? Why is a simple cocktail so expensive?

Service, technique, it varies from house to house, but the ingredients used, the operating costs are all on the table, and a little math will probably give you an idea of roughly how much each drink costs.

1

But no one is really in a position to tell a particular bar how much a drink should cost -- because the guest can vote with his feet. If he doesn't think the drink is worth the money, he won't come back next time.

Let's break down the math. The bar's costs are broken down as follows:

1 Materials

This is the most obvious part, and the one that makes it easiest for people to think that the bar is profiteering.

Take a glass of Old Fashioned as an example:

60-80ml of bourbon

Fruit (orange mostly)

Square sugar plus ice and bitters

2

Materials costs are very transparent: use good ones and they'll be expensive, while using highwaymen will be cheap. I've seen friends complain to me about a particular bar's Old Fashioned selling for $90 a glass that he thinks is expensive - because everywhere else is $70-80 a glass.

But I have to say, there's a world of difference between the two Old Fashioneds:

The average $70 Old Fashioned is made with a generic "dip," with sugar and fruit, and costs about $10 a glass;

The dip, which is Jim Beam whiskey, costs about $1,000 a glass; and

The Old Fashioned, which is Jim Beam whiskey, costs about $10 a glass.

Old Fashioned, which is also known as Jim Beam Whiskey, has become the base of many bars because of its low price

The store's Old Fashioned, at 90 yuan a cup, is made with Elijah Craig's 12-year-old bourbon and RittenHouse Rye Whiskey, which is relatively costly, and the fruit is full of quality, and even the sugar is Sri Lankan. yellow sugar.

A drink like this is going to top 35 bucks in material costs alone. So, comparing the profit margins of the two families, who would you say is conscientious?

3

But for many bars that make cocktails by simply swapping out similarly-priced liquors off the list - such as a gin and tonic that swaps out a Beefeater for a Bombay Sapphire - you're going to be charged an extra 10-20 bucks. -would have to charge an extra 10-20 bucks for the subterfuge, and all I can do is express my helplessness and indignation.

So, the cocktail materials are expensive, the labor and technical performance fees are expensive, and finally there is a service charge, which adds up to 80 or 90 dollars a glass.