Why the cocktail menu should go digital first
Behind the bar, a cocktail sells for 10 to 14 euros against roughly 2 to 3 euros of product cost. It's the line item where a handful of extra sales a night changes the month. A well-presented cocktail menu keeps selling while your server is somewhere else.
The wine list is usually the first thing operators digitise. Cocktails rarely follow, even though they're the ones that most need a description, a photo and fast updates.
A digital menu in a bar also solves a practical headache: recipes change, spirits run out, and a printed menu is out of date within three weeks.
What a cocktail menu must display by law
Going digital doesn't exempt you from anything. Display obligations are identical on screen and on paper.
Price, serving size and origin
Every drink must show its price including tax and the volume served, in centilitres. For a cocktail, state the volume of the glass as served, not the measure of spirit. If you serve beer or spirits on draught or by the glass, the serving size has to appear for every format on offer.
Allergens and ingredients
Allergens from the 14 regulated categories must be flagged: dairy in a Brandy Alexander, egg in a Pisco Sour, nuts in an orgeat syrup. Digital is far more comfortable than paper here — you can list ingredients in full without wrecking the layout.
Health warnings and alcohol sales
The health warning aimed at pregnant women must be visible, along with the ban on selling alcohol to minors. Also make sure your legal notices are reachable from the menu page.
Out of a hundred bar menus inspected, it's almost never the obscure allergen that's missing — it's the serving size by the glass and the price of the soft drinks.
How to build a QR code menu for your cocktail bar
The method comes down to a few simple steps. Allow half a day for a full menu of thirty items.
- List your categories: signatures, classics, zero-proof, beers, wines by the glass.
- Write a description of two lines maximum per cocktail.
- Add the ingredients and the base spirit for each recipe.
- Generate the QR code and print it on a table tent or a coaster.
Once it's live, you update the cocktail menu whenever you need to. Guests see the new version the moment they scan — no reprinting, no waiting.
Selling your signatures and your zero-proof drinks
Signature cocktails justify a higher price, provided people understand what's in them. Photograph your cocktails at the bar, in the actual glass, with the actual garnish. One sharp photo beats any stock image.
Mocktails deserve their own section, not a stray line at the bottom of the drinks menu. Demand for zero-proof is growing fast among under-35s, and the margin is excellent: little product cost, plenty of perceived craft.
- Give your zero-proof creations real names, just like the rest.
- Price them sensibly, around 70% of the price of the alcoholic equivalent.
- Put two of them at the top of the list, not at the bottom of the page.
Paper or digital: what actually changes day to day
The table below compares the two formats for a bar menu that shifts every season.
| Criterion | Paper menu | Digital menu |
|---|---|---|
| Changing a price | Full reprint | Two clicks, live immediately |
| Spirit out of stock | Crossed out or explained verbally | Item hidden in one tap |
| Cocktail photos | High printing cost | Included, no extra charge |
| Detailed allergens | Limited space | Full list per recipe |
| Typical annual budget | 400 to 900 euros | Fixed subscription |
Digital doesn't replace everything. Plenty of venues keep a few printed copies for the bar top and for guests who prefer reading at the table.
Organising your categories: cocktails, wines, beers
A guest at the bar looks for a type of drink first, a name second. So structure the menu by family, with clear tabs: "cocktails", "wine bar", "beer list" and "zero-proof". Three levels are plenty.
If you run both a cocktail bar and a dining room, keep a single entry point and separate the menus inside it. That avoids duplicate QR codes on the tables.
Multiple languages become a question quickly in tourist areas. An English translation of the cocktail names and ingredients covers most cases.
The mistakes that cost you sales
First: a QR code that's too small, or stuck under a wet glass. Use a stable holder, business-card size at minimum, with a readable line like "Our menu".
Second: requiring an app. A menu should open in the browser, with no download and no account. If you're still weighing up the principle, the numbers are laid out in our article on the reasons to digitise your menu.
Third: forgetting to update it. A digital menu showing a cocktail you can't make does more damage than a stained paper one. Block out ten minutes every Monday to review stock and prices.