Category: Featured Articles
Introducing CA Wine Central: The North Coast
Cheers focuses on helping full-service restaurants and bars develop and execute a stellar beverage program. Wine is a huge part of a full-service operator’s beverage alcohol offering, and California wines are playing an increasingly important role. That’s why Cheers is pleased to announce a new supplement for 2013: California Wine Central.
A Taste of Hearty Zinfandels
For this issue, we asked members of the Cheers National Wine Panel to recommend some of their favorite zinfandels. As always, these selections include brief tasting notes, a rating and the wine’s retail price (which varies from store to store and market to market).
Beer Service is Booming
Beer sales once seemed simple: Ask what the customer wants, grab a bottle, open it and hand it over with a smile. Now, it’s more complicated—operators sell dozens of competing brands, offer tasting flights, plan for seasonal releases, stock specialty glassware, conduct promotions, tastings, host beer dinners, brewmaster visits, and more.
New Spins on Gin
Whether mixed in a proper Martini or modern Basil Gimlet, gin is a star behind the bar. The spirit’s botanicals add layered dimension, translating to infinite possibilities in the shaker. The modern accessibility of old-school recipes is fueling interest and helping to bring gin to the bar’s forefront.
The 2013 Beverage Excellence Awards
Eleven chain operators and two individuals were recipients of this year’s slate of awards, to be presented at the 2013 Cheers Beverage Conference in Dallas, TX on February 12-13. Congratulations to all of them!
View the complete list of winners here.
Drink Culture: JanFeb13
Four Woods, One Bourbon Woodford Reserve recently announced its newest Master’s Collection flavor: Four Wood. The limited-release, 94.4 proof bourbon, was matured in American Oak barrels …
Scene: Cocktailing in the Capital
With its bold mix of power, politics and deal-making, symbolic domes and mighty façades of government, Washington, D.C., grabs national attention every four years when elections roll around. But now that elections are over, let the spotlight linger. Not on statues of statesmen, but on the city’s neighborhoods and places DC insiders know—on the not-so-well-kept secret that Washington (you know how secrets go in this city) has become one of the best destination bar towns in the country.
Announcing the 2013 Beverage Excellence Award Winners
Cheers magazine, the only beverage business publication devoted to full-service restaurants, bars and hotels, on Jan. 14 announced the winners of its 2013 Cheers Beverage Excellence Awards program. The awards will be presented to the winners at the annual Cheers Beverage Conference, held on Feb. 12-13 in Dallas at the Crowne Plaza Downtown.
Selling Craft on Draft
What’s the secret to success in selling craft beer? “Operators who take their beer menus, staff training and presentation very seriously are the ones who sell the most craft beer,” says Julia Herz, director of craft beer marketing for the Brewers Association, the Boulder, Colo., based trade association representing America’s craft brewers. Yet this success does not rely on price promotions or pouring massive portions.
The Dallas Drinks Scene
As the Cheers Beverage Conference gears up to make its debut in Dallas Feb. 12-13, here’s a look at the city’s vibrant cocktail culture. Purveyors of craft cocktails in Dallas are introducing Prohibition-era classics to history-challenged twenty-somethings, but also providing sly twists and modern takes on what could be dubbed the liquid arts.