Signature Drink Question

jencribbs · April 2015

Please help....I'm a lurker here. But I'm kind of anxious for some advice. My fiancée and I had planned a beer and wine bar with two signature drinks for our July wedding. We have a small guest list and were trying to avoid the small amounts that would be used out of bottles of liquor at a full open bar. My fiancées drink choice includes whiskey and he thinks that the bartenders should offer any drink made with whiskey...since the bottle will be behind the bar. I disagree and think its in poor taste to offer just one type of liquor instead of sticking with just the drink we selected. He thinks its rude to deny people that want it for something else. I just don't want people to be offended in any way.

novella1186 · April 2015

jencribbs said:
Please help....I'm a lurker here. But I'm kind of anxious for some advice. My fiancée and I had planned a beer and wine bar with two signature drinks for our July wedding. We have a small guest list and were trying to avoid the small amounts that would be used out of bottles of liquor at a full open bar. My fiancées drink choice includes whiskey and he thinks that the bartenders should offer any drink made with whiskey...since the bottle will be behind the bar. I disagree and think its in poor taste to offer just one type of liquor instead of sticking with just the drink we selected. He thinks its rude to deny people that want it for something else. I just don't want people to be offended in any way.

If his signature drink is, say, whiskey and ginger beer (delicious, by the way) but you also have coke, then why can't a guest order a whiskey and coke? Or whiskey and lemonade? As a guest, I would be confused and annoyed if I saw the whiskey and I saw the coke, but was told by the bartender that it's not possible to mix the two. That's just my opinion, though.

littlepep · April 2015

If they're not premixing the cocktail, I don't see why it's a big deal for someone to order a whiskey and coke instead of whatever the signature drink is.

If you're doing a true signature drink though, I'd imagine they would need to premix it. At least that's how it is at my venue. They don't typically serve liquor though so I think that's why they need to do it that way.

Maggie0829 · April 2015

I am kind of confused. If you have whiskey for your FI then it should be available to anyone who would like to drink it.

Is your sig drink that you picked not made with whiskey? Why not just pick a sig drink that is made with whiskey? That way the mixed drink is available but so is whiskey straight up to anyone who wants just whiskey.

jencribbs · April 2015

ok that's fine. It is available to everyone as part of the signature drink. I just thought maybe it was rude to offer whiskey but not rum or vodka or anything else. I wanted to know if it was ok to let it be mixed up however....or if we should stick to that drink. I guess if it has to be premixed we wont have a choice, but if its not rude then I am ok with it.

southernbelle0915 · April 2015

I'm confused by the question.

So let's say your FI's sig drink is a whiskey and coke. Yours is a vodka and sprite. Is he saying that if someone wants a whiskey and sprite, they should be able to order it? If so, I agree with him.

It would be odd to walk up to a bar where they had a box of sprite 2-liters and be told I wasn't allowed to have sprite with the whiskey I wanted. I'd be like "um OK.... I'd like whiskey in the rocks. I'd also like a glass of sprite." And I'd mix it myself.

Lulawife · April 2015

You should check with your venue. If they are supplying the liquor and you are paying for "wine and beer with two signature drinks (one I'm assuming has whiskey in it)" they likely price it based on the amount of liquor they expect to serve in the signature drinks. If you allow the liquor to be consumed in any way, chances are more people will choose the liquor and your costs go up.

lyndausvi · April 2015

It's not rude to limit the alcohol options. You are not offering every beer and wine out there. There is nothing wrong with not offering every liquor available either.

I'm not a fan of signature drinks for this very reason. It's odd to say you can only have the vodka lemonade and not vodka and club when the vodka and club soda bottles are sitting right there.

If they are pre-made then I get the concept, but not a fan.

jencribbs · April 2015

southernbelle0915 said:
I'm confused by the question.

So let's say your FI's sig drink is a whiskey and coke. Yours is a vodka and sprite. Is he saying that if someone wants a whiskey and sprite, they should be able to order it? If so, I agree with him.

It would be odd to walk up to a bar where they had a box of sprite 2-liters and be told I wasn't allowed to have sprite with the whiskey I wanted. I'd be like "um OK.... I'd like whiskey in the rocks. I'd also like a glass of sprite." And I'd mix it myself.

Lol. Good point. I get it. I just hate limiting the people that don't like whiskey, if that makes sense. If you do like whiskey, you're in luck. If not, too bad.

jencribbs · April 2015

emoc625 said:
You should check with your venue. If they are supplying the liquor and you are paying for "wine and beer with two signature drinks (one I'm assuming has whiskey in it)" they likely price it based on the amount of liquor they expect to serve in the signature drinks. If you allow the liquor to be consumed in any way, chances are more people will choose the liquor and your costs go up.

this is a good idea...I never thought of that.

southernbelle0915 · April 2015

jencribbs said:

southernbelle0915 said:
I'm confused by the question.

So let's say your FI's sig drink is a whiskey and coke. Yours is a vodka and sprite. Is he saying that if someone wants a whiskey and sprite, they should be able to order it? If so, I agree with him.

It would be odd to walk up to a bar where they had a box of sprite 2-liters and be told I wasn't allowed to have sprite with the whiskey I wanted. I'd be like "um OK.... I'd like whiskey in the rocks. I'd also like a glass of sprite." And I'd mix it myself.
Lol. Good point. I get it. I just hate limiting the people that don't like whiskey, if that makes sense. If you do like whiskey, you're in luck. If not, too bad.

If you don't like whiskey, there's beer, there's wine, there's soda, etc.

Is your FI saying its rude to not offer a full bar? Or is he saying the scenario I gave is rude. I think I'm still confused?

Maggie0829 · April 2015

jencribbs said:

southernbelle0915 said:
I'm confused by the question.

So let's say your FI's sig drink is a whiskey and coke. Yours is a vodka and sprite. Is he saying that if someone wants a whiskey and sprite, they should be able to order it? If so, I agree with him.

It would be odd to walk up to a bar where they had a box of sprite 2-liters and be told I wasn't allowed to have sprite with the whiskey I wanted. I'd be like "um OK.... I'd like whiskey in the rocks. I'd also like a glass of sprite." And I'd mix it myself.
Lol. Good point. I get it. I just hate limiting the people that don't like whiskey, if that makes sense. If you do like whiskey, you're in luck. If not, too bad.

If I were a guest at your wedding, and I don't like whiskey, I have beer and wine and other non-alcoholic options to choose from. So I would be just fine.

jencribbs · April 2015

Thank you ladies. No my fiancée was correct in this situation...chalk up one score for him...of many more to come.

jencribbs · April 2015

Just to clarify....I thought it was rude to offer additional mixed drinks made with just one type of liquor and to offer no others. I thought we should stick with the Signature drink only. He thought it should be used for whatever people wanted...and you helped me see that he is right.

poodledoodleooo · April 2015

I'm confused, how is your bar structured? As in, how are you paying for it? Are you buying the alcohol yourself, going by consumption, or paying a per head/per hour rate?

Often signature drinks are cheaper than letting anyone use the alcohol for any drink they choose because less people will LOVE the signature drink, and therefore less people will order/drink it, meaning the couple hosting will end up having a smaller bill associated with the beverage. It also makes it simpler - this is the drink, take it or leave it.

I feel like I'd be more confused that If you guys only offered whiskey to mix however I wish and didn't offer other basic liquors, like vodka and rum. Since it's not really a signature drink the way your fiance is suggesting it. I don't think it's against etiquette, but I'd probably think you guys forgot to bring half the bar or something.

littlepep · April 2015

Yeah I'm kind of confused now too. It is a signature drink or is it just whiskey? And how is your bar charging you for this?

My venue is letting me bring in St. Germain to do a a cocktail with that and champagne. They will pre-mix and and serve until it's gone. They are charging a flat fee for each drink. As such, nothing else can be mixed with it.

iloveotters2014 · April 2015

It will honestly depend on how your bar is set up. This is a question for your venue.

For ours we had beer, wine and 2 signature drinks. One of the drinks was a vodka soda with cucumber and lemon and lime. This drink was pre-mixed. The other was a kentucky mule (bourbon, and ginger beer, and lime). Basically our bar was fine with people ordering just the bourbon if they wanted and I know some people mixed it with coke. Not all bars do this though and yes it will depend on if the drink is pre-mixed. Obviously this wasn't an option with the Vodka since it was pre-mixed.

Dreamergirl8812 · April 2015

Aren't you having 2 signature drinks? Are both whiskey-based?

flbride2015 · April 2015

littlepep said:
Yeah I'm kind of confused now too. It is a signature drink or is it just whiskey? And how is your bar charging you for this?

My venue is letting me bring in St. Germain to do a a cocktail with that and champagne. They will pre-mix and and serve until it's gone. They are charging a flat fee for each drink. As such, nothing else can be mixed with it.

I think the signature drink contains whiskey as one of the ingredients.; so her fiance is suggesting that if people see the bottles of whiskey behind the bar and want to order whiskey mixed with something different, they should be able to.

BTW, the St. Germain champagne cocktail is my FAVE drink!! Great choice!

delujm0 · April 2015

I think it depends on how your signature drinks are provided.

We had a signature drink (sweet tea vodka & lemonade), and the caterer pre-mixed it. although we had a full bar, the sweet tea vodka didn't come standard. we had to specifically request for them to have it available for people to order in separate drinks (which we did). once that request was made, they made extra bottles of it available behind the bar for the reception.

I'd check with your caterer - if they're planning to pre-mix, and the bottles of booze won't be on display behind the bar because of that, they probably won't be able to make other whisky drinks available to your guests. However, if they're planning to mix on the spot, i'd think it wouldn't be a problem for them to change the mixer that goes with the whiskey. but it would be worthwhile for you to know how this is going to work before you proceed. if they were planning to pre-mix they might be able to change that up so that other whisky drinks can be available.

jencribbs · April 2015

Thanks Ladies...we buy all of the liquor ourselves and we are having two signature drinks. Mine is White Peach Sangria and his is a Whiskey punch. He doesn't want them to premix it, but the sangria will probably be premixed. We pay to have bartenders though, so I guess that part would be up to them.

banana468 · April 2015

I'm with Lynda that I'm generally not a fan of signature drinks for that reason. I'd rather just see a limited bar with more of the basics. Vodka, rum, whiskey and gin are pretty basic. They're the kinds of alcohol that are always stocked in our house for a reason.

southernbelle0915 · April 2015

jencribbs said:
Thanks Ladies...we buy all of the liquor ourselves and we are having two signature drinks. Mine is White Peach Sangria and his is a Whiskey punch. He doesn't want them to premix it, but the sangria will probably be premixed. We pay to have bartenders though, so I guess that part would be up to them.

So it sounds like he doesn't want them to pre-mix it so that people could get a whiskey-punch, whiskey-coke, whiskey-sprite, whiskey on the rocks, etc... Right?

I would ask your venue if that's going to cost extra. They might not even let you do it since it's technically more like a bar and not just two signature drinks anymore.

I kind of revise my statement above.... if the drinks were pre-mixed, I would not question why I couldn't have a whiskey-sprite. The simple answer would be "because they're pre-mixed, sorry" versus "well because the B&G only paid for X".

Honestly, give that info, I'd probably have them both be pre-mixed just to keep things simple.

littlepep · April 2015

southernbelle0915 said:

jencribbs said:
Thanks Ladies...we buy all of the liquor ourselves and we are having two signature drinks. Mine is White Peach Sangria and his is a Whiskey punch. He doesn't want them to premix it, but the sangria will probably be premixed. We pay to have bartenders though, so I guess that part would be up to them.
So it sounds like he doesn't want them to pre-mix it so that people could get a whiskey-punch, whiskey-coke, whiskey-sprite, whiskey on the rocks, etc... Right?

I would ask your venue if that's going to cost extra. They might not even let you do it since it's technically more like a bar and not just two signature drinks anymore.

I kind of revise my statement above.... if the drinks were pre-mixed, I would not question why I couldn't have a whiskey-sprite. The simple answer would be "because they're pre-mixed, sorry" versus "well because the B&G only paid for X".

Honestly, give that info, I'd probably have them both be pre-mixed just to keep things simple.

Based off that info, I agree with Southernbelle on this.

badbnagdway · April 2015

southernbelle0915 said:

jencribbs said:
Thanks Ladies...we buy all of the liquor ourselves and we are having two signature drinks. Mine is White Peach Sangria and his is a Whiskey punch. He doesn't want them to premix it, but the sangria will probably be premixed. We pay to have bartenders though, so I guess that part would be up to them.
So it sounds like he doesn't want them to pre-mix it so that people could get a whiskey-punch, whiskey-coke, whiskey-sprite, whiskey on the rocks, etc... Right?

I would ask your venue if that's going to cost extra. They might not even let you do it since it's technically more like a bar and not just two signature drinks anymore.

I kind of revise my statement above.... if the drinks were pre-mixed, I would not question why I couldn't have a whiskey-sprite. The simple answer would be "because they're pre-mixed, sorry" versus "well because the B&G only paid for X".

Honestly, give that info, I'd probably have them both be pre-mixed just to keep things simple.

Yeah, for something like a sangria and a whiskey punch it does make some sense to have it all pre-mixed. It will speed up the service process.

OP, we have a somewhat similar situation. We are allowed to provide the booze ourselves at our venue. We are serving beer, wine, a sparkling wine from Spain (ie, champagne that can't be called champagne), and whiskeys. We actually have five whiskeys because that's our thing and we are encouraging people to try the whiskeys we've selected using small tasting cups we're providing, which range from kind of a rough around the edges rye whiskey, to three very good quality bourbons, to a rye whiskey that comes pre-muddled with orange and cherry flavors. We will have soda on hand and also the makings for old fashioneds and mint juleps. The juleps we are trying to figure the best way to pre-mix because they are a pain in the butt to make in bulk on the spot. The bartenders can mix whatever people want based on the stuff we have on hand, so if someone wants to have a maker's mark and coke, no biggie.

We talked about doing other hard liquor (ie, gin, rum, vodka) but we decided it would be overly complicated for the bartenders and that we already had a good variety of offerings. Plus, it looks like our attendance will be around 100 people. If we have a big bottle of every booze imaginable we'll end up with a ton of opened but unfinished booze. We don't mind that with whiskey, but we'll never drink that big bottle of vodka, etc.

flbride2015 · April 2015

jencribbs said:
Thanks Ladies...we buy all of the liquor ourselves and we are having two signature drinks. Mine is White Peach Sangria and his is a Whiskey punch. He doesn't want them to premix it, but the sangria will probably be premixed. We pay to have bartenders though, so I guess that part would be up to them.

Have you looked into whether your liquor store will buy back unopened bottles of liquor? We're also purchasing our own and that's what we're looking into. Other people on these boards have been able to return any unopened bottles.

[Deleted User] · April 2015

flbride2015 said:

jencribbs said:
Thanks Ladies...we buy all of the liquor ourselves and we are having two signature drinks. Mine is White Peach Sangria and his is a Whiskey punch. He doesn't want them to premix it, but the sangria will probably be premixed. We pay to have bartenders though, so I guess that part would be up to them.
Have you looked into whether your liquor store will buy back unopened bottles of liquor? We're also purchasing our own and that's what we're looking into. Other people on these boards have been able to return any unopened bottles.

Good thought, but they'd still need to keep the jumbo bottle of rum which was opened to make two drinks for Uncle Dan. And unless they're expecting a visit by Uncle Dan to their home sometime soon, that might not be a good option for them.

badbnagdway · April 2015

adk19 said:

flbride2015 said:

jencribbs said:
Thanks Ladies...we buy all of the liquor ourselves and we are having two signature drinks. Mine is White Peach Sangria and his is a Whiskey punch. He doesn't want them to premix it, but the sangria will probably be premixed. We pay to have bartenders though, so I guess that part would be up to them.
Have you looked into whether your liquor store will buy back unopened bottles of liquor? We're also purchasing our own and that's what we're looking into. Other people on these boards have been able to return any unopened bottles.
Good thought, but they'd still need to keep the jumbo bottle of rum which was opened to make two drinks for Uncle Dan. And unless they're expecting a visit by Uncle Dan to their home sometime soon, that might not be a good option for them.

This. And, I talked to my local liquor store about returning un-opened bottles and they said in our state (Tennessee) it is illegal for them to take returns for a refund. They used to take returns and give store credit, but said they were trying to phase that out.

jencribbs · April 2015

There are so many good options here. badbnagdway-I love the whiskey bar idea...maybe we will consider that. Otherwise I think premixed is maybe the best solution. I doubt we have much that could be returned. It would likely be barely opened bottles that we would be stuck with. I am not sure of the return policy here in PA.

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