Menu Design

Practical guideAdvanced5 min readEditorial draft

A good cocktail menu tells a story, guides the guest and works behind the bar. Keys to structure, language and operations.

✦ Ask the Sommelier

Balance across the menu

A menu should offer something for every guest: long and refreshing, sour and shaken, strong and stirred, bitter, low-ABV and non-alcoholic. Make sure five drinks don't all taste alike.

Vary base spirits, including Mexican agave spirits.
Vary methods and glassware.
Include lower-ABV options.

Words that sell

Describe flavors, not techniques: 'fresh, citrusy and lightly smoky' says more than an ingredient list. Limit each description to three or four key ingredients and avoid terms guests won't understand.

Make it work at the bar

Count unique ingredients across the whole menu: if every drink needs something different, mise en place becomes impossible. Reuse preps across drinks and cost every recipe before printing.

Key terms

Pour cost: Ingredient cost as a percentage of selling price.
Signature: The bar's own original cocktail.

Liqueur · Shaken

Carajillo

Espresso and Licor 43 over ice: the after-lunch digestif that conquered Mexican restaurants. Sweet, aromatic and lightly foamy.

IBA

Vodka · Shaken

Espresso Martini

Coffee, vodka and coffee liqueur shaken to a creamy foam. A modern classic that both wakes you up and closes dinner.

IBAMX

Tequila · Built

Paloma

The tequila highball Mexico drinks at home, at the fonda and on the beach. Grapefruit, lime and salt: refreshing, bittersweet and easy to make.

IBA

Amaro · Built

Spritz

Bubbly, bittersweet and low in alcohol, the Spritz is the aperitivo ritual of northern Italy. Light enough for long afternoons.

Agave spirits

Tequila

Tequila is a spirit distilled from blue Weber agave (Agave tequilana Weber var. azul), protected by a denomination of origin since 1974. Young, it is fresh and herbal; after time in oak it turns rounder and spicier.