Cocktail bar – Page 48 – KRG Hospitality

The Science of Bitter Flavors

by David Klemt

Not only do bitter cocktail ingredients add depth and complexity to drinks, individual DNA plays a role in how we perceive them.

Campari, one of the best-known bitter aperitifs, adds herbal bitterness to cocktails.

However, not everyone perceives bitterness the same way. This is why some of your guests love bitter drinks, some can’t stand them, and others don’t have much of a response at all.

The Bitter Response

Dr. Danielle Reed is associate director of the Monell Chemical Senses Center. As her research summary states, why different people taste and smell differently, and how genotypes play a role in that perception.

A recent Campari digital event, “In a Sense: Decoding the Science of Bitter,” dives into the bitter response of humans. During this webinar, host Alison Mouratis, a Campari portfolio representative in Chicago, hosts Dr. Reed and Micah Melton, beverage director at the Alinea Group.

In the webinar, Dr. Reed asks, “Where does bitter come from?” The answer is: plants.

Obviously, plants can’t defend themselves like animals. If a predator chooses a plant as its prey, it doesn’t really have to worry about teeth and talons.

Instead, plants employ secondary defense chemicals, and they do so in an instant. Some of these defense chemicals are poisonous and humans perceive them as bitter. Often, bitter flavors activate our salivary glands to dilute the poison and protect us.

Phenylthiocarbamide

Yes, that. Phenylthiocarbamide (PTC) is a chemical compound that tastes bitter…to some of us.

As Dr. Reed explains, not everyone can detect PTC. Our parents determine whether the receptor that picks up PTC is broken or not.

In some of us (about 30 percent of people), the receptor is broken. Turns out, it’s broken in yours truly. In others, one parent passes on the receptor. And for some people, both parents pass it on and the reaction to PTC is strong.

Test Your Receptor

I discovered my receptor is broken during the Campari event on screen with more than a dozen other participants.

How does one test their reaction to PTC? Via PTC strips. One takes a strip, places it in their mouth, and they’ll know quite quickly if their receptor is active.

Not only is this interesting to do just out of personal curiosity, operators can host an event similar to Campari’s. Guests are looking for new ways to engage with the brands, restaurants, bars, and bar teams they support.

PTC strips are available for on Amazon, and they’re not expensive. Vials of 100 PTC strips can cost as little as five dollars.

Not only is this type of event educational, it’s entertaining and can help drive drink sales.

Image: Chino Rocha on Unsplash

Some Texas Operators Keep Masks in Place

by David Klemt

Texas is less than a week away from opening “100 percent” according to Governor Greg Abbott.

Three things in life are certain: death, taxes, and Texans aren’t fans of being told what to do.

Data shows an increase in coronavirus cases in Texas but that isn’t stopping Gov. Abbott from announcing all businesses can open at 100-percent capacity and the state’s mask mandate is no more as of March 10.

Political, Practical or Perilous?

Per Gov. Abbott, Texas have “mastered the daily habits to avoid getting Covid,” so it’s “now time to open Texas 100 percent.”

One of those habits, one would assume, is wearing a mask or other face covering to “avoid getting Covid,”

Doctors and health experts have been warning against complacency fueled by vaccines and cases dropping in some states. Another surge may be around the corner if people drop covid-19 safety measures in favor of a return to “normal” life.

Gov. Abbott’s announcement, therefore, calls into question his motivations: political, practical or perilous?

Some Operators Pushing Back

If we accept that one can’t tell a Texan what to do, we must apply that to restaurant and bar operators in the state.

Some Texas operators disagree with Gov. Abbott lifting of the mask mandate and are “100 percent” still requiring masks in their establishments post-March 10.

This message from Bobby Heugel, the operator behind Anvil Bar & Refuge, Tongue-Cut Sparrow, Better Luck Tomorrow and Squable in Houston, is straightforward. It’s also garnering plenty of support, with people thanking Heugel and pledging to spend their money at his businesses.

In response to a question by one commenter on the post, Heugel explains that the hospitality group is maintaining 50-percent capacity, socially distanced seating, and other CDC guidelines “until vaccination rates improve.”

Nickel City operations locations in Austin and Forth Worth. As the above statement makes clear, guests must wear masks inside their venues regardless of what Gov. Abbott says. Like Heugel’s, Nickel City’s statement is garnering support.

Whether the governor’s move proves wise or foolish will bear out in the coming weeks. However, the decision will likely once again put front-of-house workers at risk of hostile confrontations with guests who take wearing a mask as a personal attack on their liberty.

Still Struggling

To be fair, Gov. Abbott isn’t going it alone in terms of rolling back a mask mandate. Mississippi, Alabama, Iowa and Montana have made similar choices.

Going a further step toward fairness, a total of 16 states don’t have mask mandates in place. In fact, some never did. What has drawn attention is that Texas is the largest state to do away with its mask mandate (and the second largest state in the US in terms of population and area).

What grabbed my attention are the responses from well-known and respected operators who have chosen to still require masks and other Covid-19-related health and safety guidelines, along with the support they’re receiving from the public for doing so.

Multiple vaccines, a seemingly downward trend in infection rates, and the lifting of restrictions don’t magically solve operators’ problems—they’re struggling, as are their employees.

Follow this link to tell your representatives to pass the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 and Restaurant Revitalization Fund now.

Image: Adam Nieścioruk on Unsplash