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Ma Garrita's - Cocktails Made in China?
- Thread starter Novas
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Dave
TS Founding Member
Benzin said:
Outrage that the cocktails are now of a lower quality yet more expensive, if they dropped the price and maintained a similar profit margin as previously then other than it looking a bit pants at what is meant to be a premium product hotel i wouldn't mind.
It's the have their cake and eat it attitude that is distasteful.
As a Cocktail Bartender myself I thought I would step in and shed some light on this - i've worked in two bars and both have, to an extent, used Funkin for their Cocktails. The first I worked in was fairly middle of the road and had fresh limes and lemons for use in all cocktails but Funkin and flavoured Vodkas for everything else. Considering the price was £4.25 for all cocktails and it often got very busy, this was acceptable, but their plans to introduce a pre mix Margarita Syrup did not go down well with the staff. The second bar was much more upmarket and was charging more for the drinks, here there was a much greater array of fresh fruit but Funkin was still present in case supplies were running low or at high volume periods.
Alton's cocktails are very similar in quality to the first bar I worked in, and to be fair when the OP said premix cocktails, I imagined the sort of Pina Colada Mix you get from Tesco. Funkin is a bit better than that as at least the spirits are mixed, but its still a lazy shortcut for a £6. My guess would be that Alton won't sell near as many Cocktails as a trad Cocktail bar, so they could end up buying in a variety of fresh fruit which doesn't get used and would then perish two days later. In the Merlin World of profit dictating any decision making, this just wouldn't work.
Also to be fair on Alton, whilst £6 for a drink is expensive, as far as a Cocktail in a hotel bar is concerned, its really not that bad. I payed £7.50 for a Margarita in a 4* London Hotel and it was made using Premix stuff. safe to say I wasn't best pleased!
Alton's cocktails are very similar in quality to the first bar I worked in, and to be fair when the OP said premix cocktails, I imagined the sort of Pina Colada Mix you get from Tesco. Funkin is a bit better than that as at least the spirits are mixed, but its still a lazy shortcut for a £6. My guess would be that Alton won't sell near as many Cocktails as a trad Cocktail bar, so they could end up buying in a variety of fresh fruit which doesn't get used and would then perish two days later. In the Merlin World of profit dictating any decision making, this just wouldn't work.
Also to be fair on Alton, whilst £6 for a drink is expensive, as far as a Cocktail in a hotel bar is concerned, its really not that bad. I payed £7.50 for a Margarita in a 4* London Hotel and it was made using Premix stuff. safe to say I wasn't best pleased!
Ian
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I used to love the alcohol free cocktails in Ma's, but it seems a few things happened about a month ago now:
- Prices rose
- Menus were slashed, with poor replacements
- Pre-mix replaced actual mixing
It really really annoys me, as the new ones aren't a patch on the old way of doing things. I actually have the directions for how they used to make the Banana Colada drink, and the only pre-made ingredient was the banana puree (Which is understandable really; Finest Call if anyone's wondering which!). The rest was all base ingredients. The new alcohol free cocktails all come straight out of a carton, into a glass with some ice, and it shows. They taste awful.
Now had they perhaps increased the menu size, and actually sped up the service it wouldn't be anywhere near as irritating, but they haven't. It's another step backwards :/
- Prices rose
- Menus were slashed, with poor replacements
- Pre-mix replaced actual mixing
It really really annoys me, as the new ones aren't a patch on the old way of doing things. I actually have the directions for how they used to make the Banana Colada drink, and the only pre-made ingredient was the banana puree (Which is understandable really; Finest Call if anyone's wondering which!). The rest was all base ingredients. The new alcohol free cocktails all come straight out of a carton, into a glass with some ice, and it shows. They taste awful.
Now had they perhaps increased the menu size, and actually sped up the service it wouldn't be anywhere near as irritating, but they haven't. It's another step backwards :/
My unlimited soft drink in Flambos cost extra on friday. I also had an apple and mint smash in the bar, which they made fresh - but its a non alcoholic cocktail... er hem "kids cocktail".
Anyone else get bugged by the fact that ALL the non alcoholic drinks (including J20s, coke and sparkling mineral water) are only found on the '"children's drinks" menu?
Anyone else get bugged by the fact that ALL the non alcoholic drinks (including J20s, coke and sparkling mineral water) are only found on the '"children's drinks" menu?