It’s Tuesday morning. On your drive to today’s “office,” you entertain yourself by listening to an audio book on Spotify. You’re interested in listening to something focused and soothing, something to ease you into a day that will be filled with high energy, high collaboration, and high temperatures.
It’s the beginning of Spring, and the thermometers outside will top out above 60 degrees for the first time this year. You’re a little concerned because the air conditioner at your “office” has been a little unreliable lately. Even though it’s early in the year, it can get a little warm inside your “office” during business hours. You’re hoping that this early in the day, this early in the year, it won’t be a serious problem.
As you slowly roll into the public lot behind your building to park, you marvel at its emptiness. You’re the first to arrive. As you key in and open the back door, a rush of steamy air strikes you in the face. The air conditioner is at it again.
As is common amongst professionals in your field, you immediately think of your soon-to-arrive coworkers, and head straight for the front door to crack the transom window above to cool off the room. You want everyone to be comfortable because today is going to be special.
Today, you and several of your colleagues are truly “meeting.” In-person gatherings like today’s are rare: they only occur four times each year. Every one of these meetings is extraordinary, loaded with mystery, surprises, learning, and delight.
What is this “office?” What is this “meeting?” You’re at Manatawny Still Works Ardmore, about to join Manatawny’s tasting room managers as they share their cocktail research and development for the upcoming seasonal menu.
Or, as you know it at Manatawny: R&D.
-
Each season, our Director of Business Operations Jennifer Sabatino assembles her team of tasting room managers for R&D to review the past season’s cocktail menu, consider its strengths and weaknesses, revisit seasonal ingredients, and entertain ideas for new cocktails.
Throughout the meeting, attendees take turns presenting cocktails to each other to taste, describing the thinking behind their bespoke creations. Cocktails are explained as they are carefully built, shaken or stirred, and poured. These test cocktails are passed around for consideration by the group, often with straws for micro-tasting.
To one of the presenting tasting room managers, the day’s proceedings can feel like a prom for their creations—its own cocktail of anticipation, apprehension, pride, joy, and occasional disappointment.
Previously unshared experiments with seasonal fruits, herbs, and botanicals step into the light. Bright citrus notes, delicate florals, and touches of spice mingle. Pineapple dances with sage. Lemon has a refreshing conversation with peat. Sweet balances bitter, and strong balances long.
R&D is full of romance, but it’s also full of intrigue. It’s where a spicy rim on a glass might outclass a sugary one. It’s where you can’t understand how so much blueberry flavor simply disappears in a cocktail. It’s where muddled grapes manage to outmuscle sweet vermouth.
During these expositions, tasters are encouraged to share their reactions freely. This democratic approach means that each cocktail—and its creator—is subject to the same critique one might expect in a creative writing or art seminar.
Feedback for each cocktail ranges from polite rejection to wholehearted congratulations; the discourse is frank yet respectful. Every manager knows they too must face the “firing squad.” In turn, each is willing to balance advocacy with acceptance in the pursuit of objective improvement.
Suggestions are frequently put into immediate use: brainstorming leads to on-the-spot adjustments and retasting. Instincts are followed; instincts are abandoned. Sometimes sure things stumble and lose while throwaways evolve and win.
Maybe thyme replaces sage to align more with seasonal flavors. Maybe a little salt joins the mix to boost acidic fruit flavors. Maybe lemon juice halves while grapefruit juice doubles.
Throughout, the team aims to discover the best version of each cocktail. By the end of the day, the team will settle on a handful of winning approaches, having identified the cocktails that will appear on the next season’s menu.
At R&D, every manager watches their creations thrive or wither in the arena of their colleagues’ criticism. It is taxing on one’s emotions, intellect, and constitution. But most leave with fond memories—and as part of a stronger management team.
R&D is often frenetic and unpredictable. However, it consistently yields innovative cocktails that serve up entire seasons in a glass. It’s a big reason cocktails at Manatawny are at once fresh, nuanced, and comforting without breaking the budget.
-
If you’d like to hear more about Manatawny’s approach to R&D, stop into one of our tasting rooms and ask your bartender—in many cases, they’ll also be one of the very managers who have designed the cocktails you’re drinking.
Who knows—you might be able to convince them to share what they’re working on for our next R&D session!
