Give the gift of drinking for only $1

A night out drinking with friends can get pretty costly, pretty quickly. You saddle up to the bar. She buys the first round of drinks. You buy the second round of drinks. Somewhere after the fourth or fifth round, you've lost count of whose turn it is to buy drinks. With a little liquid courage, you catch yourself saying "screw it" and now you're buying everyone in your group a round of drinks. If it's happy hour prices, then your generosity wont hurt your wallet too bad. But happy hour only lasts for a couple of hours until the drinks go back to full price.

What if there was a way where you could buy your friends cheap drinks at anytime of the night for prices even cheaper than what you'd pay during happy hour? The new app called Bartab is the self-proclaimed "Home of the $1 drinks" and allows you to buy drinks for yourself and your friends from any mobile device using Facebook, for only $1. That's right. You can buy your real friends, real drinks for only a dollar.

The basic concept behind Bartab is that you pay $1 to send a friend a drink. Your friend then claims the drink at the bar and pays $1 for their drink, plus tip. Please, for the love of God, do not stiff your bartender. This would be as bad as stiffing a bartender at an Open Bar.

Just signing up for the app, you receive a $5 bar tab that allows you to send out five drinks to either your friends or yourself for free. If any of your friends signs up for the app, you instantly receive a $10 bar tab. If you need to add money to your bar tab, just visit the "My Account" tab on the webpage. Bartab accepts Visa or MasterCard.

The app is a win-win for everyone involved. You get to buy cheap drinks for your friends. Your friends get to enjoy drinks on the cheap. The app brings new customers into the bar.

Here is how to app works. You install the free Bartab app from the app store, onto your mobile device. You then log into your Facebook account from the Bartab app. Once you're connected, pick a bar, the drink you want to purchase and choose your lucky Facebook friend. The drink is then sent to your Facebook friend via a posting on their wall and through a text message on their phone, giving them specific instructions on how to claim their drink. Once the drink is sent to the lucky Facebook friend, they then have 90 days to claim their drink. Recipients can claim their drink by showing the bartender their digital drink ticket. Once the drink recipient accepts their digital drink ticket, they have five minutes to claim their drink from the bartender.

You don't have to have an iPhone in order to use this app. Any sort of mobile device will do. There's the iPhone app, the Android app and there's also a mobile website that works with any phone that has an internet browser. If you're super old school, you can always redeem your drinks through SMS (good old text messaging.)

There are currently 14 different markets that contain over 600 bars in the network already. If you live in San Francisco, you can send a drink to your friend who lives in New York. A friend of mine who first introduced me to this app lives down in Los Angeles and was able to send me a drink that I could redeem here in San Francisco.

Please keep in mind that you can only claim one drink per hour and only one drink per bar a day. This app is perfect for bar hopping and pub crawls. Already redeemed your digital drink ticket at the bar? No problem. Wait an hour. Then visit another bar in the network to redeem a digital drink ticket from the next bar.

Also, just in case it wasn't already obvious, because we are buying alcoholic drinks here, you must be at least 21 years of age to buy and redeem drinks using the app.

Download the Bartab app and start being the fancy pants friend who buys the first round of drinks. Chances are, the more friends you have on the network, the more chance they'll buy you a drink right back.

Please drink and redeem your digital drink tickets responsibly. Tip your bartenders generously.

The BaCu Sour @ Coda

The BaCu Sour is a modified version of a drink I concocted sometime last year for a bartender competition. The BaCu Sour is a vodka-based drink that consists of vodka (I prefer to use Stoli), St. Germain, a touch of simple syrup, fresh lemon juice, basil and cucumber with a splash of Hendrick’s gin, served up in a chilled martini glass. The garnish is simply a fresh basil leaf floating on top.

The name of the cocktail gives the drinker clues as to what the cocktail entails. “Ba” stands for basil. “Cu” stands for cucumber. “Sour” is referencing the type of mixed drink family the cocktail belongs to. Read More...

Classic Cocktail: Mint Julep

Bartenders in San Francisco gripe every time there is a warm day here in the city (there are only a handful a year) because they know customers are more than likely to ask for a Mojito. Mojitos are a classic, labor intensive cocktail that requires basic ingredients such as rum, mint, lime juice and soda water and a little elbow grease in the form of muddling the mint within in the drink. In the whole grand scheme of things, the drink isn’t that big of a chore to make. Sure they take a bit longer to make than a mixed drink that only calls for a base spirit and a mixer, but Mojitos are tasty and refreshing, even more so on warm summer days.

The Mint Julep belongs to the same mixed drink family as a Mojito, which is considered the “Smash” mixed drink family. Being a Smash drink just means that fresh mint and other ingredients are muddled together in preparation for the drink.

The Mint Julep is the Mojito’s cousin from the South. Read More...

The Buena Vista @ Coda

Three weeks ago, Coda opened up its doors to San Francisco. Coda is a brand new jazz supper club and lounge that serves dinner and live jazz music, six nights a week, here in the Mission district, in San Francisco.

Disclaimer: I am not only a bartender at Coda, but also the bar manager. I designed a very special cocktail menu for Coda featuring seven different drinks ranging from classic cocktails to creative specialties. In my new “Specialty Cocktail Feature”, I am going to feature each one of the specialty cocktails that can be found on the menu at Coda. I will also be featuring specialty cocktails from other various bars/restaurants here in San Francisco as well, in the near future.

Read More...

Classic Cocktails: Margarita

The Margarita is easily one of the most popular cocktails consumed here in the United States. Margaritas can be enjoyed on the rocks, served up in a martini glass, blended, with a salted rim or no salt at all. There are so many different variations to a Margarita such as a (name your fruit here) Margarita. In it’s basic, classic form, a Margarita is a member of the Sour family. In the Sour family of drinks, these drinks consist of any type of base liquor, lime or lemon juice and a non-alcoholic sweetening agent.

In Gary Regan’s book, “The Joy of Mixology”, Regan introduces a relative to the Sour family, the New Orleans Sour family. Read More...

Coda Specialty Cocktail Menu

Coda Specialty Cocktail Menu


On The Skizz
Jameson, fresh lemon juice, ginger beer, blood orange bitters and pomegranate juice.
$9

Buena Vista
Lime, serrano chilli, pineapple, agave nectar, Leblon cachaca and El Jimador tequila.
$10

Coda Martinez
Anchor Juniper, sweet vermouth, Maraschino liqueur and Angostura bitters.
$13

Cherry Bomb
Skyy vodka, cherries, lime, simple syrup, mint and a float of sparkling wine.
$10

Supper Club Sidecar
Hennessy Cognac, Cointreau, lemon and a sugared rim.
$11

Mint Smash
Bulleit Bourbon, sugar, mint, club soda and crushed ice.
$$11

The Manhattan
(Ri) 1 rye whiskey, sweet vermouth and blood orange bitters.
$10

Classic Cocktail: Moscow Mule

What drink started the vodka craze here in the United States? It was the Moscow Mule. Created in 1941, in Los Angeles, by two men. One man was the owner of a company that produced ginger beer and was also a bar owner. The other one was a Smirnoff vodka executive. Together, Smirnoff and ginger beer along with some fresh lime juice seemed to be the winning combination that turned America on to vodka. So much that Americans switched from drinking mainly gin to drinking mainly vodka. Read More...

The Daiquiri, A Classic Cocktail

When most people think of Daiquiris, they picture warm beaches, vacation and a blender. The Daiquiri is considered a rum version of a classic sour cocktail that traditionally doesn’t require any sort of blending. There are many different versions of how the classic Daiquiri came to be. For example, according to Gary Regan in his book, “The Joy of Mixology”, the Daiquiri was invented in 1898 by a couple of Americans who were working in Cuba after the Spanish-American war who designed to drink to be a cure or a type of medicine to protect themselves against Malaria. Read More...

Ginger Beer=Buck

I have been expanding my horizons lately by working with different types of ingredients to make my cocktails more complex and certainly more delicious. Popular San Francisco booze blogger, Camper English, wrote an excellent article recently for the Chronicle discussing ginger beer, its roots and its recent craze among bartenders in cities such as New York and San Francisco.

Be sure to check out the tasty recipe called Kentucky Buck featuring ginger beer, strawberries, lemon juice, bitters and bourbon formulated by San Francisco's own Erick Castro, beverage director at Rickhouse. Can you say yum?

Ginger beer gives a buck more bang
Written by Camper English

John or Tom Collins?

Ever wonder where the drink Tom Collins got it's name? Ever wonder what the difference between a Tom Collins and a John Collins was? According to "Bartending For Dummies" written by Ray Foley (of Bartender magazine), he states:

"John Collins, a waiter at Lipmmer's Old House on Coduit Street in Hanover Square, England invented this drink. The name Tom was used instead of John because the drink was made with Old Tom Gin. Today, a John Collins is made with whiskey."

So there is a Tom Collins, Vodka Collins and a John Collins which consists of:

1 1/2 oz of gin, vodka or whiskey
(depends on which drink you want to make)
Fill with collins mix

*To make collins mix, you just add equal parts sweet & sour and soda water.
**To make fresh sweet & sour, just add fresh lemon juice and simple syrup (or sugar)

There is a really cool bar here in San Francisco called John Colins located in the SOMA area located off of 2nd Street between Mission and Howard, on Natoma. The place is pretty awesome. Last time I went, a dj was playing really good underground hiphop, my shot of Fernet came to me in a shot glass that was shaped like a boot and the crowd seemed mature and fun.

Apparently this cool little bar is going to have to relocate to another spot in the SOMA, sometime this summer due to the Transbay Terminal project. Read all about the move HERE.

Labor Intensive Cocktail Night

Every now and then, there comes a night behind the bar where it seems like everyone is ordering the same drink. Sometimes it's wine. Sometimes it's beer. Sometimes it's martinis. On nights like tonight when it was warm out and our restaurant was busy, everyone wanted a mojito. If anyone knows how to properly make a mojito, you will know that there is a certain level of care that goes into making these drinks. First, you grab the lime and mint and muddle it in a mixing glass. Then you add rum and sugar, shake it all together and then strain it in a glass filled with ice and then top with soda water.

The mojitos I were making weren't that easy. These were special mojitos that are on our specialty cocktail menu (aka labor intensive cocktails). In addition to adding the mint, we also muddle orange and lemon (minus the lime). Instead of rum, we use vodka and replace regular old simple syrup with brown sugar simple syrup. We call these little beauties Moscow Mojitos. They are pretty good and judging by the hundred or so I made for the restaurant tonight, I'd say that the customers seemed to dig them too.

It's one thing to be busy trying to serve 20 people at your bar, who show up all at once and keep up with the server tickets that come to the bar. It's a whole other game when you have to muddle almost every single drink that goes out.

Luckily, my customers were cool and understanding. Everyone saw just how much work was going into each and every cocktail I made. I got props for working my bootie off and got complimented for my speed. I love that! A customer even tipped me over fifty percent of his bill because he liked my attitude (which remained positive and upbeat even in the hairiest part of the evening).

I have a funny feeling that I am going to have nightmares about making Moscow Mojitos tonight.

It's small price to pay for having a job that you love.

SF Gate Article: Sweetening Agents

Check out this SF Gate article titled, "Spirits: Bartenders find new ways to sweeten the deal"

San Francisco bartenders are getting creative with the sweetening agents used to flavor the drinks they make. How fancy!

Five Drinks That Bartenders Just Hate to Make

Here is a great article I found this morning. As a working bartender, I agree with all of the points made in the article. I despise having to make mojitos and lemondrops when I am really, really busy. People order these drinks when a bar is packed and then they wonder why it takes so long for them to get their drink.

Check out the article here:

SF Gate Article: Five Drinks That Bartenders Just Hate to Make

Beautiful

The first time I made a "Beautiful", I didn't know that there was even a cocktail called a "Beautiful". I learned the hard way. Here is the funny story.

A few years ago, I was bartending in a busy nightclub here in the city. On many of those nights I spent behind this particular bar, I had to deal with guys and sometimes girls trying to come on to me. Most of the time, the come ons were over-the-top cheesy and sometimes downright embarassing (for the suitor).

It's inevitable behind the bar. People LOVE bartenders.

On one of those nights, I saw this tall guy standing in front of my well. He seemed nice enough. Sort of the quiet type. You can never seem to hear the quiet types over the loud music when they try to tell you their drink order. I find myself having to ask them to repeat themselves over and over again before I can hear their drink order correctly.

When the tall, quiet guy stepped up to my bar, I heard him say that I was beautiful. At first I pretended like I didn't hear him. Then he repeated himself, "Beautiful!" I didn't want to be rude so I thanked him and asked him what he would like to drink. But all I kept hearing this guy say was "beautiful" over and over again. Ugh. Not what I wanted to deal with on a busy night. Each time I asked him to repeat his drink order, I kept hearing the same answer, "beautiful." Finally, there must have been a break in the music because tall, quiet guy stepped up closer to the bar and in a louder voice said, "Beautiful. It's a drink. Hennessey and Grand Marnier. In a snifter glass if you have one."

I felt like the biggest asshole. The whole time I thought he was trying to come on to me and really, he was just trying to tell me what he wanted to drink. I apologized to tall, quiet guy repeatedly and even bought the drink for him.

It's because of him that I will never, NEVER forget that a Beautiful is an actual cocktail and not always a compliment directed towards me.

Thanks tall, quiet guy!

Cocktail Recipe: RoxyCoXXX

A couple of months ago, I came up with a cocktail called the "RoxyCoXXX" which was eventually added to the specialty cocktail menu at work. Check the link to see where I got the idea:

Patron Frescas

I did make same changes to the drink such as adding a couple dashes of peach bitters, using a different tequila, fine straining the fruit instead of just straining it and got a little bit more creative and involved in the garnish.

Yummy drink. No wonder why it was one of the best sellers off of the menu. A little bit involved with making the cocktail, but well worth the effort.

PS: Most bartenders borrow and share recipes. Whenever I am out and experience a really special and delicious cocktail, I always, always note the recipe so I can try to recreate the drink later.

What makes a cocktail truly special is when you put your own special twist on it. I always add lots of love to the cocktails I make.

Let's Talk About Martinis

When most people think of martinis, they think of James Bond ordering a vodka martini, shaken, not stirred. What most people don't realize is that a traditional martini is made with gin, not vodka and is stirred, not shaken. With that in mind, let's talk about martinis.

If a person comes into the bar and says they want a martini, I know right off the bat that they either really don't know what they want or have no idea what it is that they are ordering. Well-versed martini drinkers will tell you exactly what they want and how they want it. You wont have to ask. So when I get the customer who just asks for a martini, I have to ask them a series of questions before I can make their drink:

Gin or vodka?
Up or on the rocks?
Shaken or stirred?
Olive or twist?

If a customer orders a Gibson, that just means they want a martini with a cocktail onion instead of an olive or a twist. This was actually a question I was asked during an interview once and I passed with flying colors.

If a customer wants a "dry martini", that just means they want little or no dry vermouth. This is kind of a confusing concept because when you hear "dry", you would think that would mean "dry vermouth", but really it's the opposite. When it comes to dry vermouth, you can always add more to the drink, but once you put it in the drink, you can't take it out. So I always opt for less dry vermouth than more. I will always give a martini glass a dry vermouth wash instead of just adding the vermouth directly into the drink. That way if they want more, I can always add more without having to remake the drink.

If a customer asks for a "strong martini", I want to laugh in their face. Martinis are all alcohol: gin and dry vermouth or vodka and dry vermouth. There are no mixers added to martinis which is why asking for a "strong martini" is ridiculous. If you want it any stronger, then just ask me for a double.

From time to time, a customer may want their martini shaken. The whole idea behind a shaken martini is that the ice is "bruised". That just means the ice is broken up into little pieces of ice from the shaking motion which in turn make the drink colder and dilute the drink.

When a customer orders a "dirty martini", it just means they want olive juice/pickled brine added to their drink. I get more in detail on what olive juice is exactly in a previous blog entry titled, "Busting Bar Myths #2: Olive Juice" so be sure to check it out.

What Kind of Drink Is This?

No joke. I was asked to make this drink last week while working behind the bar:

In a wine glass:
Half a serving of white wine
2 shots of Jim Bean
Triple Sec
Served on the rocks

Did someone take this drink they concocted at an old high school party and try to bring it back to life? Was it a dare? Were they just trying to come up with the foulest thing to drink? Could they possibly have truly enjoyed this creation?

I am beyond puzzled. So was the server. Crazy cocktail concocter customer, you get the WTF award for the night.

Apple Martini = Bitch

Being a bartender, I don't remember people's names the first time they are told to me, but I do remember a person's face and cocktails they order.

Bartenders judge you by the drinks you are ordering. Long Islands? You want to get drunk on the cheap and don't really care about the quality of your drink. Cosmos? You watch way too much Sex in the City. Jack and Coke usually screams frat boy. If you drink Fernet, I know you work somewhere here in the city in the service industry.

When a woman orders an apple martini from me, she always seems to be a broke ass bitch. Yeah I said it: broke ass bitch. This group of cocktail drinkers are bitchy, bossy, high maintenance and don't tip for a damn (if they tip at all). It's like she spent all of her money on the outfit she got at Forever 21 and didn't have any money leftover for her night out so naturally, she would be the first girl who would gladly chat up a random guy in hopes of scoring a free drink from him. Trust me, I see it all night long. I should know because I am the one making the drinks and taking the cash.

I don't know what it is about this cocktail that makes these women so bitchy. Could it be because of the hangover she always get the next morning from her syrupy sweet cocktail? I just know that most of the time when I serve a woman an apple martini, she is nothing but a bitch to me and it makes me want to slap her bitch ass face.

I am always open to meet someone who defies my drink stereotypes, but I have yet to meet any nice and considerate apple martini drinkers out there. Any bitches up for the challenge?

On the other hand, if a girl is drinking shots of Jack at my bar, she gets the big, double thumbs up from me. Over the years, I have met some of my best girlfriends through a bottle of Jack. Those girls are usually hardcore and always cool by me.