Festive Season Drinks Checklist for Clubs, Restaurants and Hotels

We all love December! It is the start of the festive season. It is also when clubs, bars, restaurants, and hotels enjoy the company of international and local lively spirits spending their early pay on their vices. It is a good time for everyone.

However, if the festive season finds you unprepared, the chance of minting dollars from clients visiting your premises might slip away.

That is why you should love November even more. It ensures that you are prepared.

December hosts a series of celebrations such as weddings, graduations, circumcision ceremonies, and towards the end, Christmas and New Year celebrations. All these celebrations have one thing in common - food and drinks.

One way or another, the people attending these celebrations might find themselves in your restaurant, club/bar, or hotel. They are usually in their spending spirit. You better be prepared with premium drinks and food that will get you good margins.

3 Tips for Festive Season Preparation

1. Upgrade your festive mood

No one wants a boring environment when they are in their best moods. Use this November to renovate your premises to give it the look and feel people need.

Research involving consumer buying decisions suggests that emotions precede intelligence. Impression matters before a person can engage their intelligence in making logical decisions. Aesthetics play an important role in evoking emotions.

Improve the aesthetics of your premises and give them a festive feel.

2. Have the right products

Once you have thrilled your customers’ emotions, now their intelligence kicks in and they are ready to make logical decisions. It’s your job to make them stay by having the right products. Have the right food, the right drinks, and the right music or events.

Spending habits during festive seasons are usually high relative to ordinary times. Stock your cellar or bar with the best wine, Champagne, whisky, beers, and other liquor types.

Most of the engagements will be celebratory. High chances are that most of your customers will be toasting to something. Ensure that you have the right drinks for that like Champagne and sparkling wines (both alcoholic and non-alcoholic).

3. Get the best margins by stocking early

Importers and suppliers are well aware of the perks of the festive season. They know what drinks are in demand and are waiting for the right time to hike the prices. For you to have the best margins, the most logical choice would be stocking early. You already know what sells most during that time.

This is also the best time to research alternative products that are as good as what you regularly sell with even better margins.

A starting point is checking out the Drinks Zone website, which has the largest liquor collection in Kenya. Navigate to various liquor categories and check out available products. If you are using a computer, check the left side of your window for filters for various liquor subcategories and brands. Also, use the search box to type the name of a specific liquor type or brand you are looking for.

Note that the prices provided are retail. If you are buying in bulk, make a list of the products you need and quantities and send an email to sales@drinkszone.co.ke or call/WhatsApp 0700457373 and get the wholesale prices. You can also use these contacts to inquire about the best products to stock.

We want to have the right products. What should we buy?

You know your customers better than we do. Your business has a market segment it attracts. The questions you should be asking are:

1. Are our customers heavy spenders or medium spenders?
2. Does our business model focus on the quantity or quality of customers?
3. Does our business have grounds to host private events?

If you have trouble answering the above questions, you might need to hire a digital marketing specialist to help you understand your customers better. Digital marketing consultants help businesses tailor their products or services to fulfill their consumers' needs. They also identify opportunities and help increase your customer base.

Back to the questions...

If your customers are heavy spenders, you should explore premium and luxury liquor brands. Medium spenders are likely to go for affordable liquor options.

The question about the quality and quantity of customers should guide you on what and how much to buy. If your business targets to have as many customers as possible with different spending capabilities, you should buy a mix of premium and affordable alcohol in varying quantities.

For businesses that offer grounds for hosting private events, chances are that your customers will also hire your catering services. In this case, celebratory drinks such as Champagne, sparkling wine, and cocktails will be in demand.

It is advisable to stock a good amount of non-alcoholic sparkling wines. Most celebrations will have an audience with mixed demographics including children and adults who do not take alcoholic drinks. With good marketing on your part, it will be easy to convince a group to take a few bottles of non-alcoholic sparkling wines. It’s hard to resist a good toast.

TOO LONG;DIDN’T READ STATEMENT

The list that follows is long, so just in case you do not reach the bottom, here is what you should know:

1. The list contains the most popular liquor brands in each category bought the most during the festive seasons.
2. You can order any liquor type at Drinks Zone Ltd. Reach out to us via our email sales@drinkszone.co.ke and we will advise you further. We deliver countrywide.
3. The first 4 sections in the checklist are important.
4. Take time to browse other sections of this website to see what else is there.

A Checklist of On-demand Festive Drinks

Our previous experience supplying liquor to bars, clubs, restaurants, and hotels has enabled us to come up with liquor brands in different categories that are usually in demand in festive seasons. Check them out and pick what resonates with your business the best.

1. Champagne

We are talking about Christmas, weddings, bride negotiation celebrations, new year celebrations, and many other December activities. It’s obvious that Champagne comes on top of the list.

Here are some champagne brands to check out:

• Moet & Chandon
• Dom Perignon
• Laurent Perrier
• Veuve Clicquot
• Ace of Spades
• Taittinger
• Nicolas Feuillatte
• Ruinart
• Louis Roederer

2. Sparkling Wines

Remember when we said about heavy spenders and medium spenders? Well, sparkling wines are affordable alternatives to champagne. There is a good number of high-quality sparkling wine brands.

Check out these sparkling wines brands and types to buy:

• Belaire
• Duchessa Lia Fragolino
• Prosecco
• Sparkling Moscato
• Graham Beck
• Veuve Ambal
• JC Le Roux
• La Vieille Ferme
• Martini Sparkling
• JP Chenet

3. Non-alcoholic Sparkling Wines

When your guest list comprises non-drinkers, recommend these non-alcoholic wine brands:

• Chamdor Red or White
• Martini Dolce
• Rendezvous

Apart from sparkling wines and champagne, other alcohol types that you should have this festive season are as follows:

4. Cocktail Liqueurs

Making great cocktails makes clients stick around longer. You may already have a list of cocktails that your bar or club makes. We can suggest some brilliant cocktail ideas and some of the best Christmas cocktails for this festive season.

You will need the following cocktail liqueurs to make classic cocktails for your customers:

• Blue Curacao
• Aperol
• Cointreau
• Angostura Bitters
• Limoncello
• Midori
• Creme de cassis
• Frangelico
• Grand Marnier
• Triple sec
• Campari bitters
• Tango/Bols sour apple/Cherry
• Peppermint
• Drambuie
• Cherry
• Prosecco (blu, canti, martini, bottega)
• Sambuca
• Cachaca
• Raspberry/strawberry/banana/mango liqueur/passion/watermelon/ginger/cherry/orange
• Jagermeister

Check out more liqueurs on our online liquor shop.

5. Gin

Gin has gained the most popularity recently. Its versatility and use in cocktails place it on the top of the list of favorite liquor types for most consumers. These brands are the most popular:

• Tanqueray Royale
• Tanqueray Ten, original, Sevilla, Malacca, Lovage, Rangpur
• Hendricks
• Bombay
• Gordons
• Four Pillars
• Whitley Neill
• Botanist
• Beefeater
• Musgrave
• Mermaid
• Blackwoods

6. Wine

Wine is consumed in all event types and even more in festive seasons and holidays like Christmas and New Year's Eve.

Some of the popular choices are:

Red & White Wine Brands

• La Fiole Du Pape
• Nederburg Reds
• Rutini Reds
• Trumpeter
• Tommasi Amarone
• Cesari Amarone
• Simonsig
• Rupert & Rothschild
• Cielo
• Three Thieves
• Tilia
• Mouton Cadet
• Cotes Du Rhone
• B&G
• Culemborg

And many other wines from popular wine-producing regions like France, Moldova, Chile, Argentina, Spain, and South Africa.

Sweet Wines

• Namaqua
• Drostdy-Hof
• Cellar Cask
• Nobile Wines
• Pierre Marcel
• Asconi
• Robertson
• Moscato wines

Port Wines

Perfect wines for cooking. Popular port wine brands include:

• Sandeman
• Offley
• Grahams
• Porto Cruz
• Valduoro
• Cockburns

7. Whisky

The following whiskeys make a list of fast-moving drams:

• Jack Daniels
• Glenfiddich 40yrs, 21yrs, 18yrs, 15yrs, 12yrs
• Glenlivet 18yrs, 15yrs, 12yrs
• Singleton 18,15,12
• Teeling
• Aberfeldy
• Hibiki Harmony
• Macallan 18yrs, 12yrs, Sienna, Lumina, Estate, Terra
• Monkey Shoulder
• Famous Grouse
• Johnnie Walker gold, blue, green, double black, black label
• Other Japanese brands like Yamazaki, Hakushu, Nikka Taketsuru, Iwai, Chita, Suntory, Togouchi, Kura, and Yamazakura.

Check out our complete whisky collection on our website.

8. Cognac

French liquor is one of the most consumed alcoholic beverages in the world. Cognac makes the top of the list of French spirits alongside various brandies.

Have the following cognacs this festive period:

• Courvoisier XO
• Hennessy VSOP, VS, XO, Paradis
• Martell VSOP, VS, XO
• Remy Martin XO
• D'usse VSOP
• Camus
• Davidoff

9. Tequila

The list is never complete without tequila. Most people love tequila shots. Most businesses sell Tequila as shots or even bottles.

You can pick expensive brands to sell the most expensive tequila shots like Clase Azul and Don Julio 1942.

Check out the best tequila brands that you should have this festive season:

• Patron
• Casamigos
• Don Julio
• Clase Azul
• El Jimador
• Teremana
• Corralejo
• Curado Blanco
• Olmeca
• Jose Cuervo

10. Vodka

Vodka is perfect for cocktails. Some brands are best when taken on their own or on the rocks. Here is what’s trending:

• Belvedere
• Grey Goose
• Ciroc
• Ketel One
• Crystal head
• Beluga
• Smirnoff
• Absolut
• Skyy
• Absinthe
• Russian Standard Vodka
• Tito's Handmade

11. Rum

Rum makes delicious cocktails like the famous Pina Colada and more. See what you can buy here:

• Captain Morgan
• Old Monk
• Diplomatico
• Bacardi
• Myers
• Bumbu
• Takamaka
• Malibu
• Havana Club

Drinks Zone has over 3000 different products. You can therefore tell that this list is not exhaustive. We are aware that it can be challenging to decide on what to buy. That’s why we have shopping guides and blogs to guide your pick.

We are always available to answer all your queries using the contact information at the top of this page.

Order with us today before the prices rise too high.