Any good cocktail bar will use speed pourers (also known as: free pourers, stainless steel taperedpourers, or tapors).

They are an essential peice of equipment, but have 2 main drawbacks:

1) Bar flies (also known as, fruit flies) will get into the bottle, contaminating the product (ie, Syrup or Spirit)

Image: Bar flies find their way into the bottles via the 2 pourer holes (breather and main gate).


2) ABV will reduce. The alcohol will evaporate out the open hole in the pourer.

Image: Drinks unknowingly served with low ABV


Bar Flies:
Bar flies, (also called fruit flies) have red eyes and measure about 5mm, including their wings.
They lay eggs (larvae) which can survive best in a sweet, decaying or fermenting organic matter that is moist, (such as cocktail liqueurs).
They also breed in drains, sewers and toilets. They are carriers of disease, making them a major health hazard.   
Images:

Fruit Fly magnified. NB. Each adult female will lay around 500 eggs each time.
Fly larvae (or worms) as laid inside a cocktail syrup on back bar.
Bar Fly watching TV.


Cheap easy solution:
PourEx Caps are custom made food safe plastic caps, moulded to fit all standard pourers, the cover the entire pourer (closing both the pourer's holes). The patented design prevents ABV evaporation and stops fruit flies.
     

Already using climgfilm?
If you use climgfilm, that is not good enough, as ABV will still reduce. Clingfilm does not stop the alcohol from evaporating.

If you dont bother covering the pourers:
1. As there is no lid on the bottle, alcohol evaporation will occur, thereby reducing the ABV content. The product will deteriorate rapidly. This goes against UK Trading Standards law. More:
ABV evaporation problems, brightly lit back bars and related free pourer issues
ABV evaporation problems, washing pourers, water problems
ABV evaporation due to the back bar bottles being heated by the bar lighting, thereby accelerating the alcohol evaporation
2. Insects WILL find their way into the bottles and lay eggs. (Ants and bar flies).

3. You could be prosecuted for product contamination.

FINES: You could be next:
A large UK leisure company (they own one of the UK's largest bar and club chains) has recently been dealt numerous fines of up to £70,000 each for selling 'poor quality spirits'. By leaving their pourers uncovered, inspectors found product contamination (fruit fly) and ABV evaporation had occurred.

Question: I remove my pourers every night and wash them, is that ok?
Answer: Only if the pourers are properly dried before being inserted back in the bottles. Bars are failing ABV tests due to WATER CONTAMINATION. Inspectors have found significant water deposits in spirits and dealt massive fines. The water was found to be coming from water collected in the free pourers (when washed in the sink or glasswasher). To the inspectors, it looked like the licensees were watering down their products.
In tests, we found pourers can hold up to 10ml of water, which drips into the spirit once placed back in the bottle. Bars that wash their pourers every night (and do not dry them FULLY) were adding a large amount of water over time. This was more apparent on premium spirits like Kettle One or Grey Goose, that would sit on the back bar for longer periods of time (in comparison to a Bacardi bottle for example).

Question: How do I fully dry my pourers?
Answer: Pourers can hold water in the stainless steel neck, breather tube, collar and rubber polycork. It is difficult to fully dry them. It is best to fully disassemble each pourer (ie. remove the poly cork from the stainless steel pourer part), dry them separately using a towel, then tap the pourer tube until all drips of water are out.

Question: I have 400 pourers in my bar. Washing and drying each pourertoo bigger task. How can I avoid product contamination from water, flies and ABV evaporation?
Answer:

LBK's (London Bar & Kitchen's ) patented PourEx Caps solve the problem easily and cheaply.

Nb: Free samples are available on our main site.