists and philosophers all make their way uptown to experience a new social and intellectual revolution, the likes of which had not been seen before. They were escaping Jim Crow laws and the oppression of the South and sought a new home where they could freely and creatively express themselves.

Cultural figures we still speak of today flocked to the area in this postProhibition time: poet Langston Hughes, dancer Josephine Baker, author Zora Neale Hurston, activist Marcus Garvey. There was also a laundry list of some of the greatest musicians of all time, regardless of race or genre, such as Thelonious Monk, Duke Ellington, Ella

Fitzgerald, Cab Calloway, Louis Armstrong, and Dizzy Gillespie, who performed regularly at storied venues like The Alhambra Club and The Cotton Club, drawing a mixed audience of blacks, whites, and celebrities. The movement provided a major boost to African-American morale of its day and energized a true reemergence of racial pride.

But in the nearly one hundred years that have passed, Harlem has somehow earned itself a reputation as a faraway place that could be considered “dangerous” and might be best avoided.

In actuality, nothing could be further from the truth.

Restaurateur Erin Kerrigan, whose family grew up and still resides in Harlem, is aiming to change all that with Hop House Harlem.

“Downtown is completely oversaturated right now in every way, and I want to stand out. Being a woman, opening your own bar, and doing it in Harlem? That’s the focal point here for me, personally,” Kerrigan tells me. “No one is doing

February 2017 barbizmag.com

All Photos: Margaret Pattillo.

By CHRISTOPHER TARANTINO

Bar Tour what I’m doing. No one is focusing exclusively on local craft beer from in and around New York City the way that we are, so we stand out. I’ve been in the restaurant business now for a long time, and, trust me, that is always the point.”

The Drinks And stand out they do. By serving only small-batched or microbrewed local craft beers from New York City and its surrounding area, they’ve given themselves a rather specific task, which certainly makes them stand out, not just in Harlem specifically, but in New York City in general. Their list is a carefully curated and constantly rotating roster of different and delicious new brews, spearheaded by Kerrigan herself, who seems to have more than enough knowledge and passion to stick to her mission. “I lived in the East Village out of college years ago, and it was cool, but it’s something completely different now. It’s totally oversaturated, and I wouldn’t be down there or in Brooklyn, fighting for the same crowd as everyone else opening a bar,” she says.

few blocks from here, and our beer rep brought it in while we were still under construction and said I should try it.

But it looked like a bottle that’d been sitting in your grandfather’s garage way too long,” she says. “He swore it was just a temp bottle. So reluctantly, I tried it, and even amidst all that commotion, I knew it was special.”

When asked how she goes about populating the ever-changing menu, she doesn’t hesitate. “You keep your ear to the ground, and you realize there’s so many people jumping into this industry right now who are turning out really good stuff,” she says.

“I’m a small business owner, and I like doing business with other nearby small business owners. Sure you have to taste a lot, but I’m totally fine with that!”

The History Kerrigan started in the restaurant business at the tender age of thirteen in family-owned restaurants, and that experience helped to provide her with the vision that has run Hop House Harlem from its opening to today.

“My family owned two places in the Hudson Valley, which people in New York City tend to think of as really far away. They have this misconception about New York state,” she says. “It’s an hour north of here! There’s tons of mountains, and it’s just gorgeous up there.”

Apparently, it’s also the place to go if you’re looking to select the perfect pumpkin for fall, go apple picking or discover up-and-coming craft microbrews. Wait...what?

“Great beer comes to us from up

Most days I spend behind the bar introducing people to new tastes.

- Erin Kerrigan We drink a variety of new and unique local beers, one from a brewer in her hometown of Newburgh called GigaBoss Double IPA, followed by a Black Pale Ale and a White IPA from up-and-coming Bushwick brewer Braven. After an interesting Black Magic Stout by Empire, Kerrigan slings us some Harlem Blue, which comes with a story: “The beer maker lives a barbizmag.com

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Bar Tour

there all the time. Places like Newburgh and all over the Hudson Valley, really.”

So then, hasn’t it been a major geographic challenge changing the mindset of New York City’s downtown denizens—the same ones who believe you need a passport to visit the Hudson Valley—to venture “all the way up” to Harlem for a beer in our modern, Seamless-driven culture?

“Actually, no! We’re one stop away from Columbus Circle. Plus, it’s a true neighborhood up here, which people value, and really, is what living in New York City is all about,” she says. “People want certain things, and they want them within a five-block radius from their house: they want a cool barbershop, they want a decent dry cleaner, and they want good Chinese food. So no one else is doing this thing that we’re doing in this particular neighborhood, so we’re just giving people what they wanted and didn’t have.”

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Last year, just weeks after opening, Kerrigan and Co. were part of The Frederick Douglass Boulevard Alliance’s fifth annual outdoor festival

No one is focusing exclusively on local craft beer from in and around New York City.

- Erin Kerrigan called Food & Drink Boulevard, along with numerous other long-standing, local Harlem businesses.

The bistro is nestled in a comfortable, yet still somewhat busy area at the corner of 120th Street, just two blocks away from the historic Apollo Theater.

Their freshly redesigned 65-seat location feels considerably larger, and come spring, they’ll be adding outdoor seating to meet increasing demand.

They’re also about to start up a new monthly series of talks and seminars led by local brewers and craft-beer experts, which they’re calling Tap Chats.

They’ve barely been open for six months, but already, the neighborhood appetite for their particular style of local food and drink seems to be insatiable. Harlem blogs and local craft/foodie-inclined websites have kept a very watchful eye on their movements—months before they even opened the doors­— tracking their progress on interior design and exterior signage, posting online pictures snapped through the windows,

February 2017 barbizmag.com

Bar Tour and even contacting the local borough hall to find out who applied for the license in their neighborhood.

The Food Housed in a former “boutique pizzapie shop,” Hop House Harlem still maintains the same pizza ovens in their space today, which may be one of the reasons their pizzas are so unusual.

The other reason, is that, like everything else on the menu here, the ingredients they use are so fresh they appear to be bussed in from a local farm as you wait. The meat on their Pepperoni Pie, for example, sounds simple enough, but it actually isn’t even pepperoni at all. It’s something called “Salumeria Biellese,” an amazing honey-drenched, sun-baked meat.

They’re also well-known for their deep-fried pickles and comically oversized, homemade Bavarian pretzels, which come with a mini-buffet of mustards nestled inside the massive holes in the dough.

“It’s not uptight. It doesn’t need to be. It’s food and drink—not brain surgery,” says Kerrigan.

Like all of their beers, the ingredients in the food are also locally grown and sourced.

Their chef, Kerrigan’s cousin Michael Reardon, was owner and

Harlem’s House of Hip-Hop & Hops

barbizmag.com

Executive Chef of Bistro Zella and cut his teeth at local hotspots like Le Bernadin. He returned home after a stint on the west-coast scene at places like One Pico and the gourmand getaway Shutters on the Beach, leading the local restaurant scene with simple preparations and complex flavors, all while still maintaining a distinct Cali flare. His clean culinary philosophy translates fresh ingredients into simply plated creations that are pure in taste but have a playful and heightened sophistication.

Hop House Harlem embraces a rebellious spirit and runs off of a creative passion that defines the growing craft-beer community.

With a strict focus on complex and delicious local brews, beer lovers from novice to nerd can discover unique interpretations of local hops and new favorites to share at this friendly, neighborhood gastropub.

Kerrigan is happy to be a part of the Harlem Renaissance, and after fifteen years in Alphabet City, she’s excited to return uptown.

“Most days I spend behind the bar at Hop House introducing myself to customers and introducing them to new tastes, which is what I love.” hophouseharlem.com

Erin Kerrigan PROPRIETOR

H

op House Harlem is the vision of proprietor Erin Kerrigan, who began her twenty-plus years of experience in the business at her family’s two restaurants in the Hudson Valley, where she was exposed to every facet of the industry. “It was at these independently run restaurants where my dream of owning my own place was born.

This venture has not only been a chance to fulfill that dream, but also a chance to work with my family once again,” says Kerrigan. Hop House Harlem’s hip-hop soundtrack, playing at a tasteful level in the background, also happens to be particularly good. When I mention it to her, she tells me, “Most people that come in here comment on the music, and that’s because I used to be a DJ.” After discussing our favorite members of the Wu-Tang Clan and the 2011 documentary Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest, Kerrigan’s Harlem bona fides continue to grow.

And finding great new music to play for people is not unlike finding them “underground,” local craft brews: You just have to look around you.

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Inventory You Shall Not Pass (Out)!

Brancott Estate Sauvignon Blanc

Brancott Estate Wines are crafted with minimum intervention to be the purest expression of cherished grape varieties. The cool, sunny climate, rugged topography, and young soils of New Zealand combine to produce some of the world’s most distinctive wines. This new year, we’d like to introduce you, lovely Bar Business Magazine readers, to Brancott Estate’s brand new label design, created as a response to consumer desire to learn more about brand legacies and deliver stronger appeal at point of purchase.

This exciting new packaging pays tribute to its brand home, illustrating the majestic Marlborough landscape of New Zealand and celebrates the emblematic Brancott Vineyard, the site of the first Sauvignon Blanc plantings in Marlborough. The purposely noticeable Red Shed is still the home of Brancott Estate today and this audacious symbol will appear across all ranges in the portfolio to help drive differentiation in the last three feet.

A 750mL bottle of Brancott Estate Sauvignon Blanc 2016 retails for approximately $10.

Bourbon In A State of Equality

Wyoming Whiskey Single Barrel Bourbon

Wyoming Whiskey Single Barrel Bourbon is available once again in six US markets. This highly anticipated release is the first since two pallets sold out before the bottles could hit shelves in November 2015. Twelve barrels representing the top 1% of bourbon produced in Wyoming Whiskey’s three brick houses were hand-selected by head distiller Sam Mead and industry consultant and master blender Nancy Fraley. More than doubling the 2015 quantity, a total of 400 cases are now on shelves. “This release has been highly anticipated since 2015 bottles sold out so quickly. This is the bottle that you hide from your friends,” said David DeFazio, cofounder and COO at Wyoming Whiskey. Five years of maturation leaves every barrel with a slightly different flavor profile. As an example, here are the tasting notes from Wyoming Whiskey Single Barrel #850: Nose: browned butter, cola, black currant, dried dates, orange citrus blossoms, almond butter. Palate: dark chocolate, buttered pastry, raisin, and orange citrus. Finish: dry with lingering butter crème, candied orange peel, and dark dried fruit. MSRP is $60.

brancottestate.com

wyomingwhiskey.com

Rebel, Rebel, how could they know?

Sam Adams New Rebel IPA

For the first time, the brewers at Sam Adams have completely reformulated their popular flagship Rebel IPA beer. After more than four years, brewers undertook a mission to take advantage of hops not readily available when Rebel first launched in 2014. As part of this experiment—codename “Project Lupulus”—the brewers collaborated with a hop breeder in Yakima Valley, WA to create a new proprietary hop variety exclusive to Sam Adams called HBC 566. After months of playing with dozens of trial batches at the Boston Brewery, they are now ready to release the new Rebel IPA recipe, brewed with HBC 566 and another new experimental variety for bittering, HBC 682, giving Rebel a more intense, juicy, tropical citrus flavor with a leaner body and a crisp, clean finish to optimize the hop character. “This is the first time we’ve significantly changed the recipe of a flagship beer. Not that long ago, it was a challenge just to find quality, flavorful hops and now we’re developing our own. It’s wild to think how far the industry has come and that today, a beer can evolve,” said Sam Adams founder and brewer Jim Koch. samueladams.com

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Inventory

negative calorie gin is not a myth!

Napoléonic Complex-ity

With only 209 square feet to its name, Rutte Distillery defines, quite literally, what is a micro distillery.

Located in the small town of Dordrecht, Holland, Rutte has a distilling history that spans seven generations and, today, has Master Distiller Myrium Hendrickx at the helm.

Rutte Celery Gin is a modern style dry gin and is inspired by a prominent ingredient used from Rutte generations past—celery. Distilled using only the finest all natural grains, botanicals, and juniper berries, Rutte Celery Gin offers subtle notes of juniper and citrus on the nose and a palate that combines savory celery with coriander and cardamom.

Rutte Celery Gin can be utilized in many classic gin cocktail recipes, including the Celery G+T and a Celery Negroni; however, the gin was specifically designed to make the perfect Red Snapper, a gin-based take on the Bloody Mary. Nominated in the Top 4 for “Best New Spirit of the Year” at Tales of the Cocktail 2016.

Mandarine Napoléon is an exquisite, balanced blend of Sicilian mandarin oranges and refined 10-year-aged cognac, which boasts a warm, amber color, and has a nose of bright citrus. Its palate is sweet and finishes dry, no cloying sugar.

Mandarine Napoléon is a wonderful modifier in cocktails, for cooking, or as a digestif. It can also be used in sangrias, mimosas, tiki cocktails, and much more. It was awarded 94 Points by Wine Enthusiast.

Rutte Celery Gin

Mandarine Napoléon

mandarinenapoleon.com

Featured PRODUCT

rutte.com

anytime is ‘Time For A Lime time’ Absolut Lime

The Absolut brand has just launched its first new product in four years: Absolute Lime.

Absolut Lime is the latest addition to the brand’s iconic citrus flavor portfolio, joining Absolut Citron and Absolut Mandrin—the No. 1 selling lemon and orange-flavored vodkas in the US. If you’re thinking, “Does this really not already exist?” Well, then you are not alone! Absolut Lime seems like such a no-brainer that it’s hard to believe it’s actually new. While limes are one of the most popular garnishes for cocktails, it’s actually a very dynamic and complex citrus. Perfecting the complexity of lime is no easy feat, but Absolut believes they’ve landed on a blend worthy of this flavor. In addition to hitting nightlife destinations and at-home bar carts nationwide, Absolut Lime will have also stepped out into the ‘limelight’ at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards on February 12, 2017 with its signature Grammy Awards cocktail: “The Absolut Limelight.” In addition to the Absolut Limelight, there are endless cocktail combinations from simple to complex that Absolut Lime elevates. Absolut Lime is available nationwide for an MSRP of $19.99 (750ml) and $24.99 (1L). absolut.com

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Happenings March 2017

8

March 8 National Women’s Day

17

Where would we be without them?

I’ll tell ya: not here. Literally. So find a fun and unique way to celebrate them all at your establishment!

March 3 National Employee Appreciation Day We are only as good as our employees, and today’s your big chance to show ‘em how important they are to you. Plan a party, buy some gifts, and reward all of their hard work.

March 17 St. Patrick’s Day You really gotta give it to the Irish here. What other ethnicity has a holiday that is so focused on getting blindingly drunk? If there is another one, we need to know about it.

3

March 3 Detroit Whisky Festival Say nice things about Detroit… and whisky at the first annual celebration of the world’s favorite dark spirit with over 60 worldwide producers and distributors. Learn more at detroitwhisky.com.

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Happenings

Upcoming

March 3 National Mulled Wine Day

EVENTS

While it’s European in nature, it’s American in spirit. Mulled wine is easy to make. It can be served with or without raisins and alcohol—although we prefer both!—and now we all have a day to enjoy it.

MARCH Bartenders Weekend

March 19-21, 2017 San Diego, CA

bartendersweekend.com

APRIL

20

Wine and Spirits WholesaleRs of America

March 20 First Day of Spring Put away the snow boots along with the heavy winter cocktails. Spring is here! To celebrate, why not add some edible flowers as a decorative garnish to your cocktails? It will give your patrons a chance to stop and taste the roses.

April 18-21, 2017 Las Vegas, NV

wswaconvention.org

Miami Rum Fest April 22-27, 2017 Miami, FL

miamirumfest.com

Baltimore Cocktail Week March 27–29 Nightclub & Bar Convention The premier annual on-premise trade show goes down in Vegas. And you know what they say: “What happens at Nightclub & Bar, stays at Nightclub & Bar!”

March 24 National Cocktail Day This year National Cocktail Day falls on a Friday. It doesn’t get much more perfect than this, folks. Mixologists and drinkers: Start your engines!

barbizmag.com

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April 23-30, 2017 Baltimore, MD

baltimorecocktailweek.com

MAY National Restaurant Association/BAR Show May 20-23, 2017 Chicago, IL

show.restaurant.org

Bar Business Magazine Beer Wine & Spirits Competition May 19, 2017 Chicago, IL

barbizspiritscompetition.com

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“IF HEAVEN WERE A COCKTAIL PARTY THE CLOSEST MOST OF US WILL EVER GET IS THE MANHATTAN COCKTAIL CLASSIC.” - NBC NEW YORK

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February 2017 www.barbizmag.com

Ad Index

Company

Contact

Inventory COMPANIES

17 2touchpos xenios

2touchpos.com

29 AMI Entertainment

amientertainment.com

Brancott Estate brancottestate.com

13 BARRITT’S GINGER BEER

bermudasgingerbeer.com

9,27 DIRECTV for business

directv.com

32 DRAFT PARTY USA

draftparty.us

33 GROWTH FOUNDATION

GrowthFoundation.com

C3 HARBORTOUCH (CA)

iharbortouch.com

3 JEVO

jevohome.com

24 LOUIS STRIAR

newyorkcitypermits.com

50 MANHATTAN COCKTAIL

manhattancocktailclassics.com

16 Moscow Copper

moscowcopper.com

19 NEWELL (RUBBERMAID)

newellrubbermaid.com

25 NIGHTCLUB & BAR

ncbshow.com

31 NRA

restaurant.org

7 PERLICK

rumchata.com

37 SINCITY VIP

sincityvip.com

21 spirit competition

barbizbeveragecompetitionscom

C2 TAFFER DYNAMICS

TafferDynamics.com/barbiz

26 TIME & OAK

info@Timeandoak.com

33 venue

samuel adams samueladams.com rutte rutte.com mandarine napoléon mandarinenapoleon.com Absolut absolut.com To Advertise in Bar Business Magazine, contact Art Sutley 212-620-7247 Asutley@sbpub.com

perlick.com

C4 RUMCHATA

5 TITO’S

Wyoming whiskey wyomingwhiskey.com

titosvodka.com growthfountain.com/51

Thirsty for more? visit @BarBizMag

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February 2017

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Q&A with CHRIS BOSTICK

1

What do you find the differences are between the cocktail scenes of NYC, LA, and Austin?

The cocktail scenes tend to match the identity of the city. NYC is still the mother of all cocktail scenes, with the most awarded bars and a generally voracious cocktail appetite. LA is a bit more laid back, yet has boomed in a big way when it comes to appetite for quality and passion to excel. Austin still remains defiantly casual, a cantankerous adolescent, kicking and screaming its way into adulthood.

2

You call Half Step “approachable, not intimidating.” How do you keep it that way?

We manage to keep it that way by making a sincere dedication to the culture we established. We’re very good at creating the illusion of simplicity. If you wanna see under the hood to learn how she runs, you’re more than welcome to ask. We just don’t ram it down the public’s throat.

3

Creative Director Half Step (Austin, TX)

O

riginally from Austin, Chris began his career behind the bar twenty years ago, slinging beer and margaritas. He started “the old fashioned way,” washing dishes and bussing tables, which led to kitchen prep work and day bar shifts. He’s had successful stints in NYC (Mirezi, Blue Water Grill, Zocalo) and LA (The Beverly Hills Hotel, The Varnish). In 2012, under his direction, The Varnish received multiple nominations for Best World Cocktail Bar and was named Best American Cocktail Bar at Tales of the Cocktail. He’s been featured in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, LA Weekly, Wall Street Journal, Qantas Magazine, Anthony Bourdain’s The Layover, and most recently Esquire TV’s Best Bars in America. Within months of opening, Half Step was final four–nominated for Best New American Cocktail Bar at 2014’s Tales of the Cocktail.

What’s changed in the twenty years you’ve been in the business?

Well, if anything I know I’ve changed.

All joking aside, the fact that you can pretty much walk into any bar anywhere and order a Negroni and have them get pretty close is nothing short of amazing. It’s also eyeopening when you see people ordering Old Fashioneds with us on their 21st birthday. When I turned 21, I was cruising up and down 6th St getting free birthday shots. The bar culture these days is way more dynamic than 20 years ago.

4

Why was it important to you to open your own spot in your home state?

I really wanted to filter my experiences in NY and LA through the lens of a local. While sticking to my roots, I still wanted to elevate the experience you might be able to find in Austin, but still focus on good old-fashioned hospitality and a bar you could have fun in.

5

What inspired you to create your unique ice program at Half Step?

While working at The Varnish in LA, 52

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we started off by making ice in deep freezers back in the office.

Two hours of each of my shifts would consist of breaking down the ice and setting up pars for the shift.

Eventually my partner Eric Alperin started at Penny Pound Ice, and we continued to evolve how we approached ice for cocktails. When it came time to design the program at Half Step, I’d been working in and around many forms of cocktail ice and had the opportunity to put that knowledge into play.

6

What does Austin itself offer that enables this program to work better than it might in another city?

The fact that we’ve struck a chord with how we’re able to balance our indoor and outdoor bars, patio vibe, live music and SXSW is nothing short of amazing. It seems like there’s something happening every week, which really keeps us on our toes. If you blink in this town, you’ve missed an opportunity to generate revenue.

7

How are you continuing the tradition of “Texas Ice Houses?”

Games, big backyard, picnic tables, live music, cold beer, and really damn good ice.

8

You once named a drink “Walk Don’t Run” after The Ventures’ song. Any other songs you can think of that would make good drinks?

Ha, naming cocktails is an interesting game. It’s tough when you have the drink and then you need a name. I keep a list of great cocktail names, but one song that comes to mind is “Under My Thumb” by The Rolling Stones.

Depending on how much space you have, that list could fill the whole magazine!

February 2017 barbizmag.com

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