Marketing Promotion
Breaking Records … and a Few Bottles
Chris Raph created 662 cocktails in
one hour to set a world record.
“My hands were slippery during the actual competition, so I kept dropping bottles,” laughs The Shout House bartender Chris Raph. “Other than that, I think it went really well.”
With the spotlights from four local television crews trained on him and more than
300 guests watching, Raph set out to break the record for “most cocktails prepared
in 60 minutes” for Guinness World Records on April 16. The Shout House has been
open in Minneapolis for nearly five years now, and the venue is known for its duel-
ing pianists belting out tunes nightly. Now, it’s famous for world-record-holder Raph
as well, who made 662 different cocktails in under an hour, nearly doubling the
previous record.
“I got interested in the challenge of it after reading an article in Nightclub & Bar about
Bobby Gleason holding the record with 253 cocktails [the record was then reset by
Matthias Knorr in Munich, Germany, at 389]. I knew I could beat that, so I trained for
about six months.”
Raph had to make, from memory, more than 390 different cocktails. The rules
stated that the cocktails would be considered “different” as long as one ingredient
was changed.
Management teamed up with Diageo, which donated the spirits, and Sysco, which
donated the alcohol-free product. Guests paid $4 at the door, with all of the money ben-
efiting the Finnegan’s Community Fund, which helps the area’s homeless. Cocktail #390
and cocktail #662 were auctioned off, increasing the total amount raised that night to
more than $1,500. Since that evening, Raph has been the subject of several radio shows,
television appearances and magazine profiles, all bringing business back to the bar.
Country Meets Urban
David Taylor came up through the ranks in this industry like so many others before him, eventu-
ally owning and operating four
separate bars over the last de-
cade. Today, however, Taylor has
moved from club ownership to the
music side of the business, creat-
ing a new music format that’s
sweeping through Texas. Bottles
& Boots is a promotion currently
in action one weeknight each week in
four bottle-service venues from Dallas to
Fort Worth to Austin. Collaborating with a
DJ in Houston, Taylor creates an urban/
country hybrid of music, mixing the words
from country songwriter legends like Bon-
nie Raitt and Willie Nelson with hip-hop
and rap instrumentals from moguls like
Jay-Z and Diddy.
“My concept was to come up with a
night that would make a Texas venue’s
core clientele happy but not impede on
the other people who might come in by
offering all country-western styled music,”
he says. “With different nights, you tend
to get different crowds, and when they
intermingle, it can discourage one of the
types, depending on the music played.”
The mix of urban and country music has
kept crowds happy and bottle service or-
ders high at several venues, including Red
Fez in Austin and Candleroom in Dallas.
At Candleroom, it’s even helped draw
in people outside of the core client base,
according to Tommy DeAlano, owner of
Candleroom and Sunset Lounge. “We’ve
seen a steady growth and awareness of
the promotion [from patrons] and defi-
nitely have been able to see momentum
N
once people understand what they’re
hearing and seeing,” he explains. “We
see folks that are typical ‘boot scooters’
not sure about the club world who
come in and enjoy the night, as well
as our mainstay customers convert-
ing and actually admitting that they
are country fans.”
To entice guests even more, Taylor
took the concept one step further
and teamed up with Zodiac Vodka.
ow, groups of 10 who come in are
supplied with a complimentary bottle of
Zodiac, courtesy of Taylor, and then they
typically stick around and up the bar sales
with extra orders.
Taylor explains that he charges for the
music format setup, but that he also offers a “total turnkey” product.
“I go in and promise the owner of the
club, at minimum, 100 people for that
night. I do all of the fliers, music and
print advertising, and it ends up where it
doesn’t cost the owners anything.”
