Consumers!

Us humans are a competitive lot, and as a result we love nothing more than rating, scoring and awarding everything from cars, to holidays, and of course to the cocktail bars that we frequent.  In the majority of cases such evaluations are clearly the subjective view of individuals, and should on the whole not be taken too seriously.  There are however some organisations that put themselves out there as offering something more than just a single persons opinion, and instead offer up awards that are intended to be representative of those at the top of their game.  and so it is important however that the process is designed in such a way so as to be able to deliver the award at the end in a meaningful and representative way; otherwise they may as well pull names out of a hat. 

 One of the most important international award ceremonies for the drinks industry is the Spirited Awards held annually at Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans.  Anyone can submit a nomination for any of the categories, with just one nomination required for consideration. 42 internationally respected judges are then invited to vote for the nominees, with the nominee gaining the most votes being declared the winner.  On the face of it, having such industry ‘experts’ judge the awards seems like a decent way to go about it, and for awards such as ‘Best Cocktail Writing’ I can’t think of a better way to go about it.  There are however a few categories where it seems as though a crucial consideration has been missed.

Let’s consider for a moment what makes for a great bar. Certainly the quality of drinks is important, but so are many other factors, and none more so than customer service.  This can make or break a bar, and the only person that can judge its quality is the consumer.  It is here that awards such as the Spirited Awards ‘World’s Best Cocktail Bar’ have a bit of a problem.  Sure, the judges are consumers as well, but the reality is that many of them are high-profile individuals within the industry, and as such the fact they are often likely to be recognised when visiting bars makes for a very real possibility they may receive a different experience to the average consumer. In addition, such industry experts will see a bar very differently to many customers, and as much as they try and put themselves in the consumers shoes, it just can’t replace the real deal.

There is of course no easy way to include consumer opinion into such international awards in a way that is practical, meaningful and affordable; and so we are left with a good, but imperfect way to judge bars. Those who win are undoubtedly at the top of their game, but it just seems wrong that awards for ‘Best Bar’ can be given with no consumer input.  In the meantime, transparent systems of quantitative scoring based on criteria such as drinks quality, customer service etc would at least offer the consumer the confidence that these awards are not just a case of industry pals scratching each others backs.

The Cocktail Geek