The Blend Zine - Vol.08

The Fut Ready

Enter the world of canned, batched, bottled, and tap cocktails also know as ready to serve — a trend reshaping the bar scene and beyond. This innovative approach has revolutionized how we sip cocktails, while transforming the way bars and restaurants are operating.

These new ready to serve options provide convenience and consistency without compromising on taste or quality, giving bartenders more time to focus on the guest experience. These pre-mixed creations, expertly crafted in larger quantities, o er swift and e ortless service. This trend has ushered in a diverse selection, ranging from classic favourites to innovative serves. They are reshaping bar menus and delighting cocktail enthusiasts globally.

Join us as we explore this exciting phenomenon, delving into the craftsmanship, the impact on the hospitality industry and a trend truly redefining the art of cocktail making.

Future Of To Serve

Industry Interview

Marcis Dzelzainis

Co-Founder of Idyll Drinks

Marcis’ bartending career spans the best part of 15+ years. He has opened some of the most iconic drinking spots in London (Zetter Townhouse, Satan’s Whiskers, Dandelyan), whilst also working at venues such as 69 Colebrooke Row and their development space - The Drink Factory. He also managed Sager + Wilde, which went on to win a prestigious Tales of the Cocktail award in 2018. He is also co-founder of Fare Bar & Canteen on Old Street, which opened in 2018. He has spent considerable time travelling around Mexico sourcing unique small-batch agave distillates and rum. Marcis has also been fortunate to travel the world hosting pop-up events from New York to Stockholm. He is a believer in researching

forgotten techniques and wild ingredients, as a way of connecting with our culinary history and a vehicle for positive ecological change.

Established in 2020, Idyll is about rewilding drinks, in its most fundamental sense this means acknowledging how co-dependent we are on nature, especially in the hospitality industry At the heart of Idyll are key concepts such as rewilding, regenerative farming and sustainable foraging. Our soft drinks and bottled cocktails are handmade in small batches in Hackney London. We donate a portion of all our drinks sales to Rewilding Britain.

What made you move from operating bars to launching Idyll drinks & your own consultancy business?

I'd watched the industry change over the last decade, issues with sta ng, tighter and tighter margins squeezing industry operators, post pandemic it started to become apparent that the industry was going through a period of re-evaluation.

I'd always wanted to focus on production and launching a larger operation, idyll allowed me to look at the ecological impact of drinks production and explore how our future systems might look like, with produce from smaller-scale regenerative farms and wild ingredients playing a bigger role.

Broadly speaking the ingredients in each are treated much the same, it's just the equipment/vessel and how flavours then interact with each other that's di erent. The main elements are:

Ease of distribution: Many venues are struggling with sta costs, so premixed options limit the need for training a specialist bartender and guarantee a degree of quality with each serve. For events/festivals, the speed at which you can serve is much faster than with a traditional set-up.

More refined recipe formulation: When batching large quantities, you can play around with adding small amounts of liquid to larger batches, creating more nuanced products. Some elements would be equivalent to 0.01ml of liquid in an individual serve, impossible to do with classic drinks execution.

Di erent consumption modes: New categories of mixed drinks are emerging, with the majority being canned. Low sugar/low abv drinks are gaining increased traction with a younger consumer base. But good quality bottled cocktails have also gained traction with a slightly older demographic. All in all, canned/bottled drinks coincide with and feed the home consumption trend.

What are the main advantages to the industry through canned, bottled, batched & tapped cocktails?

What are the key advantages of ready-to-drink compared to made fresh cocktails in a venue?

EASY – less waste, faster service, fewer cost implications and consistency!

How do ready-to-drink cocktails maintain the quality & freshness of the ingredients, especially when compared to freshly prepared cocktails?

That's very di cult. It's an emerging category and small producers like us are only starting to refine and develop the processes to do so. Overall, it's the same as always: you have to start with quality ingredients, do your research and it’s super important to do testing on how the ingredients will react.

What are the challenges in creating ready-to-serve cocktails that replicate the taste and experience of a freshly made cocktail?

The atmosphere and human interaction almost goes without saying. I also think that we are on the cusp of these products being taken more seriously, but the more bartenders and brands that move into the sector will have a big impact in terms of the quality of the product.

How does the availability of ready-to-serve cocktails impact the hospitality industry?

Are there any concerns about the potential decline in the art of cocktail making?

It's tough to say. There already seems to be a division in approach within the industry, I suspect higher volume venues will reduce their 'fresh' cocktail list and introduce canned/bottled serves to speed up service and maintain consistency. Whereas bars like 'Satan's Whiskers' will continue to serve fresh cocktails to evolve the craft of bartending which drives innovation in the industry and naturally impacts future ready -to-serve products.

What can we expect to see in the future of ready-to-drink cocktails? Are there any exciting developments or upcoming trends?

Yes, I think you are going to see more and more surprising serves with a focus on low sugar, low alc and a big move towards functional ingredients!

How can spirit companies partner & support bars in creating ready -to-serve cocktails?

In a variety of ways: insights on future flavour trends, canning facilities, equipment costs, supporting pop-up events, labelling & design cost, distribution logistics and accessibility to spirits in bulk. True collaborations and partnerships will be beneficial to both sides

Ardray

Tayer Elementary

@tayer_elementary

At Tayer + Elementary, the team is truly passionate about crafting drinks that tease the taste buds. With their focus on flavour and ingredient exploration, they dedicate ample time to detailed development and experimentation. The beauty of their serving lies in its simplicity, yet the complexity of flavours on the palate is nothing short of remarkable. Achieving this level of precision requires extensive preparation before service, ensuring that every drink is consistently perfect. Whilst they still make cocktails on the spot, they have designed their venue and a bar program around tapped, batched, bottled and frozen drinks. Seasonal creations are served on tap, allowing them to extend their menu without multiplying products and bottles behind the bar. Not only does this guarantee a seamless and e cient experience for guests, but it also allows the team to engage with their patrons in meaningful ways. Whether it's explaining the ingredients or o ering recommendations, they

have more time to create genuine connections. One of their standout creations is the Cedarwood old-fashioned - a true masterpiece that showcases their expertise in balancing flavours. Thanks to their unique process, they even o er 300 ml bottles of the same drink for takeaway or delivery online. They started bottling their creations during Covid and kept it running to this day. As true entrepreneurs, they saw the opportunity to extend the business and the experience outside of their venue for those hosting friends at home, or travellers, allowing them to enjoy the same top-quality drink they would savour in the bar. Whilst no brand is o cially associated with their tap system, Hepple Gin is a long-time partner of Tayer + Elementary. The main feature of that collaboration is the creation of a special edition Tayer x Hepple Gin that has an important space on their menu. Maker’s Mark features in the iconic Cedarwood Old Fashioned.

Laphroaig & Bowmore Ambassador

Lewis Thomson

AMS - Netherlands

For o -trade options, you should check out Groovy Fluids LAB. This is a collective of Amsterdam-based bartenders who have created a fantastic LAB just outside the city centre on IJburg, featuring Centrofuges, Rotovaps, Carbonation and Bottling rigs, added to an array of other equipment. Their combined knowledge and expertise in high-end bars and Michelin restaurants make for a great addition to the Amsterdam scene. They meld science and flavour perfectly to create cocktails for consumers, bottle shops, hotel minibars and collaborations with brands. Their carbonated cocktails come in champagne-style glass bottles, which adds to the luxurious feel of the experience. The team at Groovy Fluids LAB are also open to collaborating with brands and is often visited by bartenders and chefs from all over the city.

If you're looking for a unique draft cocktail experience in Amsterdam, Super Lyan should be your first stop. This venue introduced the city's first-ever tap cocktail o ering when it opened in 2019, and has since consistently produced exceptional cocktails served on its two nitro taps, sponsored by Diageo. For over a decade Mr Lyan, Ryan Chetiawardana, has been championing batched cocktails - most notably with his first bricks & mortar venue in London White Lyan. A venue which went to the extreme of having no perishables at all, not even ice or fresh citrus. With this legacy in mind, the team at Super Lyan champions serve consistency, add texture through the use of nitro, and frees up time without shaking or stirring to entertain guests. Currently, on draft, they're serving up some delicious cocktails like 'Gates of Light' from their 'Below Sea Level' menu, featuring scotch, rum, butterfly nectar, bee pollen & light -aged wine. Another noticeable drink is the 'East 8 Straight-up' from their 'Lyan All Stars' section. It takes inspiration from the modern classic 'East 8 hold up', and is a crowd-pleaser.

The do’s & dont’s batched cocktails of

Ingredients & Flavours: 1

Not all the ingredients interact the same under di erent conditions, flavours can change. Use acids instead of citrus, fresh co ee will become bitter and avoid dairy and eggs. Test and learn is the only way to do it!

Shelf Life: 2

For longer preservation, it is worth considering methods and processes to extract the flavours you need from ingredients such as fermentation, hydrosol, oleo-saccharum, distillation, cordials… Be aware of perishable ingredients and their alternatives.

Adjust: 3

Scaling up an individual serve isn’t an exact science. Taste your batch, don’t be scared to adjust if the flavours aren’t the desired ones. You might need to consider adding extra flavours or ingredients to balance your serve on a large scale. Simplify the measurements by breaking down your specs in parts rather than ounces or milliliters.

Dilution: 4

If you decide to add water to your batch to mimic the dilution from ice when shaking or stirring, weigh one serve before and after dilution and calculate the ratio you will need to add to your batch.

Sterilize : 5

Do not forget to sterilize your bottle. This will help to preserve your cocktail longer and prevent contamination.

Temperature: 6

Out of a bottle or a shaker, a warm Martini is a warm Martini, always be mindful of the initial serve recommendation to get the best experience from your batched cocktail.

What’s Hot?

Competitors

Tayer + Elementary

Tayer + Elementary founders, Monica Berg and Alex Kratena, took a proactive approach to mitigate losses during the lockdown by obtaining an 'o -license permit' to operate as a shop. This paved the way for the team to launch O Liceence, an online marketplace o ering bottled cocktails, beers, wines, and other products. The team also started selling their own-brand RTDs through various online and national retailers. While o ering RTDs was always part of Tayer + Elementary's business plan, the pandemic accelerated the implementation of this strategy. The range showcases classic and seasonal cocktails in 300ml as well as the essentials gift set of 3 x 100 ml serves.

tayer-elementary.com

Whitebox

Whitebox, co-founded by a team of drinks industry experts from multi-awarded bars, produces a range of single-serve classic and signature canned cocktails. In 2022, the brand has surpassed its initial crowdfunding goal of £450k and has raised almost £550k from 285 investors on the Seedrs platform. They have already grown their UK distribution from 60 to more than 700 independent outlets and launched with Selfridges. With the investment, Whitebox aims to increase its distribution in the UK and export markets to become the category leader of classic ready-to-serve cocktails. The brand has already started exporting to Denmark, Netherlands, France, and Ireland.

whiteboxcocktails.com

Fefe

Launched in 2020, fefe., which means « Faite En FrancE » (made in France), was created by Le Syndicat, famous Parisian bar known to work only with French products. The team has designed a series of hard seltzer in collaboration with the flavourists of the Maison Jean Niel in Grasse, which has expanded to a cocktail collection and collaboration with French rappers. The RTD can now be found in premium o -trade retailers. Féfé’s Cucumber and Eucalyptus Hard Seltzer was awarded Gold in The Hard Seltzer Masters 2022.

Vacay

After founding Gerrys, a hard seltzer brand, Paul Wyber launched VACAY, a lifestyle drinks brand, which aims to disrupt the drinks industry by reimagining the relationship new age consumers have with their favourite alcohol brand. Their canned cocktails feature classic and approachable cocktails such as the Paloma (Gold medalist of the Spirits Business Pre-mixed & RTD Masters 2022), Mojito or Tom Collins.

haveavacay.com

Nio

NIO Cocktails’ founders, Luca Quagliano and Alessandro Palmarin, were inspired by a simple idea whilst hosting friends one evening: to bring expertly crafted ready-to-savour cocktails into their homes to enhance their evenings. So the same expertise; the same premium brands; the same quality ingredients; and the same range of cocktails. Crafted in collaboration with awarded Drink Kong bar founder, Patrick Pistolesi, Needs Ice Only, cleverly packaged their cocktails in a letterbox-sized pouch.

niococktails.co.uk

Cockorico

Bottled cocktails brand Cockorico was founded in 2019 by hospitality expert Marc Bonneton and businessmen Julien Maurel and Geo roy Clavel, who sought to make premium cocktails more widely available. They o er a range of cocktails from classic to quirky, such as martinis, Old Fashioneds, Cosmopolitans, Pornstar Martinis, Espresso Martinis, Blonde B, and Gin Garden. In 2022, Pernod Ricard France acquired a majority stake in the Lyon-based brand.

Jigger And Pony

2020, Guoyi Gan & Indra Kantono launched PONY, a new premium bottled cocktail brand that takes Jigger & Pony bar to their guests’ homes. The inspiration for PONY was sparked during the circuit breaker from mid -March to mid-June 2020. F&B businesses were closed during Singapore’s version of the lockdown. Since then, Four PONY cocktails have been awarded medals in the pre-mixed drinks category at the International Spirits Challenge 2021. Such an accolade from the ISC is regarded to be the most respected and sought-after in the drinks industry, due to the stringent nature of the judging process.

Livewire

Aaron Polsky, an entrepreneur and former bartender from Los Angeles, created LiveWire canned cocktails with a positioning on the intersection of craft cocktail culture, the growing interest in renowned bartenders, and the popularity of hard seltzers. LiveWire has arrived at a time when there is a renewed focus on fair pay for hospitality workers. The bartenders are responsible for designing the flavours of the LiveWire canned cocktails, and they receive full credit for the cans. This approach is similar to selecting a signature drink at a bar based on the bartender's reputation, the ingredients, or the drink's style. Yael Vengro , Erin Hayes, Chris Patino and other hospitality names have collaborated with LiveWire.

drinklivewire.com

Social Hour Cocktails

Julie Reiner, founder of Clover Club, Leyenda, Pegu Club and other world-famous venues, collaborated with Tom Macy, to create the line of Social Hours canned cocktail brand. They chose the simpler highball -style concept to execute it to their high standards. Since then they’ve continued to experiment to bring more creativity to canned cocktails, just like you’d find on the menu in our bars. In the summer of 2021, they launched 3 new cocktails: the Sunkissed Fizz, Strawberry Rhubarb Spritz, and Prizefighter. All of which took inspiration from some of their favourite drinks from previous menus.

Remy Savage

FOR 6 SERVES

120 ml of Toki Blended Japanese Whisky

600 ml of cold brew green tea

30 ml of verju

45 ml of lavender honey

METHOD

Add all the ingredients in a soda siphon (iSi, Soda Stream…) and carbonate with one cartridge of Co2.

Pour over cubed ice in a tumbler glass.

Add 100g of green tea to 1000g of water, let it rest for 6h at room temperature, then filter with a co ee filter.

COLD BREW GREEN TEA

Data

Japan market represents 43% of premix, but us is the main Growth contributor.

As COVID restrictions eased in 2022, there was an upswing in market movement showing an increase in o -premise alcohol consumption. It is in this context that the consumption of RTD is rising. Keeping an eye on industry trends, there is a preference for premium products and a focus on ingredient transparency.

Total Category

6,873M$ 12.7%

Source: BSI internal Monthly internal review April 2023

Source: Nielsen IQ 2023

RTD beverages have the highest share of occasions consumed with a spouse or significant other than all other beverage options.

+104%

43%

65% of consumption occasions.

Hard Seltzers shares of RTD dollar sales &

RTD consumption growth in the past 2 years.

26% of the total RTD category is forecasted to be commanded by cocktails & long drinks by 2026

20% for hard seltzers.

Compared to Source: 2022 IWSR RTD Strategic Study

INDUSTRY INTERVIEW

BRAND AMBASSADORS

DO’S & DON’TS

COMPETITORS

COCKTAIL SERVE

DATA

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