Technology Changes Everything!

GPS navigation systems are to cabbies as cellphones are to people. How did one ever function without the other before? With cellphones, people no longer have to memorize phone numbers. With GPS navigation systems, cabbies no longer need to know their way around the city by heart.

Call me old fashioned. Call me old school, but I think technology takes the spark out of things. It kind of bums me out sometimes.

The 86 Rules of Boozing

I literally stumbled upon Modern Drunkard Magazine this morning and found a hilarious article titled, "The 86 Rules of Boozing." I read through all 86 rules and they ALL ring true. For example, "Number 15: If you offer to buy a woman a drink and she accepts, she still might not like you." This is very true fellas! "Number 28: If you can't afford to tip, you can't afford to drink in a bar. Go to the liquor store." Amen! You know how many customers I wish I could tell this rule to? Check out this awesome article and many more equally entertaining articles at Drunkard.com

I Just Want To Know.....

Why do some people put ice in their glass of Chardonnay? Why? It just doesn't make any sense to me. And I'm not talking about wine spritzers or wine coolers. I am talking about glasses of chilled Chardonnay, straight from the bottle, in a wine glass with nothing added to it Can anyone explain this?

Who's Next?

If you ever find yourself working behind a bar full of people waiting for drinks, how do you know who to help first? If you scream out to the crowd "Who's next?", I guarantee you that everyone who is waiting will yell that they are. Chaos will ensue.

Last Halloween, we had one of these nights behind the bar. One minute there were only a couple of people at the bar having drinks. The next thing I knew, the whole bar was packed and people were desperately trying to get my attention so I could help them next. It's situations like these where you as the bartender need to be organized and create a system and/or some sort of flow for yourself. If you start helping people at random, the people waiting on the other side of the bar are going to get antsy while waiting for their turn.

On this particular night, I just started with the person standing directly in front of my well and took multiple orders with the people waiting to the right of that person. I went all the way down the bar until I got to the very end of the bar or reached the next bartender's well. Then I came back and started helping the next person who was standing in front of my well again. After going down the line in this fashion a couple of times, the crowd caught on that I was organized and helping people standing along the bar in a orderly fashion. It was amazing. Once people saw how organized I was, they were a whole lot more patient and even complimented me on my speed and my ability to handle such an overwhelming crowd. The tips kept getting bigger too.

Every now and then someone would slip through the cracks and "cut in line". Hey, I am just the bartender. I'm not a line monitor. Usually when someone would cut ahead, people who had been waiting on the other side of the bar would quickly regulate that person. The line cutter would always be outnumbered and either wait their turn or fade back into the crowd. I never had to get involved which left me more time to make more drinks.

Think of this concept like eating corn on the cobb. You go down the cobb in a line then as soon as you reach the end, you come all the way back and start a new line. Staying relaxed, calm and organized behind the bar are key on super busy nights. Your customers and your tip jar will love you for it.

Bartender Training

Training in the bartending world is like no other in any other industry. When you train at a new bar, as a bartender, you get paid your hourly wage, but you don't receive any piece of the tipping pie. New bartenders can train anywhere from one shift, up to four. It's just the small price bartenders pay for receiving shifts at a new bar. It's an industry standard. Anyone who works in the industry knows how training as a new bartender works.

If you work at a restaurant, training shifts might entitle you to free employee meals. I say might. So ask first before you assume that you will be eating for free.

Once you know how to bartend, you know how to bartend. So what's up with the training shifts for bartenders? When a bartender trains a new hire, they have to take time away from their normally scheduled program of making drinks for their bar customers and servers. They have to show the new bartender how to set up the bar and close it down, how to properly make the drinks that are served (especially with specialty cocktails if there are any), paperwork/cash drawer closing procedures, show them where things are located behind the bar and in the storage room, how to use the POS system or cash drawer, etc. The new bartender is basically shadowing the old bartender until they get the hang of how things operate behind that bar.

Tonight is my last offical training shift at my new place. Yay! I am so excited. I am a little nervous because the bar is so small and the way things are done behind the bar have to be done in a certain way or else there is NO flow. I have been making all the drinks myself up until this point and doing most of the opening and closing procedures. The only night I shadowed the current bartender was my first night of training.

Everyone gets nervous working at a new place. Even a bartending veteran like me, believe it or not. This Sunday will be my first real night on my own behind the bar. I am really looking forward to my share of the tipping pie. You can't live on a bartender's hourly wage alone here in San Francisco!!!

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.

A Shitty Shift

I broke two glasses in my well. I shattered a martini glass with my hand and ripped open one of my fingers. I ran out of glassware. I ran out of change. And this was all within the first hour of clocking in for my shift on a Saturday night.

Sometimes it doesn't matter many years of experience you have behind the bar, shitty nights happen to everyone.