Gateway cocktails to tempt guests

It can be very difficult to offer a diverse cocktail menu at a restaurant or bar in a market where guests are very hesitant towards certain spirits. One guest might have avoided tequila since college, for example, and another might claim not to like the taste of gin.

But there are many approachable cocktails out there that use these sometimes-controversial base spirits, and these types of situations provide your staff with a great opportunity to encourage a guest to give a certain spirit a second chance.

Here are some simple cocktails utilizing different base spirits that have changed some minds.

Gimlet

Ingredients

• 2 oz vodka
• 0.75 oz lime cordial
• 0.75 oz lime juice
• Lime wheel

Instructions

Combine all ingredients except the garnish in a shaker, fill with ice, and shake until chilled. Strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with a lime wheel.

Before Prohibition, the gimlet was very popular among the Royal Navy and was used to prevent scurvy. This sharp, sour cocktail was meant to be a short drink, imbibed quickly to do its job, but it has since gone through a revival of sorts and is enjoyed at a slower pace today.

Historically written as an “equal parts” cocktail of gin and Rose’s lime cordial, it has been reshaped by craft cocktail bars today, where many are making their own lime cordials in house and substituting vodka for gin as the base.

Bee’s Knees

Ingredients

• 2 oz gin
• 0.75 oz honey syrup
• 0.75 oz lemon juice

Instructions

Combine all ingredients in a shaker, fill with ice, and shake until chilled. Strain into a chilled coupe glass.

This simple gin-based cocktail is believed to have been created during the Prohibition Era and was named after the slang that, at the time, meant “the best.” This drink is essentially a gin sour that gets an added richness with the substitution of honey syrup for simple syrup. The honey syrup also adds a layer of complexity to the cocktail that can help tone down the juniper bite of certain gins, creating a more approachable drink.
 

Paloma

Ingredients

• 1.5 oz tequila
• 0.5 oz lime juice
• Pinch of salt
• Grapefruit soda (Preferably Jarritos)
• Lime wheel

Instructions

Combine all ingredients except the soda and garnish in a shaker, fill with ice, and shake until chilled. Strain into an ice-filled Collins glass and top with grapefruit soda. Garnish with a lime wheel.

The history behind this tequila-based cocktail is a little obscure, but some believe that it was created in the town of Tequila in Jalisco, Mexico.

When introducing guests to the wonders of tequila, it can be very difficult to move them away from the margarita. However, the paloma is the margarita’s grapefruit-based cousin and is one of the most popular cocktails in Mexico. It is believed that grapefruit pairs better with tequila than lime used in margaritas, and when prepared correctly, this drink has an amazing, distinctive character that can easily outshine its more popular relative.

Daiquiri

Ingredients

• 2 oz rum
• 0.5 oz cane syrup
• 0.75 oz lime juice

Instructions

Combine all ingredients except the garnish in a shaker, fill with ice, and shake until chilled. Strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with a lime wheel.

Considered one of the most popular drinks in Cuba, the daquiri is believed to have been created by American mining engineer, Jennings Cox, who was in Cuba during the Spanish-American War. It became wildly popular during Prohibition, however, as Americans fled the states in search for booze.

As a three-ingredient cocktail, the daiquiri is not only clean and delicious, but also showcases how crucial balance is to a good cocktail. Precision is key in this drink; otherwise you may have a drink that is too strong, sour or sweet.

A bonus: This drink is not only a cocktail, but also a template. You can use it to introduce guests into the world of rum, where each bottle will have an extremely different profile, since so many styles are produced today.

Toronto

Ingredients

• 2 oz rye whiskey
• 0.25 oz demerara syrup
• 0.25 oz Fernet branca
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters
• Orange twist

Instructions

Combine all ingredients except the garnish in a mixing glass, fill with ice, and stir until chilled and diluted properly. Strain into a chilled coupe glass or over ice in an old-fashioned glass. Express the oils from the orange peel over the drink and drop in as garnish.

A relative to America’s old-fashioned cocktail, this spirit-forward cocktail was found in David Embury’s 1948 book The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks. The spices found in rye whiskey will shine in this cocktail, with the raw-sugar syrup providing just a touch of sweetness. The small addition of Fernet and Angostura bitters act as the modifying and bittering agents in the drink, creating a complex, cool-weather sipper that contains amazing flavor.
 

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