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Looking to elevate your cocktail game, streamline your bar operations, or simply unlock the secrets of the perfect pour? You've come to the right place!
At Überbartools™, we're passionate about all things bar-related, and we're dedicated to sharing our knowledge and insights with you.
Transparency in Liquor Serves: The jig is up
Diageo Rejects Free Pouring
Served Drinks Super Fast
Unhappy Hour: 1 in every 6 drinks free
SOWO... SPILLS, OVER-POURING, WASTAGE, OUCH!
We all know how hard bar-tending can be - even simple mixed drinks are far from child’s play when a night is busy and nerves are high. The jigger jitters are real, and as all of us can attest, just pouring alcohol from a bottle into its final serving place can be fraught with shakes, quakes and trouble.
A slip of the hand, bump of the bottle, every innocent mishap creates potential SOWO for your venue’s bottom line. That’s Spills, Over-pouring, Wastage, Ouch – and this is an acronym none of us have time for.
In an average bar SOWO accounts for a 3-5 mL (1/10-1/6Oz) loss on every 30 mL (1Oz) shot of alcohol served, multiply this by how many serves are poured daily and you’re looking at a massive volume of liquor forfeited yearly.
Mistakes happen at all levels, but pinpointing the difference between an occasional misstep and a pattern of poor performance can save a significant amount of your stock and sanity.
Recognizing bar-tending bad habits is the first step to stopping SOWO, here’s some of the potential warning signs:
Improper Positioning
Holding a bottle in an awkward or unusual manner making it difficult to stop or better control a pouring process potentially results in over-pouring alcohol. This problem is usually easy to fix with proper training, however if the behaviour is a result of general carelessness or laziness this may be a sign of other risk factors.
Flash Over Function
Unusual bottle cuts and martial moves based on show rather than care can increase the frequency of mistakes and disrupt the work flow of a bar with collisions, distractions, spilt drinks the result.
Sloppiness
Nothing is a bigger risk factor than good old-fashioned sloppiness. A need to slow down is often difficult to distinguish from a lack of care, and a staff member with little to no pride in their work is challenging to correct.
Premature Pouring
A safe pouring process requires the filling of a jigger to capacity, stopping the liquid flow from a bottle, and then emptying the jigger into a glass or shaker. Watch closely for a bartender who cuts corners and dumps the jigger just before it’s full, yet continues to free pour more alcohol into a receiving vessel. This really bad habit is possibly the most costly, as every ½ second of pouring time equates to 5 mL (1/6 Oz) of extra alcohol being poured away FREE!
The best way to stop SOWO is to invest in bar training programs that continuously re-enforce HOW and WHY you want bar practice to be done. Reward good practice, re-inforce bad practice with consequences!
Shots vs Watts - The Real Juice
It’s been often said that the concern to save our environment overshadows far more substantial losses that every bar in the world suffers from!
Our research has found that there’s a direct relationship between the cost of electricity and the cost of alcohol referred to as the Shots “n” Watts paradigm!
Aren’t we all guilty of forgetting to turn off lights, power down the A/C, or taking for granted some electricity chewing device… do any of us give it a moment’s thought? On the other hand the same could be said about the more financially devastating impact of alcohol wastage.
To understand the Shots “n” Watts Paradigm we internationally surveyed the costs of electricity and equivalents costs of alcohol in 4 countries. The results are quite unbelievable!
Shots Vs Watts World Survey
The key take-outs:
1. That approx. 1 shot of alcohol is roughly equal to 10% of the cost of ONE kilowatt hour of electricity.
2. That wastage / over-pouring of really small amounts of alcohol, 3 and 5 mL (1/10th - 1/6th Oz) costs more in comparable $ wastage, than what it costs to run 1 Kilowatt hour of electricity.
3. It only takes just 3-4 seconds to pour a standard drink... with arising over-pouring losses/wastage multiplied many times per minute per hour.
Ironically many electricity saving/generating gizmos have payback periods measured in 5 year chunks… yet when it turns to saving massive amounts of money to reduce liquor loss… the answer is meh!
Saving the planet is sexy, saving money is virtuous… why not do both!
To save your bar environment check out the SurePour Solution ™ here.
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