Making the Gin & Tonic range manageable

How do you manage a large gin & tonic offering?

The gin range is growing and growing. It's quite possible that if you order a gin & tonic in each of five different bars, you'll get five different gin & tonics.
How do gin bars with several hundred gins manage their range?

Gin & tonic combos increase with each additional gin or tonic and that's not the end of it. Is the long drink now in a long drink glass or is the two-piece served in a tumbler or an oversized bulbous wine glass? And anyway, how many slices of grapefruit, strawberries, basil or sage clusters do you need before you can no longer call it a two-piece?

If a whisky producer wants to expand his range, he brings new blends or single cask bottlings onto the market. Gin producers do not have this option (except perhaps for cask-aged gins). But a new or slightly modified recipe can be created in no time - one of the reasons why dentists, accountants and artists also have their own gins made. The result: an unprecedented variety of gins. But how do gin bars with several hundred gins manage their range, how do they train their staff and how do they communicate the offer to the guest? BAR NEWS wanted to find out from some of the biggest gin bars in Switzerland.

4 Animals Bar, Zurich

The 4 Animals Bar carries a huge selection of gins with about 660 different gins. There are around 20 Tonic Water from 12 brands to choose from for mixing. In an interview with BAR NEWS, Andreas Kloke, the man behind the 4 Tiere Bar, reveals how to keep track of everything: "If we'd had more than 600 gins right from the start, it would actually have been a bit difficult. But three and a half years ago, we started with about 150 at the time."

"When you're constantly expanding, it's just an ongoing learning process."

Andreas Kloke, 4 Animals Bar

To enable Barkeeper to find the gins quickly, they are sorted by country on the shelves. To keep them up to date, regular training sessions and tastings are held. Furthermore, all employees have access to written information that is digitally stored in the cloud. The 4 Tiere Bar has a gin menu with all 660 gins, but most guests either know what they want or have a gin recommended to them. There is also a blackboard that lists the gins that are currently being pushed.

There is no standard gin & tonic. Depending on the gin, you usually pay between CHF 18 and 24 (incl. Tonic Water). This is then served in a long drink glass and has only a discreet decoration. When it is served, the guest is asked whether or not he wants a sip of tonic in the glass.

Gin City, St. Gallen

With 420 items, Gin City has just under 200 gins less than its big brother, Gin City Munich, but the range is still impressive. "We started in 2014 with around 280 gins," recalls Patrick Weber, managing director of the gin bar, whose premises are also home to the Birreria beer bar. At Tonic Water , too, guests are offered a wide range of 25 tonics, with a focus on international brands.

Gin selection of the bar Gin City
If a guest wants to order a gin & tonic, they can look at the range on the shelf, where the bottles are arranged by brand.

Alternatively, a gin card offers orientation to the shelf, on which five gins are recommended for each of the six gin categories (juniper, citrus, herbal, floral, fruity and specials). Gin & tonics are served in specially made balloon glasses, on ice cubes and usually with a special garnish. The tonic is served separately.

You have to register for guided tastings of six gins. Gin City primarily employs part-time staff, many of whom have been with the company for several years. "Above all, they have to be interested, because in addition to the gins, they also have to be familiar with the more than 120 beers in the birreria," says Patrick Weber.

Hotel Terrace, Engelberg, Porticos Gin Bar

The Porticos Bar in the Hotel Terrace in Engelberg boasts the title "largest gin bar in central Switzerland". The gins are arranged by country of origin or even by region. Among the German gins, for example, there are the groups Black Forest, Berlin and Hamburg; among the Swiss gins, there are the groups Grisons, Zurich, Basel, etc. The origin is written on the shelf. The origin is written on the shelf and each bottle has a colour code for the price.

Gin Selection Terrace Bar
There are 400 gins on the shelves of the Terrace Bar in Engelberg, which is open to the public. and also serves as a bar menu.

The gin is available for CHF 15, 20 or 25 plus CHF 5 for a Tonic Water. To make it easier for the guest, there is a daily changing "Gin of the Day". Furthermore, he can order a very inexpensive tasting set with five gins (1 cl each) and a tonic. Since this is a seasonal establishment, the tonic range is rather manageable with six tonics.

"We used to have more tonics, but compared to gin, with tonic the shelf life is a problem"

Marco Christen, Bar Manager at Hotel Terrace

On the other hand, the range of gins on offer has risen sharply in recent years. "Two years ago, we had somewhere between 150 and 200 gins," Christen says. It often happens that a new gin finds its way into the range through recommendations from hotel guests. Served the Gin & Tonic in the Burgundy wine glass, the Tonic Water already in the drink, which is no problem for 99.9% of the guests, he says. Since they only carry classic Tonic Water , they are all the more free in their choice of garnishes.

This article appeared in
Issue 2-2020

BAR NEWS magazine as single issue

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