Bar Business & Management
The numbers, systems and leadership behind a profitable bar

Great cocktails don’t fix a broken bar. This section is about bar business and management: leadership on the floor, service flows, staff training, cost control, menu strategy and the key numbers that actually matter. The articles here are written to help you read your bar as a system, make cleaner decisions, and build teams that deliver the same standard on a slow Monday and on a packed Saturday night – even when you’re not on shift.

Cocktail & Mocktail Menu Engineering: A Complete Bar Menu System, Not Just Recipes

A drinks program does not win because a drink tastes great once. It wins when your team can reproduce the same result fast, consistently, and profitably, every shift. Menu Design & Engineering is The Double Strainer’s online service for venues and brands that want more than “nice recipes”. This is a complete execution system: recipes, prep logic, shelf-life standards, QC checks, and (where included) costing and pricing structure, so the menu performs under real service press

The Double Strainer 2025 Recap: Cocktail Trends, Systems & What’s Next

In 2025, The Double Strainer reinforced a clear mission: publish service-ready cocktail knowledge and bar systems designed for real venue execution, and make them completely free for the global bar community.

How to Calculate the Cost of a Cocktail Like a Professional: A practical guide to ingredient costing and menu prices (with a Free Excel template)

How to Cost a Cocktail: A Practical Guide (with a Free Excel Template)

Costing a cocktail is not just an Excel exercise. It decides whether a best-selling Negroni pays the rent or slowly erodes the bar’s margin over a season. Two drinks can look identical on the menu but behave very differently in the P&L.Without precise costing, decisions about price, garnish or promotions are based mostly on instinct.With precise costing, they become controllable levers.

From First Drink to Regular: How Bars Really Build Guest Loyalty

On a rainy Tuesday a guest walks in, orders “just one drink” and sits quietly at the bar.Six months later, the same guest knows half the team by name, brings friends, and texts ahead to check if there’s space. That transformation—from stranger to regular—is not magic. It’s design. Guest loyalty doesn’t come from vibes alone, or from one superstar bartender “good with people”. It comes from a pattern of small, repeatable behaviours that any well-run bar can train, track and pr

Leadership Behind the Bar: Guiding With Respect Instead of Hierarchy and Fear

Great bars aren’t run on intimidation or “rock-star” egos. They’re built by leaders who set standards, protect culture, and help people do the best work of their careers—night after night.This article translates modern leadership research and bar management practices into a practical guide for Head Bartenders, Bar Managers, and Beverage Directors.

The First 30 Seconds: Crafting Unforgettable Impressions at the Bar

Before a guest ever tastes a cocktail, they’ve already decided what kind of bar you are. The first 30 seconds define expectations: the welcome, the atmosphere, even the smell of the room. Done right, those moments can create an instant connection — the kind that turns a walk-in guest into a loyal regular. Done poorly, and no Negroni or Espresso Martini will ever fully recover the mood.

The Sound of Hospitality: How to Master Music in a Cocktail Bar

When you walk into The Dead Rabbit (New York), you immediately feel the hum of Irish folk blended with modern rhythms. At Nightjar (London), a live jazz trio whispers through the room, matching the sophistication of the glassware and the complexity of the cocktails. At Atlas (Singapore), the grandeur of Art Deco interiors is amplified by classical and swing playlists, giving every sip of gin a sense of timeless elegance.

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Bar Business & Management The numbers, systems and leadership behind a profitable bar