Diageo bags 500 more pubs for draught cocktail trial
Another 500 pubs are to join a Diageo trial of draught cocktails this summer, the Publican's Morning Advertiser has learnt.
The company has been testing a cocktail dispense system that serves Smirnoff vodka mojitos on draught since the end of last year and is now rolling out the trial further to a total of 800 bars across the UK.
It is working best in "mid-tempo food-led outlets," said on-trade channel director Martijn Van Buuren.
"But the simplicity of the system does make it very flexible," he added.
The product comes as a 'bag-in-box' system, which goes under the bar and is connected to a line leading to a font on the top of the bar. Diageo is also providing participating outlets with an ice-crushing machine to ensure the cocktails are served correctly every time.
Each serve is 12.5% ABV and has 1.9 units. The system is well established in Spain and Greece.
As reported in February, Diageo is also trialling frozen and layered cocktails in a small number of venues.
A frozen vodka mojito is being trialled under Smirnoff, while the layered cocktail is a Cuba libre made using the Captain Morgan's Spiced brand.
A rum and cola mixture comes out of a new dispense system and is poured over ice, while at the same time the system injects a denser liquid infusion of lime, to create a layered drink.
