FAQ
Any questions please feel free to email us at hello@barspoon.co.uk, but here are some of the most common concerns our customers have asked:
1. How long do your cocktails last?
If they're spirit forward (eg Martini, Negroni or Manhattan), they'll last at least a year (probably a lot longer) when stored in a cool, dark place.
If they contain juice then to we can only guarantee two weeks of freshness if kept in the fridge. That said, alcohol and sugar are natural preservatives, but 'best before' dates have to be pessimistic.
2. Are you using fresh juice?
Nearly!
Using pure fresh squeezed citrus juice has three main issues:
- Shelf life - freshly squeezed juice only stays fresh for a day (if you're lucky), and won't be fresh by the time it's delivered.
- Wasteful - spent citrus is our primary source of waste. Bottles and packaging is recycled and we are extremely conscientious about sustainability.
- Costly - although not our primary motivation, pure fresh juice uses 8x more fruit.
So what are the options?
a. Acid Mix
Most other sour cocktails use citric and/or malic acid granules mixed with water. This lasts at least a year, but in our opinion the mouthfeel and flavour are severely compromised. If you find a can of popular fizzy lime & lemonade, take the sugar and fizz out that's what it's like versus real lemon juice - it's just not up to our quality standards. Brands like Supasawa are also just acid mixes like this.
b. Acid-adjusted juice
We use a technique somewhere in between fresh juice and pure acid mix called Super Juice. It's also known as 'acid-adjusted juice'. This is a method that:
- Whole fruit - Super Juice uses all the peel as well as the juice itself from the fruit, leaving only the pith as waste
- 8x more yield - Massively reducing our primary source of waste as we are very conscientious about sustainability
- Same texture & flavour - it tastes just like real juice without the bits.
- Natural - Citrus contains many types of acid. Citric acid is extracted from lemons. Malic acid comes from apples. Ascorbic acid is Vitamin C. And Succinic acid is what we don't want - that's the oxidising agent that makes fresh juice go off so fast.
- Lasts longer - Alone, in the fridge, Super Juice lasts 2 weeks. In a cocktail with alcohol and sugar - both natural preservatives - it should last longer, but we can only guarantee it for two weeks.
If you want to know more and how to make Super Juice, watch this video. It's no secret and a really fabulous technique we recommend to anyone making a lot of cocktails both at home and in the trade.
3. When should I order so I can have it for this specific date?
Simply let us know!
There's a comment section in the order form or you can drop us an email anytime at hello@barspoon.co.uk when you want it. We can deliver the next day with DPD or with Royal Mail 2nd class as required.
4. Will my delivery be affected by the postal strikes?
Whenever there is any strike action, we automatically suspend all use of Royal Mail and use DPD. We have to increase P&P by £1 to cover this.
5. When do you deliver?
We fulfil all orders next business day, or whenever you say you want us to deliver. Email us at hello@barspoon.co.uk with any questions.
6. Special requests?
As long as we can source the ingredients, we can make basically any cocktail.
Subject to a Minimum Order Quantity, we can also call on suppliers for any rectification, aging and even create bespoke spirits for you as well.
Feel free to chat with us at hello@barspoon.co.uk and we're more than happy to work with you.