Guides · Running the place
The best £500 I spent on the bar: cocktail theatre
A smoke gun, five signature drinks, and the marketing customers did for me.
The best £500 I spent on the bar wasn't a piece of kitchen kit. It was a cocktail smoke gun and a set of flavours.
What it is
A Flavour Blaster is a small handheld gun that fills a bubble with flavoured smoke and sits it on top of a cocktail. The customer pops it, the smoke rolls out over the glass, and the whole table turns to look. The gun, the bubble solution and a set of flavours cost me about £500 all in.
What it did for the bar
- It sold cocktails after happy hour. Happy hour fills a bar with cheap drinks. The show gave people a reason to stay and pay full price for a signature cocktail afterwards.
- It made bookings. Birthdays, baby showers and work nights booked us because they'd seen the smoke bubbles. On hot summer days with the terrace full it was, honestly, banging.
- It did my marketing for me. Customers filmed the bubble popping and posted it. I never paid for an advert that worked as well as a thirty-second phone video from a happy table.
Our signature cocktails
We had five house cocktails that only we made, and the show went on top of those. A signature list does two things: nobody can price-compare it with the bar down the road, and it gives your bartenders something to be proud of. Cost them properly with the costing calculator; theatre drinks carry a higher price and should carry a higher GP.
Before you buy one
- Train two people, not one. The show only works if it's always available.
- Put the price up. A £2 bubble on a £12 cocktail can be a £14 cocktail.
- Keep the flavours simple: a smoky one, a citrus one, a sweet one. Nobody notices more.
- Check your insurer is happy with open flame or dry ice if you go that way; the smoke gun itself is low risk.
If I opened another bar tomorrow, this would be on the opening order.