Consulting · Cocktail menu design

Cocktail menu design that your team can sell

Cocktail menu design means creating a complete menu tailored to your venue, not just a list of drinks. It covers the concept, 8 to 16 original recipes, the costing and selling price of every drink, the glassware, prep sheets and a sales script that I use to train your team.

I handle cocktail menu design from start to finish: the concept, the recipes, what each drink costs and how it's served. You get a menu built for your bar, your guests and your team, not a list of pretty drinks. We start with a conversation about your venue.

Ask for a proposalPrice: bespoke — ask for a proposal

Cocktail sketches on the bar, with a row of tasting glasses, a pencil and a copper jigger.

Is it right for your project?

Venues about to open
You need your own menu from day one, with the costs locked in and a team that understands it before you open.
Bars and cocktail bars ready to relaunch
Your menu has gone stale or looks like everyone else's. We rebuild it around a clear idea.
Restaurants and hotels
Your cocktail menu is generic and says nothing about your kitchen or who you are. We make it fit what you offer.
Seasonal or zero-proof menus
You already have a menu and want to refresh part of it each season, or build a zero-proof or low-ABV offering that isn't just ‘the cheap option’.

Hands adjusting a cocktail garnish beside sketches for a menu in development.

How I work

A menu doesn't start with the recipes: it starts with your venue. Here's how I work, step by step.

Discovery and concept
I visit your venue and talk to you and your team. I look at your guests, your kitchen and your bar. That's where the concept comes from, and the story the menu will tell.
Structure
We decide how many cocktails (8 to 16 on a full menu), which families, the balance between signatures, classics and zero-proof, and the selling price we're aiming for.
Development and tastings
I develop the recipes, fine-tune every spec and we taste them together. Each cocktail has to work in your bar during live service, not just at a tasting.
Costs and service
I cost every recipe, we choose glassware and garnishes, and I set up the mise en place so service runs quickly.
Handover and training
I hand over the recipe book and the sales script, and train your team on the menu before launch.

A row of five tasting glasses, each with a different cocktail being tested.

What you get

Menu concept and story
8 to 16 original recipes for a full menu (4 to 8 for a seasonal or zero-proof menu)
A recipe book with the spec for every cocktail
Costing for every recipe and a target selling price, which I can set up for you in Miselup
Glassware and garnish proposal
Prep sheets and mise en place
A sales script for floor and bar staff
Suggested menu copy (graphic design, if you need it, is arranged separately)

Duration: Indicative: full menu, 3 to 6 weeks; seasonal menu, 1 to 2 weeks; zero-proof or low-ABV menu, 2 to 3 weeks.
Format: Hybrid: visits, tastings and training in person in Madrid; the rest of the work, remotely.
Price: Bespoke — ask for a proposal

For the day-to-day running of the bar, I set up Miselup, the management software I distribute.

Inside Stillroom, with the fermentation shelves

From a working bar.

At Stillroom, the gastronomic cocktail bar on Calle Moreto in Madrid where I'm co-owner and creative director, I run a menu of 19 cocktails: 8 signatures, 7 reworked classics and 4 zero-proof. Behind it sits a lab for ferments, cordials and infusions. At Stillroom Academy I run the signature serves course and the low-ABV and zero-proof course.

My story

StillroomMy bar at Moreto 9, in Los Jerónimos, with 19 cocktails on the menu and a ferments lab in full view.stillroom.co

Stillroom AcademyThe courses I run at the same bar, in the same lab. Groups of eight at most.academy.stillroom.co

Before we start

How long until the menu is ready?

As a guide, a full menu takes 3 to 6 weeks, depending on the number of cocktails and how quickly we can run tastings in your bar. A seasonal refresh usually takes 1 or 2 weeks. When we agree the proposal, I'll give you a firm timeline.

What do I need to prepare before we start?

Not much: tell me about your concept, your guests and your average spend, and show me your current menu if you have one, your bar and your suppliers. If you have a kitchen, I want to see its menu too: ideally, the bar and the kitchen speak the same language.

Does it include training my team?

Yes. Before launch I run a session with your team so they can make every cocktail and, above all, explain it and sell it. If you want to go further, bar staff training is a separate service.

How is this different from the signature cocktails service?

Here I design the whole menu: structure, balance, costs and service for every cocktail. In the signature cocktails service I create individual drinks with their own identity, for your venue or for a brand, without touching the rest of your menu.

Can I ask for just a seasonal or zero-proof menu?

Yes, they're two versions of the same service. For a seasonal menu we refresh 4 to 8 cocktails and keep the core of your menu. For a zero-proof or low-ABV menu I work with ferments, cordials, infusions or shrubs, at a price that doesn't turn it into the cheap option.

Do you work outside Madrid?

Ask me. A good part of the work is done remotely, but tastings and training need a bar. Depending on where your venue is, we'll find the best way to organise it.

Pairs well with: signature cocktails, bar audit and cost control and bar staff training.