Exploring summer cocktail trends with Nick Tesar and Jason Crawley

Yesterday during this Vanguard Luxury Brands event, Drinks Trade sat down with Nick Tesar and Jason Crawley to discuss the cocktail trends they feel all Australian bartenders should know about ahead of summer.

“We're going to see bold fresh flavours, produce-driven drinks, and drinks that really hero the ingredients they're made with,” said Nick Tesar, Creative Director of Gin Drinks at Four Pillars.

Jason Crawley, veteran bartender and Co-Owner of Fortunate Son, added: “Like every other summer, tropical flavours, lots of colour, a bit of fun, not so serious… I believe that we're on the right track here today with the flavours that we've called out: coconut is now, there's a possibility to have a real coconut drink. There's some really great opportunities for pineapple, whether it's in a daiquiri or a margarita or in a highball or a spritz… but generally speaking, I think margaritas are still going to dominate the space.”

Interestingly, Crawley also believes that demand for premium spirits is beginning to regain momentum despite current cost of living pressures.

“After Covid, everybody went back to value and we're starting to see now that people are coming back to like one really nice drink and maybe not much else,” he said.

When asked about how bartenders should adjust their offering to accommodate reduced consumer spend, Nick Tesar says that it’s important to find the middle ground.

“You don't want to be unaccessible in terms of price, but you also want to be sitting in that area where people feel like there's value in their drinks,” he said.

“They want to see that the drinks are made with good ingredients, and they can really see value in the flavours they're consuming.”

According to Nick, one way of conveying this value to consumers is via selecting local products that help to tell a story.

“I think people love to understand where things come from, and the more of those stories that we can tell/the more that we can champion local production, the better for the drinks industry.”

When Drinks Trade asked Jason Crawley how bartenders should adapt their menus to the current cost of living pressures, he responded by saying the question should really be directed towards venue owners instead.

“They've got to get really clever on, like, cost of business, so how do we reduce the cost of business - Is it more cocktails on tap? Is it more batching, less theatre? - trying to find value in the spirits that they buy… I think it depends on the venue.”

For high-volume venue owners, Crawley says “there's certainly some gains you can make in terms of value in terms of reaching into your brand partners and saying hey, guys, we're doing it a bit tough. Can you help us out with this and we'll do a promotion on that? That type of thing.

For smaller independent bars, Crawley says it all comes down to the guest experience offered.

“You've got to get people out of their homes to have an experience in the venue and have maybe one really f*cking nice drink that they can say, at least I've had that drink, and then maybe have a couple of beers just to kind of style it out for an evening.”

“It's a challenge, man, but I really believe if you combine those three channels, it's all about guest experiences and trying to go, look, you can't have this experience at home. The reason you go out is to have this experience.”