In March's One for the Road, we asked experts:
What is your number-one piece of advice for crafting a successful cocktail menu?
Brittany Varno, National Beverage Manager- Dining Division, Paradies Lagardère
My number-one piece of advice is to build a cocktail menu around balance: balance in flavor, ease of execution, and guest appeal. The best menus are creative enough to feel elevated, but still approachable, consistent, and operationally realistic for the team to execute well every time.
Cyllan Hicks, Master Mixologist, Nothing Really Matters, New York City, NY
My advice for crafting a successful cocktail menu is to be simple yet thoughtful. At Nothing Really Matters, we aim to make drinks that appeal to a wide range of guests. The drinks have complex tasting notes, but they are made with simplicity, using easily sourced ingredients. Plus, it's always nice when a guest asks for the recipe and I can share it, and it won’t be too intimidating for them to go home and attempt, in terms of techniques or components. We use spirits from the main (and most familiar) categories - vodka, gin, tequilas and mezcal, rum, and whiskey. That way, there's something for everyone!
Kristine Gutierrez, Partner & General Manager, KABIN, New York City, NY
Your cocktail menu should tell a cohesive story: A bunch of drinks on pages is one thing, but I see each drink as a chapter in a greater book about your bar, identity, and culture. A strong menu is built by bars with an undeniable sense of self. The cocktail menu is the bridge between the guest and that identity.
Kyle Brown, General Manager at Customshop, Charlotte, NC
I think a fundamental step in crafting a successful cocktail menu begins with ensuring a variety of spirits. People seem to stick to one spirit throughout their drinking lives. The big hitters of course are vodka, gin, agave base, rum, and whiskey. If you have one of each of these on a menu, theoretically, there should be something for everyone. Beyond this, seasonality is paramount, especially for us here at Customshop. It makes no sense to serve something with strawberries in December; everyone knows you're not getting the fruit locally, and it's probably being shipped halfway across the world. It's also important to have a variety of different drinks from a stylistic sense. I try to have some sort of highball option / spritz for those that like a bubbly thing. A couple of drinks in a coupe glass for our girly pops, and some drinks over ice in a rocks glass for our Brads and Chads. Although men need to learn how to drink out of a coupe glass more often and stop asking for things in a rocks glass, that's the quickest way to get flower as your garnish.
Lexi Parker, Lead Bartender and Beverage Manager, Poka Lola Social Club, Denver, CO
In my experience, one of the biggest factors in creating a successful cocktail menu is making sure the menu is well rounded and has something for everyone. I try to cover all of my bases in terms of spirits and general vibe of the cocktail, so that I can try to make sure any person walking in can find something they'll love. I think another important thing to consider is making your cocktail menu approachable. At Poka we try to lean into cheeky cocktail names and blurbs, and while the menu is a decent size, it's not a multi-page booklet that guests have to flip through. For me, a menu that's too large can be intimidating and overwhelming, especially if you're a relatively new or inexperienced drinker. Creating a streamlined and approachable menu can help guests feel comfortable in your space before they even order a drink, which I think is really important.
Jonathan Adler, Beverage Director, Shinji's, New York City, NY
Make sure there’s something for everyone, a diverse style of drinks, don’t forget the classics, and have fun with it. This is your menu, so make sure there is something that represents your bar or your point of view in every drink whether it’s ingredients, technique, glassware or their names.
Joel Grill, General Manager & Sommelier, Soupçon, Crested Butte, CO
My number-one piece of advice for crafting a successful cocktail menu is to start with the classics. Guests are naturally drawn to a sense of familiarity, whether that’s a margarita, a martini, or another timeless staple like an old fashioned, so it’s important to anchor your menu with recognizable foundations. From there, the opportunity lies in elevating those classics with a thoughtful twist. Take our Caviar Martini, for example. Most guests already know if they enjoy a martini, but the addition of caviar alongside Castelvetrano olives adds an unexpected layer of indulgence, transforming something familiar into something exciting.
Dominic Dijkstra, Director of Mixology, Waldorf Astoria Osaka, Japan
The most successful cocktail menus balance creativity with consistency and profitability. It’s not just about great ideas, it’s about whether your team can execute them perfectly at volume, every single night. A menu only works if it works operationally.
Dicky Hartono, Beverage Manager, Firefly Bar at Sindhorn Kempinski Hotel Bangkok, Thailand
My number-one rule in crafting a successful cocktail menu is knowing your audience and your guests while staying true to your bar's DNA. When curating your cocktail menu, you understand your surroundings, your guests, your area, and your environment while staying true to your DNA. For example, you wouldn't want to create a martini-driven or spirit-forward menu in a beach bar or a rooftop bar in Bangkok's hot, tropical climate. Instead, you would want to create long drinks, refreshing or frappé-style cocktails with crushed ice, or even a Tiki-driven cocktail menu.
It's also important when creating the menu to focus not on your personal taste or flavor preference, but on understanding what your market wants - the taste of your guests, the local palate, or the regional cuisine. Proper study should involve strong trial and error. Feedback from your guests during sample tastings will be a very important factor in creating a successful cocktail menu. Less ego and knowing what your audience wants will be the key to your menu's success.
Gabriel Lowe, Founding Partner, Cat Bite Club, Singapore
At Cat Bite Club, the most important thing is simple: make the menu easy to navigate, even for someone who doesn’t speak “cocktail.”
A lot of menus are written for bartenders. We think they should be written for guests.
For us, that means stripping away unnecessary complexity and focusing on how a drink actually feels to drink. Instead of listing a long string of ingredients or techniques, we guide people through flavor and structure. Bright, refreshing, spirit-forward, savory, juicy. These are things anyone can understand immediately, whether it’s their first cocktail or their hundredth.
We design menus so a guest can quickly find their lane. If you know you like something light and citrusy, you should be able to spot that in seconds. If you’re feeling adventurous, there should be a clear entry point that still feels safe. The goal is to remove hesitation.
It is not about dumbing things down. It is about translating.
Behind the scenes, the drinks can be as technical and detailed as we want. But what reaches the guest should feel intuitive, welcoming, and human. When someone orders confidently without needing a long explanation, that is when the menu is doing its job.
A good cocktail menu does not show off how much you know. It shows that you understand how people drink.
John David Hammond, General Manager, Acre, Auburn, Alabama
Start with "why." What is the identity of the business, and why are we serving what we are serving? There has to be meaning behind the drinks. Do they fit the ethos, do they fit the "why" of the business? If you are a speakeasy bar, are the drinks being created with traditional prohibition-style ingredients? Is it a farm-to-table restaurant, and are you using fresh, seasonal flavors that match your kitchen? Once you figure out the "why" of the business, then you can create the what.
If the drinks feel authentic to the space and the business, then guests will respond in kindness. At Acre, our whole ethos starts with "living off the land," so it makes sense for us to create a menu that highlights seasonal ingredients that are local, and we change the menu as the ingredients we have access to changes. Plus, if you understand your why, hopefully there will be a higher level of passion showing through in the menu...and at the end of the day, passion sells.
Colin Womack, Bar Manager, Main Street Meats, Chattanooga, Tennessee
While it’s not sexy, the most important aspect of any cocktail menu—and the aspect that is most often overlooked when curating a new cocktail menu—has to do with execution. Cocktails have to come out in a timely manner, and if a menu is populated entirely with drinks that require eight to twelve touches, that becomes difficult. The speed of the actual bartenders making the drinks is only one factor to consider; you also need to consider the size of the establishment, the set up of the bar, and the expectations of the guests. So a cocktail menu that works in a thirty-seat cocktail bar may not work in a hundred-seat restaurant. Similarly, some bars, particularly in newer buildouts, are incredibly efficiently laid out, while others are less so! Finally, guests' expectations are a bit more difficult to adjust for, but generally, a drink arriving quickly is always better! That being said, I have found that guests in a restaurant are often more patient than those at bar!
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