Case Study: Hedonist
Because of these issues, Hedonist, a specialist cocktail bar based in Leeds, wanted to create a way of offering low alcohol containing drinks, but in a quantifiable and understandable way. In a world where almost everyone counts every calorie they consume thanks to the ‘MyFitnessPal generation’, they looked at how you can count alcohol.
They have now launched 'Project One', a menu where all of the drinks have been created to be exactly one unit of alcohol as defined by Public Health England. It means that people who try the menu can still enjoy an exciting alcoholic drink while precisely monitoring their alcohol consumption.
Although the alcohol levels on the Project One menu are kept low, how do they go about keeping the characteristics and flavours of the base spirits? It all comes down to the chosen spirits. Through their blind taste testing, they have found gin and mescal to have the most distinct flavourings. With these spirits, brand defining flavours come through, even with a small amount.
In terms of the soft drinks to pair with your flavoursome spirits, Hedonist has found that those containing less sugar will carry the flavour through the most as they are don’t overpower the spirit, but complement it instead.
Since creating and testing the drinks, Hedonist has seen an influx of people ordering the Project One selection. The bar has also seen an increase in custom mid-week, which in Leeds isn’t as common as larger cities like London and Manchester.
