News

For bars and pubs pouring wine by the glass, inventory discrepancies is pretty much accepted as a wine whinge, par for the course. Luckily it doesn’t have to be like this.

A cocktail requires consistency through carefully measured ingredients and should be delivered, to the customer, with no variation in volume, taste, or appearance. All without wastage!

'Easier said than done,' we hear you cry!

Have you ever had a scrumptious meal at a new restaurant, but then returned a month later, with the friends you’ve been raving to, only to be disappointed?

Perhaps there’s a different chef on? Or maybe the same chef was more rushed and less consistent in his cooking?

No chef or restaurant manager wants their customer to experience that inconsistency of service. And it’s the same behind the bar too.

Claire Boscq Scott, Business Strategist at Small Business Forum 

Tools Key for Consistency

In the same way chefs rely on the best knives for consistent slices and the best pans for consistent cooking, so too must bartenders rely on the tools of their trade for consistency in the drinks they serve.

Jiggers are designed to help bartenders measure accurately and therefore get them closer to consistency. But did you know that the standard round jigger has a design flaw?

A simple matter of physics means that the round jigger creates a bubble of liquid on top (known as a meniscus). And that bubble means for every pour, you’re basically overpouring. Need to see for yourself? Take a look at the science here! 

Unfortunately, most jiggers are round. Except for one… or, four to be exact.

What is the Trilobal Jigger?

The Überbartools™ range of jiggers all have a completely unique trilobal design. This trilobal design was created specifically to remove the bubble formation on top of the jigger and therefore eliminate the over-pour that all other jiggers are responsible for.

No over-pour means no excess measure in your drink, which means, (you guessed it!) a consistent drink.

The ProJig™, ProBarJig™ and the ProMegJig™ not only look striking and professional, but they all feature the revolutionary trilobial model that is unique to Uberbartools. They are the only jiggers on the market that give the bartender piece of mind that they are getting the accuracy required to deliver a great taste experience for their customer – in time, everytime.

Save Time, Save Alcohol, Save Money

And it’s not just about speed and consistency when it comes to accuracy – it’s also about waste. We already know that liquor loss causes huge headaches for bar managers.
As the guys at Clique Hospitality know, consistency and efficiency go together:
 
“When running a restaurant or club, it’s important to streamline your systems and to create efficiency. Not only does this increase profits, but it also reduces waste. And by “waste” we don’t just mean food, but also resources and time as well.”
 
The trilobal jigger is the key to accuracy and consistency, and consistency is the key to great customer service. So, don’t you think it’s time you got jigger with it?

Want to find out more about the Uberbartools range of Jiggers? Visit our website for more information or talk to our team today.

It's surprising how many people think it's cool to have a bubble or lens (meniscus) form at the very top of a jigger pour prior to serving alcohol into a glass. Sorry to be the bringer of bad news: the bubble creates BIG trouble... the Why, What and Cost (see below).

A bubble or lens for most bars is a fact of life affecting almost every design of jigger on the planet! Liquor control experts such as Barmetrix acknowledge that the bubble can add 3-5mL or 1/10-1/6 Oz. on every 30 mL/1 Oz served! If you own or manage a bar, the added cost of the bubble can cripple business.

Flip this around to the other side of the counter: imagine a guest who enjoys a well-balanced cocktail experience, if their drink has been over-portioned the drink could potentially taste too strong, too sweet, too sour or just plain weird.

Drinking and driving? Get pulled over and breath tested… then good luck finding an understanding "Your Honour." Could end up getting a very different type of serve!

Why it happens

All jiggers and shot glasses except one, are round! Once a pour reaches the top edges of a jigger or shot glass, nature takes over, exerting surface tension, pushing liquid inwards and towards the midpoint of the jigger, thereby forming a bubble.

What's next

Once the surface tension reaches a tipping point, the bubble will break, particularly when energy or motion is exerted by a bartender... the result, alcohol cascading down the sides of a jigger creating waste.

Costs

To some a fraction of an Oz or those extra pesky mL's don't seem much but during a brisk night's trade the bubble can increase the cost of a fairly basic speed rail drink by $0.05-$0.15 cents per shot….potentially more if serving back bar booze. Ouchhhh if you’re making lots of Long Island Ice teas or serving expensive cocktails!

Thankfully to stop being Bubble Dumb, the answer is simple and CHEAP... it’s just a question of looking for the right tool to do the job, something like the ProJig™,ProBarJig™, ProBarBone™ or ProMegJig™ specifically designed to Flat Pour (no bubble).

The Über Bar Tools™ flat pour jiggers

The now classic comedy Ground Hog Day tells a story of a guy repeating the same day over and over again.

So is there a connection between the movie and our title, Bar Hog Day?

The answer’s a definite YES.

When a bar suffers the same re-occurring problem that no one does anything to solve then that’s a Bar Hog Day moment.

The Bar Hog Day moment is created from the enormous volume of over poured liquor caused by the use of cheap, badly designed speed pourers, inaccurate “jiggers" and inadequate bar operations procedures.

Barmetrix (www.bartmetrix.com), international beverage Inventory experts, claim in their worldwide studies of thousands of bars and restaurants, that 30% of EVERY shot of spirits served is poured away free.

In comparison to a non-hospitality, high street business, a 30% equivalent shrinkage rate would be all that’s needed to call in the receivers.

A bricks and mortar retailer by comparison allows 2% of overall gross sales to cover wastage/shrinkage, whilst in a bar shrinkage of 30% plus or 15 times higher by equivalent, is considered business as (un)usual.

Albert Einstein once famously observed that the definition of insanity was doing the same thing over and over again; expecting a different result.

When a bar does nothing to solve the issue of liquor wastage then that’s a Bar Hog Day moment; and that’s INSANITY?

Note: *Does not imply the brand's endorsement Überbartools™

Bars and Pubs pride themselves on pouring a perfect pint of Guinness!
 
To deliver the promise Guinness provides its bars the equipment and training to guarantee the Guinness promised is delivered .
 
The question to ask: “Why does Guinness do this?”
 
The answer:
 
The experience: Guinness makes a promise on quality and taste, which consumers gladly invest in to enjoy the experience of Ireland in a glass
Consistency: Consumers know that the experience will be the same at every place serving Guinness on tap.

Value for money: Quality, consistency, and experience in a glass represents value; something consumers will happily pay for. Whilst many competitive beer brands offer a product, almost none can replicate the Guinness experience; thereby Guinness owns the hearts, minds and imaginations of successive generations of loyal followers!

Guinness understands that irrespective of where their beer is served and by whom… It will always taste the same, and therein lies the promise delivered.
 
Regrettably, we cannot say the same about spirits served in a bar, as the tools required to deliver the promise are inaccurate and inconsistent.
 
Research shows that inconsistently prepared drinks creates category swap, the process where guests turn to a more predictable drink option bypassing spirits to bottle alternatives requiring either a corked or popped option. Either way spirits loose out.

Giving a customer exactly what they’ve ordered by spirit volume is what every consumer guest expects, similar to going to a gas/petrol station and expecting the volume amount showing on the gauge has been delivered.

In the wild west of bar tending circa 2012 to 1920 the poor guest was diddled out of spirit quality and volume by bar owners and bartenders wanting to make more money at their customer’s expense.

Leaving to one side the lunacy of using unscrupulous business practices here are some notable bartender/house under-pour tricks:

1. Placing coins inside a non-transparent jigger to give the appearance to a guest that they’ve received a full measure or correct portion of liquor.

2. Using multi level jiggers, non-transparent whereby liquor up to 60ml or 2oz is poured into a lined or step jigger where the guest cannot see the actual measure of alcohol poured. Who knows whether what’s delivered is what’s poured?

3. Liquor bottle swap – recycling branded liquor bottles re-filling with cheaper spirits

4. Free-pouring (short pouring)
A guest is entitled to know and trust the person dispensing Alcohol – when we buy food or bottles of booze, labelling assures us of the quality and volume of what’s been purchased or soon consumed.

The growing practice of using concealed measures, whilst in itself not illegal, does throw into question whether a true and fair measure of alcohol is being provided to the guest.
Here are some examples of non-transparent multi-volume jiggers that may give rise to under/over serve volume measures.

1. Lined Jiggers

2. Stepped Jiggers

With competition for lips on glass – at an all-time high – not taking accurate liquor serves seriously may play towards undermining quality, transparency and a bars reputation.

Using authorised or accredited jiggers or measures, goes a long way to providing a guest with the assurance that they are getting what they’ve paid for. For those not using or investing in tools of assurance, the Jig is Up.

Happy Hour is a time proven strategy to attract bar guests at quiet times.
 
The effort and energy used to promote Happy Hour can be amazing, with arising back slapping and hi-5’s if successful.
 
On the flip side have you heard of “Unhappy Hour”, the time in every bar, in every minute 1 in every 6 drinks is given away free?

Why?

Studies show that bars are so focused on what’s being served over the bar that few pay attention to what’s being spilt, wasted or over poured onto the counter or floor.
 
Here’s how: Either free pouring or using a jigger it’s far too easy to not stop or control a liquor pour stream once a bottle is tilted. After the alcohol is dispensed, one needs to pull the bottle upwards to stop the flow of more alcohol, which is easier said than done.
 
Putting some numbers behind the losses comes down to timing, science teaches us that it takes 3 seconds to pour 1 oz or 30mL of alcohol or 1 second to pour 1/3 oz or 10 ml.
 
So in just a blink of the eye, a quick glance away from the pouring action or erratic hand/eye co-ordination can cause an easy over pour. 

Here’s how the liquor loss can be broken down by tool used:
 
1/10 - 1/6 Oz (3-5ml) over-poured via a speed pourer.
1/10 - 1/6 Oz (3-5ml) from the bubble or lens naturally forming at the top of a jigger.
 
So here’s some totals 

Metric: 3 ml + 3 ml = 6 ml, per 30 ml shot
US/Imperial 1/10th +1/10th = 1/5th Oz per 1Oz shot

So why is it so easy to give away so much alcohol. Again this issue comes down to the consequence of poor bartender training/compliance together with the use of inaccurate pour quality pourers and jiggers.

When Inventory control folks see discrepancies in the numbers guess who they start blaming, bartenders.
 
Is it then really fair to blame bartenders for not performing when the culprit usually can be traced back to an under investment in cheap, poor performing tools?
 
For owners/ops managers  wanting to change the outcome, a re-tool is needed. The good news is that it doesn’t cost that much, with busy bars potentially recouping their total investment costs within 4-10 weeks from implementing.