High Spirits
Superpremium alcoholic beverages appeal as affordable status symbols.
By Erin J. Shea, Associate Editor -- Restaurants & Institutions, September 15, 2005
 Starlight Room Bar Manager Jacques Bezuidenhout has created cocktails priced as high as $650. |
At Harry Denton’s Starlight Room in San Francisco, the moniker for its new selection of superpremium drinks—Million Dollar Cocktails—isn’t all that far-fetched.
At $80, the Heavenly Dream cocktail, featuring 25-year-old single-malt Scotch, is the lowest priced of four drinks that do more than cause guests’ blood to warm and minds to relax after a long day.
“People are willing to spend more money to get quality rather than less money for quantity,” says Jacques Bezuidenhout, bar manager of the Starlight Room and creator of the exclusive drinks, the priciest of which fetches $650. “These sorts of drinks are selling because there is market for them now.”
High-end, premium spirits, whether served straight up or as part of a cocktail, are the toast of drink menus. From family casual to white tablecloth, operations are serving expensive libations to customers who increasingly are reaching into their wallets for the best that money can buy.
Researcher Adams Beverage Group, Norwalk, Conn., reports that high-end brands drove distilled-spirits sales growth in 2004 and also contributed to increased sales in the wine and beer categories. Most alcoholic-beverage product introductions over the past five years have been premium-priced, flavored or a combination, Adams reports.
“It’s a status thing for people to order superpremium drinks,” says Gary Regan, author of “The Joy of Mixology: The Consummate Guide to the Bartender’s Craft” (Clarkson Potter, 2003).
But status isn’t the only reason consumers are attracted to drinks such as $60-a-shot whiskey, he adds. A confluence of factors contributes to the trend, including better-educated customers, successful marketing and consumer demand for quality products.
“The beverage trend follows food and wine,” Regan says. “It’s the evolution of guests’ quest for the best.”
Operators are happy to let the marketplace set the price ceiling for high-quality libations. Consumers may balk at prices for a gallon of superpremium gasoline, but they show less reticence about paying top dollar for a 12-ounce signature cocktail with superpremium tequila.
Hot Market
More than ever, consumers are brand-oriented when it comes to distilled-spirits choices.
“Vodka is a prime example,” says Pietro Bottero, general manager of Annona, an upscale Italian-inspired restaurant in Westhampton Beach, N.Y. “I don’t know how people choose their vodkas but everyone insists that their brand is the best.”
The superpremium consumer’s perception of what constitutes the best has been skillfully massaged by advertising, says Kevin Robinson, bar manager for Sofitel Lafayette Square hotel in Washington, D.C. “People have been sold brand recognition and they’ve bought into it,” he explains.
Bottero says that those who drink white goods (clear spirits such as gin or vodka) are more susceptible to sexy marketing than those who favor browns such as Scotch or bourbon. However, those consumers—who, he says, are more inclined to try an unfamiliar brand—account for the sales surge in superpremium cognacs and brandies in restaurants and bars.
“We serve a cognac for $58 a shot,” Bottero explains. “We also sell a single-vintage Armagnac for $60.”
Straight Talk
Bezuidenhout may combine costly Madagascar-vanilla-bean-infused Armagnac with premium champagne of equal or greater value to create his citrus-inspired cocktail, Drinking the Stars. Chef Jan Jorgensen, however, won’t mix superpremiums—even with water.
 At Sensi in Las Vegas’ Bellagio Hotel & Casino, osetra caviar tops a cocktail of vodka and tomato water. |
“I’m not into doing mixes like cranberry juice with vodkas,” says Jorgensen, chef and owner of Miami’s Two Chefs. “I like the real stuff—straight.”
Jorgensen’s superpremium spirits collection boasts, among others, 160 whiskeys including a brand that sells for $168 a shot. He says that an unadulterated presentation is best when serving such a product.
“If a customer comes in and orders one of these drinks as a mix, I’ll educate them,” he says. “If you’re going to carry exclusive liquors and you want to sell them, you’re going to have to help your customer.”
Jen Hansen, spokesperson for Chicago nightclub-restaurant Le Passage, believes education has made it easier to sell superpremium spirits. “Customers know what they like and what’s good,” says Hansen. “They’re getting away from cheap frou-frou drinks. They want something with depth.”
Le Passage (where the Yow Bar is named for fabled Trader Vic’s bartender, Yow Low) began integrating high-end alcohol into its champagne service, including a $575 bottle of rosé.
Le Passage’s $135 Champs-Elysees cocktail is made with superpremium cognac, orange-flavored liqueur, orange juice and sour mix in a sugar-rimmed crystal cognac glass that, as Hansen points out, guests can take with them.
“Some people check it twice,” she says of the drink’s price tag. “Guests who don’t know anything about cognac wouldn’t buy this drink. But customers who buy the Champs-Elysees are a small market but wonderful market.”
One of a Kind
High-quality, superpremium spirits are not limited to upscale operations. Robert Evans, owner of casual Red Rocks Café & Tequila Bar in Centreville, Va., serves an array of tequilas, including a shot that sells for $49, because it’s what his clientele expects.
“People want to try the superpremiums,” he says. “We have a $4 shot but we’re also going to feature a tequila at $60 a shot. It brings people in—like a sports bar with a big-screen TV.”
Jorgensen echoes that philosophy and says his collection of superpremium spirits serves as a draw to customers looking for quality.
“There aren’t any other restaurants around here that serve some of the spirits we have,” he says. “When you’re the kind of person who can afford to treat yourself to a $70 shot, you want to find the place that carries them.”
Bottero says a wise operator goes out of his way to stock a few distinctive, premium offerings. “You need to look off the beaten path,” he says. “Customers who like superpremium spirits are looking for something with more cachet than what they would find in a liquor store.”
Selling these drinks is not the challenge some operators might think, says Robinson. “Never underestimate guests’ willingness to treat themselves.”
Premium Prep Work
Carrying superpremium spirits is not enough, according to Juan Seva, a bartender with Miami’s Two Chefs restaurant. With more than 30 years behind a bar, he says having respect for a pricey spirit is important.
“When I serve a drink made with a premium vodka, for example, I think of the person who sits in rush hour in Poland to get to the distillery to craft the vodka,” Seva explains. “I don’t want that sense of tradition and dedication to be ruined by poor preparation.”
Seva advises never shaking superpremium vodkas but rather adding ice and stirring. “When you shake vodka you bruise the alcohol,” he says.
For whiskey, Seva neither shakes nor stirs the liquor but rather runs it over ice cubes to chill for a maximum of 10 seconds.
“If you serve whiskey on ice, five minutes later it’s going to be diluted,” he explains. “It’s like taking a nice Bordeaux and putting ice in it. Leave it as is.”
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