| So what does this mean to you as a beverage provider? Make sure you are consistent and true to your concept. That means if the traditional and standard beers are your market, don’t pull them all out and replace them with all craft beers. Instead, start by offering a guest tap. This will give you an opportunity to have one unique craft beer out of the norm to offer to your guests. The goal is to have your regular guests try something new and keep them interested. The other goal is to diversify your market and hopefully you will appeal to a broader client base – which translates to more customers and more revenue in your pocket. If you are already the trendy and forever-changing establishment, offer special nights where the brewmaster hosts an evening to talk and taste through their products or offer a beer and food-matching dinner. Beer is extremely versatile and is a great beverage to match with food flavours – it shouldn’t be just a wine thing. Spirit grainsFrom the spirit side of the grain business there is a huge focus on flavoured spirits. This notion was once reserved primarily for liqueurs and then vodkas. Now we are seeing spirits such as whisky starting to join the mix – Wiser’s Spiced and Jack Daniels Honey are perfect examples. The reason? It is the same growing trend for new, bolder and truer flavours. The cocktail scene is exploding right now, and the demand is for a glass of something with a whole lot of flavour. With an ever-changing market, we need to ensure mixologists know how to use those flavoursome spirits. Michelle Hunt, owner of the Martini Club in Toronto says “it is great to have all of these new flavours to play with, but the important thing is to understand what chargers (mixes) work well with them to make a great cocktail.” So while the trend is to have lots of offerings of these new flavoured liquors, you have to ensure your staff is properly trained so that they can make use of the drinks’ greatest potential. That means purchasing exotic juices or making your own flavoured syrups to ensure flavour continuity. Such flavours make your cocktails sing, and you can charge more because of your housemade ingredients. To forecast what is ahead, I predict grain-based drinks full of character such as craft beers and flavoured spirits will be the next craze. The market is demanding them, and the companies keep creating them! See also:
About the author Adrian Caravello, MBA, is a sommelier, professor and coordinator of the Food and Beverage Program at George Brown College. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or by visiting www.georgebrown.ca. | 
