Cocktail Critic Submission Guidelines

The first edition of the cocktail critic was a success, but there were some questions on how the ratings were determined. The criteria for how the submitted cocktails are rated, is layed out in the following post to help clarify the issue. Scoring a Perfect 10 will be extremely difficult, as it should. The challenge is to create something new and unique. Many of the classic cocktails have used common ingredients in a cocktail, that are both widely available, taste good and are easy to prepare, which would have resulted in a high score. The best example is a Manhattan, which would probably score very high. Use that as template and your score will go up. Everyone is welcome to submit a recipe, and if you have one,please feel free to submit it to dsoneil@gmail.com.

The Scoring System

The basic scoring system for the cocktail is a score somewhere between 0 and 10. There are five areas of the submissions that are rated. Each area is given a score of 0, 1 or 2. As stated, it will be very hard to achieve a 9 or 10 rating due to the categories conflicting with one another. For example, a drink may be very original and score a two, but the preparation time required may score a zero. For a great drink, balance is the key. Based on this scoring system you may want to aim for high marks in taste and originality but ignore preparation.

A zero rating means that the cocktail was a complete miss in the specific area. For example, modifying an ingredient in an already existing cocktail would receive a zero rating for originality.

A one rating would mean that the cocktail is average in that area. Using the originality example, this would mean that the cocktail is unique, but not something that’s never been created before. Almost any drink with some sort of unique twist, that makes the drink stand out will be given a one rating.

A two rating will require the drink to be very original, however there needs to be some forethought into the cocktail to get this mark. It can’t just be a random mixture of unique ingredients.

The Categories

Ingredients
The basic building blocks of a cocktail need to be sound, if the cocktail is going to rate highly. Using low quality ingredients, like store bought sour mix, will automatically bring this score down. Using fresh squeezed limes and sugar will up the mark. Using unique, quality ingredients will increase the score. However, expensive items, like $500 bottles of scotch, will lower this mark.

Preparation
This area takes into account the creation of the cocktail. If the drink is extremely difficult to prepare, has consistency problems or has way to many components, it will receive a low mark. If the drink is easy to prepare and produces a reliably consistent drink, then it will score higher. Components that are prepared prior to the cocktail assembly, like infusions, will also count towards the score.

Taste
This is a key rating because if a drink tastes horrible, then there is no point in making it. Obviously, everyone tastes are different, but I think it is safe to say that a liver and onion puree cocktail would taste almost vile to everyone. A fruit drink would be average and combinations of quality ingredients would rate higher. Quality is the key here.

Originality
For a drink to be original, it first has to be unique and not a clone of another recipe or ingredient substitution. Substitute drinks, using quality ingredients are great, but not original. A high scoring original drink would require the use of unique ingredients, in a combination never before seen. An example of this would be the Plonk cocktail. This drink reverse engineers wine and is made from pisco, white grape juice, green tea and tartaric acid. The drink tastes like wine, so it’s an original cocktail creation, but scores low on taste.

Bartender Rating
Drinks need to be prepared consistently and fairly quickly at a bar or lounge, the profitability of the business depends on it. So this means that for a drink to make the grade for the bartender, it can’t have any weird voodoo rituals or difficult synthesis procedures. Taste, speed and consistency are the goal. The one other area to keep in mind is cost, if you are using very pricey ingredients, the cost per drink goes up and the drink would be hard to sell. High priced ingredients would lower your score.

Over time, the rating system may change. One foreseeable change will be giving Taste a range of 0 to 3 and making the bartender rating a 0 or 1. But for now the rating system will stay as is for the next few submissions.

If you would like to submit a cocktail please send it to dsoneil@gmail.com.