Subscribe by Jan 31 to start with the Daijoubu Box. Shipping the week of Feb 3!


Hello New Bartenders!


Hi there! 

We are so excited to have you on board and to bring your unique cocktails to our community of subscribers! Our mission is to create experiences for our members that empower, inspire, and enlighten them wherever they gather. We can’t wait to work with you to package your recipe and send it all over the country. Below is everything we’ll need in order to start the process—we can’t wait to see and taste it all!

Checklist

1. Pick your brand
2. Submit 2 cocktail concepts to gporter@shakerandspoon.com
3. Receive feedback/guidance from S&S team as to which will work the best in the box
4. Develop one of the concepts into a fully-fledged cocktail recipe
5. Fill out the form and complete your cocktail & bartender information submission

Recipe Guidelines

  • The concept of the S&S kit is “just add one bottle of booze.” So the month’s spirit can be the only liquor in the cocktail.
  • Please also include sub-recipes for any house-made components (syrups, marmalades, shrubs, etc.), including cook time and yield, so they can be recreated and scaled up for a commercial-sized production run. Feel free to get creative (very much encouraged!), but keep in mind that your syrup recipe is going to be multiplied x 1000 for the commercial batch. Please be precise!!
  • Please try to be specific and detailed in writing your cocktail recipe so that even first-time subscribers are able to follow without confusion.
  • The cocktail should be something that people cannot just willy-nilly make at home without using one of your ingredients—make it special!

Important Information

  • Please include a fully written-out recipe with all ingredients, measurements, and very detailed instructions for how to build your cocktail (examples below).
  • The liquor can be up to 2 oz per cocktail for sure (if you want 2.5 oz in your cocktail, include that in your initial concept, and if another bartender in the box is only using 1.5 oz, we can make it work). Subscribers need to make 12 cocktails total—including 4 of yours—while only purchasing one 750 ml bottle of booze.
  • For other ingredient quantities, it depends on the product we’re sending. For example, if you need 2 oz of tonic, it has to be a product that comes in an 8–10 oz bottle, but it can’t be huge like a 16 oz bottle, because that won’t fit in the box. For original syrups, we usually fit 2 oz and 4 oz bottles, and occasionally 8 oz bottles. If you have any questions about what can fit in our boxes, please ask and we will answer ASAP. 
  • Your cocktail should work with whatever brand of liquor the customer ends up using, whether it’s your recommendation, one of the other bartenders’ picks, or something else!
  • If you are looking for cool ingredients—check out our list here!

DOs

While we do have quite a few restrictions on what we can put in a box (because the box is a certain size and will be in transit for 3 days without refrigeration), there are still lots of things that can go in our boxes! Here’s a short list of possibilities, definitely not complete but hopefully will spur your imagination. If you’re curious about anything, please ask!

  • Juices that don’t require refrigeration prior to opening
  • Syrups/cordials/shrubs (our own or someone else's)
  • Switchels and non alcoholic ciders (non refrigerated)
  • Bitters, tinctures, and extracts
  • Sodas, sparkling waters, tonics, colas, mineral waters
  • Ginger ale and beer
  • Vinegars
  • Acids (phosphate, tartaric, malic, etc.)
  • Oils
  • Coffee, tea, cold brews
  • Tea concentrates
  • Coconut water (still or sparkling)
  • Preserves, marmalades, jams, and jellies
  • Nut milks (almond, pistachio, walnut, etc)
  • Honey, molasses, agave, maple syrup
  • Oleo-saccharum
  • Flavored salts and sugars
  • Dried fruit
  • Hardy/shippable herbs such as rosemary, bay leaves
  • Hot sauce, Worcestershire, soy sauce, etc
  • Roots such as ginger, turmeric, horseradish
  • Spices such as nutmeg, anise stars, etc
  • Creamer and other dairy products that don’t require refrigeration
  • Coconut cream/coconut milk
  • Rose water and orange blossom water
  • Spices/tea/dried fruit for spirit infusions
  • Eggs (won’t be included in the box, but we can ask subscribers to add one)
  • Pickled/preserved anything
  • Reductions

If you want samples of anything at all, please ask and we’ll get them for you. There are specific companies that we’ve already connected with (and in some cases worked with) as well—please take a look, you might find some interesting stuff.

DON'Ts

We ship boxes over 2–3 days via USPS and boxes are a set size, so the three things to really look out for are perishability, size, and durability. Anything that’s too mushable, too large, or that wouldn’t be able to travel unrefrigerated and then sit in someone’s fridge for at least two weeks would have to be removed from a recipe and replaced with something else. Below are examples:

  • Delicate herbs such as mint or basil (can send oils or extracts instead, samples available)
  • Dairy that needs refrigeration
  • Delicate fruit (berries, grapes, kiwis, etc)
  • Fruit that happens to be large (melons, pineapples, pomelos, etc)
  • Juices that need refrigeration before opening
  • Anything else that would need refrigeration

For inspiration, here are past drinks that’ve been particularly popular:

Slippery Slopes by Sother Teague


Ingredients:
1 1/2 oz amaro
1 1/2 oz cold brew
1 Tbsp Sother's spiced hot cocoa mix
1/4 oz toasted coconut syrup
1 spritz of orange oil

Instructions:
1 Add the first 4 ingredients to a dry mixing glass and stir to dissolve the cocoa mix. Fill the glass with ice and stir until mixing glass feels ice cold (20-40 seconds, depending on ice size).
2 Strain into a rocks glass over fresh cubed ice.
3 Finish by adding a spritz of orange oil to the top of the drink. 

Under Sage Drinking by Russell Davis


Ingredients:
2 oz vodka
1 tbsp cherry preserves
1/4 oz elderflower syrup
1 oz Meyer lemon juice
4 sage leaves

Instructions:
1 Add the vodka, preserves, syrup, Meyer lemon juice, and 2 sage leaves to a shaker. Fill the shaker with ice cubes and shake vigorously until it is ice cold (15–30 seconds).
2 Double strain the shaker’s contents into a rocks glass over fresh cubed ice and place 2 sage leaves on top of the drink.

Red Devil 2.0 by Jules Mavromatis


Ingredients:
1–2 blood orange wedges (1 orange = ~12 wedges)
1 oz ancho-jalapeño agave nectar
2 oz mezcal
1 oz lime juice
5 drops (not dashes) firewater tincture
1 bag chili lime salt

1 Spread 1/4 of the bag of chili lime salt out on a plate. Juice your lime, set the juice aside, and run a squeezed lime rind around 1/2 of the rim of the double rocks glass to wet it. Drag and twist the glass across the plate so that 1/2 of the rim becomes coated in salt.
2 Add 1–2 blood orange wedges (depending how much citrus avor you’d like) and the syrup to a shaker. Muddle for 6 seconds.
3 Add the mezcal, lime juice, and tincture. Fill the shaker with ice cubes and shake vigorously until shaker is ice cold (15–30 seconds).
4 Double strain the shaker’s contents into the salt-rimmed double rocks glass over fresh cubed ice.

The Beat Goes On by Jessica Sanders


Ingredients:
2 oz aged tequila or bourbon
1/2 oz spiced mojo syrup
2 dashes orange bitters
1 dash Hella Bitters Aromatic Cocktail Bitters
1 hand-cut lemon zest and anise star

1 Add all of the liquid ingredients to a dry mixing glass. Fill the glass with ice and use a bar spoon to stir until mixing glass feels ice cold (20-40 seconds, depending on ice size).
2 Strain into a rocks glass over a fresh large ice cube.
3 Gently wring the lemon zest once above the glass to release its citrus oil and place it in the drink, then float a star anise pod on top.

Spice of Life by Elle Maeyaert


Ingredients:
2 oz Irish whiskey
1 oz Elle’s house sour
1 oz chipotle-maple syrup
2 dashes orange bitters
1 chili pepper

Instructions:
1 Add all of the liquid ingredients to a dry mixing glass. Fill the glass with ice and use a bar spoon to stir until mixing glass feels ice cold (20–40 seconds, depending on ice size).
2 Strain into a rocks glass over fresh cubed ice.
3 Place the chili pepper across the rim of the glass. 

Last Guinea Pig in Cuzco by Nathan Dalton


Ingredients:
2 oz pisco
2 oz Nate's Tiki Mix
2 oz green tea (cooled)
1/2 oz grapefruit juice
1/4 oz lemon juice

Instructions:
1 Brew the green tea for 2 minutes at 180°F (not boiling), then cool it down to room temperature.
2 Fill a collins glass with ice and then add all of the ingredients.
3 Place the. smaller tin of a shaker over teh top of the collins glass and shake quickly for 3 seconds (called a speed shake). Remove the. tin and add the stir stick and a straw.


Please fill out our onboarding questionnaire form here


Thanks so much for providing all of this info so that we can collectively promote you and your drink. We're very excited to include your recipe in one of our boxes and thank you for your time and effort! :)