Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Finding Creative Solutions Around Strict Liquor Licenses





Bar owners are used to jumping through a number of regulations and rules that vary from county to county for their liquor license. The cost to acquire a liquor license can be costly, especially when there are specific population-based quotas to meet. For example, to get a liquor license in New Jersey, which has a population-based quota and is among the most expensive states, can top well over $2.3 million. In fact, that's exactly the number The Cheesecake Factory Mall paid in Short Hills.

There is definitely a disparity on liquor license costs that vary from county to county, because the demand of the licenses in each county is always different. Although these prices are specific to Florida itself, it does bare repeating. In Monroe County a license can go for around $550,000, but in Polk County, FL it can cost less than 50 grand.

As the market becomes more difficult to acquire a license, entrepreneurs start to get creative and find unusual loop holes or a work around from the very restrictive local laws. In Florida, the law greatly limits full-service liquor licenses, but beer and wine licenses are much less expensive and the restrictions are less - which makes it easier to obtain. What has become really costly for bar and restaurant owners is trying to obtain a hard liquor license. Not having one means that common drinkers are put-off when they can't have a whiskey on the rocks or a Mojito.

However, the owners at Chillbar, located in Hollywood, Florida, have gotten extremely creative while still being in compliance with their beer and wine license. Their cocktail menu has an extensive drink collection that includes rum, tequila, vodka, and more. But how do they do it? Easily, they mimic the taste through the use of Premium Blend, a brand that provides hard liquor and cordial substitutes that will not violate your wine license. Elizabeth Becker, the co-owner of Chillbar, said the decision to include Premium Blend in their cocktail menu was a no-brainer and most people can not tell the difference between the formula and the real thing.

The imitation-liquor market is tiny, but other competitors to Premium Blend have slowly been coming in and they mostly cater to small mom and pop-like businesses who still aren't able to afford a full-liquor license to their restaurant just yet. Premium Blend was founded by two brothers a little over 26 years ago and they have a very extensive catalog of imitation liquors for any bar or business owner to choose from. If you're starting out and unable to afford a full license for your bar, then consider using an imitation-liquor that's been wine-licensed approve to get around the costs.

By the way,  feel free to contact us for more information on how we can help you obtain a liquor license or beer and wine license in Florida! We're happy to help!

Liquor License FL
1-866-470-8881 Office

Info@LiquorLicenseFL.com

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