Bartender HQ Podcast : Bar Culture, Cocktails and Flair Bartending for Everyone.

This week on the podcast Brian Weber from Bartender Journey podcast!

Brian Weber’s top tips for surviving Tales of the Cocktail:

1: FOMO – Avoid Fear of Missing Out

There is too much at Tales of the Cocktail for anyone to see it all, so plan ahead and make sure you hit the events you need, and make use of phone alarms to avoid losing track of time!

2: Talk to people, make friends and stay in touch

Bartenders make friends for a living – Make sure you have plenty of business cards! – Our tip – take a picture on your phone of the person with their card so you keep the face in mind too!

3: Notes and backing up

Even if you’re not at Tales to create content, make use of things like DropBox to keep anything you record safe, whether its your photos, notes, videos, whatever! You’ll be tasting a lot and you won’t remember everything without notes

4: Tip Early and Often

Make sure the staff you’ll see often know you’ll take care of them so they take care of you during your stay. – Pro tip – Ship things you need direct to the hotel rather than carrying them yourself.

5: Getting around

Use Uber – No need for cash, fair fares and a way to see where you’ve been the next day if things get messy! Save your destinations in your phone so you know where you’re heading.

6: Set Phone alarms for waking up as well as 15 mins before events so you don’t miss a thing!

7: Don’t forget to eat

You’ll quickly flag if you’re not properly nourished – so schedule eating into your day!

8: Get enough sleep

Nothing worse than falling asleep in the best event of the weekend so make sure you rest so you can play hard too.

Bonus tip – How to deal with flirty drunk girls with giant boyfriends

We talk briefly about cask conditioned beers and touch on flair – want to hear us talk more about that? Let us know on Twitter at @BarKeepTips and @BartenderHQ

We’re back (again)!

In this audio podcast we’ll just cover what I’ve been doing the past few months getting settled in my new position with Bitters’n’Twisted bars, where I’m working as the Drinks Development Manager across 10 venues and managing 8 beverage programs, so you’ll understand why its been pretty busy!

So sit back, relax, and if you’re glad we’re back, pop over to the Facebook Page and let me know, and tell me what you want to hear about over the coming weeks.

Thanks so much for your support,

David

I just wanted to give everyone a quick update on why there’s been a bit of quiet time here at BartenderHQ, I’ve taken on a new job here in Birmingham and at least during the settling in period everything has been pretty crazy.

Listen in to this week’s mini podcast update for a bit of information on what I’m up to, how the Roadhouse audition went and a bit of a behind the scenes view of what goes on here at BartenderHQ, recorded quietly at 0130am!

Normal service will be resumed shortly!

On this weeks show we talk about how not to apply for a bartender job online, as well as the headlines from the world of spirits, cocktails and bartending. Also our drink of the week and why you should never ask who’s next.

Bar Industry News Headlines

* Roadhouse World Flair is auditioning new MCs for 2017 this Sunday in Covent Garden and I’ll be one of the hopefuls, so feel free to come down and support. http://www.roadhouse.co.uk

* Imbibe’s 2016 conference at London Olympia is just around the corner and you can sign up free if you’re in the industry to see all the biggest, and smallest brands out there. http://live.imbibe.com

* Hollywood Star Channing Tatum is launching his own brand of potato based vodka later this year, named Born & Bred, its produced at the award winning Grand Teton Distillery. http://bornandbred.com

How to apply for a bartender job online

In this age of social media its unsurprising that many bartender jobs are now being advertised online, and it doesn’t stop there. Even bar managers, general managers and anyone else in the industry may well find their next job on Facebook, LinkedIn or one of the other networks. We’ll tell you the very worst way to go about applying for one of these jobs with real world examples and help you avoid those mistakes. We discussed the same topic on the blog earlier this year, and you can find the article here.

If you want to know as soon as our new ebook on getting your dream bartending job is launched, click here to sign up (and get our cocktail ebook FREE)

Ready Fire Aim Cocktail: Our Drink of the Week

In celebration of the opening of Employees Only Singapore, we’re sharing the Ready Fire Aim, (includes a video of Steve mixing it) one of Steve Schneider’s signature drinks from the original New York bar.

Ready Fire Aim Cocktail Recipe:

* 1¾oz (52.5ml) Mezcal

* 1oz (30ml) Pineapple Honey Syrup

* ¾oz (22.5ml) Fresh Pineapple Juice

* ½oz (15ml) Lime Juice

* 3 Dashes Hellfire Bitters

Shake and strain all ingredients into a chilled coupe or cocktail glass, garnish with ground pink peppercorns.

Quick Tips

We’re talking about how to keep on top of your service order and how to deal with those moments when you have no idea who’s next – just NEVER ASK THE GUESTS!

On this week’s BartenderHQ Podcast we’ll be covering the headlines in the world of bars, drinks and cocktails, talking about how to perfectly balance cocktails, our drink of the week and how to make drinks faster, so lets get on with the show!

Bar Industry News

* Tragic news of the Orlando Pulse Nightclub shooting. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-36514786

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Diageo is aiming to revolutionise the fruit cider category with Raspberry & Pomegranate and Passionfruit & Lime Smirnoff branded ciders http://www.thespiritsbusiness.com/2016/06/smirnoff-moves-into-vodka-based-fruit-cider/

*

Saturday 11th June saw the 8th annual World Gin Day. http://www.thespiritsbusiness.com/2016/06/top-international-world-gin-day-events/

How to perfectly balance cocktails, and which versions of recipes you should learn

Thanks to listener Geena for our main topic this week – with multiple versions of any given cocktail recipe available to find in different books and sources online, does it come down to bartender preference as to which version you should learn and make for your guests? Also, with different guests having different tastes, how sweet, sour or dry should drinks taste? What is the best way to deal with different tastes for sweetness.

Listen in to the podcast for my thoughts, and below you’ll find the resources for recipes that I personally use (other than the brand’s own approved recipes).

* International Bartenders Association (Check out the IBA Cocktails section on the right hand side) http://iba-world.com/

* The Difford’s Guide to Cocktails – Available in print, online and App stores. http://www.diffordsguide.com/cocktails

If you’re having problems with keeping your drinks committed to memory, check out our ebook on how I was able to memorise over 600 drinks here: http://bartenderhq.com/memorising-cocktails-the-easy-way/

Our Drink of the Week – Hibiscus Gin Fizz

Our Saturday was spent over at the National Space Centre mixing up a storm for World Gin Day with Loca Bev’s Minus 33 Juniper Distilled Spirit making Gin & Tonics (ok, Minus 33 isn’t quite Gin, but lets just get past that for simplicity, ok?) with muddled lemon pieces to give it a real sharp citrus flavour, along with our Hibiscus Gin Fizz. As anyone who’s worked events on temporary bars, or in fact, tables in space centres for example, sometimes you need to change your recipes to suit what you have. For example, without fridges, your bottled sparkling water will be warm, and when you’re making carbonated straight up drinks, you can’t shake them.

We took a huge conical flask that was a part of our set dressing for the lab inspired drink, filled it with ice, dried hibiscus and our sparkling water so it was nicely chilled, and added some really nice colour to the drink too, while adding theatre to making the drink. So what’s in it?

* 25ml Minus 33 Juniper Distilled Spirit

* 5ml Honey

* 20ml Lemon Juice

* 75ml Hibiscus infused sparkling water

With a couple of floating hibiscus petals and an orange twist on the edge of the flute, the drink looked fantastic, selling over 100 during the evening.

Tip of the Week – Optimise your bar set up

So here it is, the first New BartenderHQ Podcast!

Bar Industry News Headlines

London Fox e-cigarettes are planning to launch smokable cocktails – flavours designed to pair perfectly with classic drinks. http://www.thespiritsbusiness.com/2016/06/new-e-cigarette-brand-offers-smokable-cocktails/?platform=hootsuite

Jameson is set to capitalise on the current trend for Irish Whiskey with a range of super premium expressions named “Blender’s Dog”, “Cooper’s Croze” and “Distiller’s Safe”  http://www.thespiritsbusiness.com/2016/06/jameson-unveils-new-range-within-revamped-portfolio/?platform=hootsuite

4/5 Millennials have a preferred brand of whisky according to a study by the Havas Media Group and Evolve Media with almost a third buying premium to impress their peer group. http://www.thespiritsbusiness.com/2016/06/millennials-are-show-offs-when-buying-spirits/?platform=hootsuite

The Main Event: The New Look BartenderHQ Podcast

The All NEW BartenderHQ Podcast – Why we’re going back to audio only podcasting, and a little more about our new format.

As a result you’ll be seeing more short videos and flair tutorials on the Youtube channel. On the podcasts we’re getting back to our roots and focusing on the news and discussion, so please help us out by telling us what you want to know more about.

Drink of the Week

Each week we’ll be featuring a different drink from the website that week, this week it’s the Tommy’s Margarita – check out the recipe on BartenderHQ here.

Quick Tips

Every week we’ll be giving you an actionable point that you can put to work in your bar right away to improve service, get further in your career and more. This week we’re talking about creating personal connections with your guests through drinks recommendations.

Get Involved in the BartenderHQ Podcast

This podcast is nothing without you, so please get involved. If you have one question about bars, drinks, spirits or cocktails, please tweet us @BartenderHQ and we’ll make sure its addressed in an upcoming show.

I love me some comic book TV and movie action, and I know you guys do too. So what better than talking about our favourite superheroes while sipping some great cocktails?

We’ve created Booze & Bazinga as a separate site from BartenderHQ as it gets all of our ramblings about trailers, movie reviews and all that good stuff too, but on the weekly(ish) video podcast we’ll be including a lot of talk about cocktails and making something excellent to drink while we chat.

Joining me on each week’s show is Samuel Boulton, an extremely knowledgeable bartender (who makes far better drinks than I do) and a man who makes it to more midnight launch screenings for movies than anyone else I know. He’ll be making cocktails with things even I’ve never heard of I’m sure.

So sit back, grab a cocktail and join us as we talk through the past years of Superhero movies and catch up ready for what we have to come!

Find Samuel online at http://LiquidThoughts.co.uk

When you think of Russia, what drink comes to mind? Vodka, I’ll bet, but what if I told you that back in the days of Chekhov, Ivan the Terrible and Dostoevsky had never heard of the stuff, what would you say? Polugar is the grand daddy of Vodka, and in this episode we’re getting into the guts of what Polugar is and why you should try it.

Polugar

On the show we’re tasting Polugar:

* Wheat

* Barley

* Rye

* Single Malt Rye

* No1 Wheat & Rye

* No2 Garlic & Pepper

* No3 Carraway

* No4 Honey & Allspice

You can find the full tasting notes here http://www.rusvin.ru/media/Polugar.pdf

Rollercoaster Restaurant

Last week I visited Alton Towers and ate at the brand new Rollercoaster Restaurant where your food is delivered by a miniature rollercoaster system that brings your food and drinks directly to the table.

Check out our full review here.

Booze and Bazinga

Booze and Bazinga is my new weekly show where we take a look into the world of comics and geek culture with Samuel Boulton and myself. Geeks drinking damn fine cocktails is the tag line and that sums it up nicely! Check out the site for our movie reviews, geeky tv news and trailers too!

Booze and Bazinga

On this show we talk Monkey Shoulder’s Ultimate Bartender Championship and the value of preparation.

Monkey Shoulder Ultimate Bartender Championship

In years gone by, this has been a team competition, but for 2016 bartenders are doing it for themselves and competing to make the top 5 for a trip to Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans to compete to win their own fully stocked bar at London Cocktail Week along with all the profits.

Check out all the details inside and start prepping for next year!

Polugar Masterclass & Competition

I’ll be heading to Nottingham this Sunday (today when the podcast is released) to enjoy Samuel Boulton educating the masses about Polugar, a forerunner of the Vodka we know today, then helping judge a cocktail competition using their range. Check out the details on next week’s show.

Be At One Birmingham opens

Birmingham’s newest opening, the 30th Be At One venue nicely ties up with the brand’s 18th Birthday, which means their bars can finally order their own drinks at the bar. Check out our opening review here.

Podcasting as a Bartender

We were honoured to be featured by Nightclub.com on their 7 best hospitality podcasts list last month, so we’re talking about how you can join the growing community of industry podcasts to share your experiences. Check out Pat Flynn’s SmartPassiveIncome.com and Ozeal’s at thinkozeal.com.

Memorising Cocktails the Easy Way

Want to support the show? We don’t just ask for a tip, here’s a cool book that’ll help you recall drinks faster and make more tips. So basically you get richer by buying it. What’s not to love? http://bartenderhq.com/memorising-cocktails-the-easy-way/

Mixology competitions are a great way to build your profile in the bar industry and after many years of bartending I’ve entered my first! Find out more on this week’s BartenderHQ show!

Entering Mixology Competitions

So why are mixology competitions so good for getting your name known? Simply because these competitions will often have the brand managers for the products there as well as bartenders from other great bars in your area, so they are a great place to network.

In terms of the format, in most cases the brands will ask for drinks to be submitted online first either on a website or via email to the brand. Make sure you read the rules first as many mixology competitions will place restrictions on how many ingredients can be used or include guidance on home made items. The point of these competitions is normally to build brand awareness or find new ways of serving the drinks that can be rolled out to bars so make sure you pay attention to the rules or you may be disqualified.

How to Win Mixology Competitions

As I mentioned, this was my first in person competition, so I wasn’t expecting to win, but knowing a little of what the judges were looking for was super useful.

Our friends over at A Bar Above have a great eBook on exactly this subject which you can grab for free!

Here are my top 5 tips though, just to get you started!

* Make your drink! So many people just come up with a recipe without trying it first and make horribly unbalanced drinks without knowing.

* Avoid home made ingredients. While they give you far more freedom, if the brand wants to have the winning drinks rolled out to other bars, your home-made unicorn tear bitters may make that tricky.

* Check out the brand portfolio. Check which other products the same distributor represents and try to use their products, i.e. if you need a Gin, make sure its theirs, and they’ll want to share your recipe even more.

* Take a nice picture of your drink. If you’re doing an online or email submission, taking a nice picture of your drink and including them with your entry will prove that you’ve made the effort and tested your drink before sending it off.

* Share Share Share. I can’t believe how secretive some bartenders are of their recipes – perhaps they’re worried someone will take their ideas. Brands want publicity, so share what you’ve created for them and they’ll love you even more.

Taking it to the next level

If you want to seriously destroy the competition at these events, you NEED A Bar Above’s cocktail design course. Now it does cost $60 but thats less than you’ll spend in an evening at the bar drinking a hand  full of cocktails and the amount of information in here is INSANE! I’m still working my way through, getting my mixology game to where it needs to be, so join me in the course and keep up 😉 Even better, by signing up through my link you’ll also be helping to support BartenderHQ and keep us going!

Next Week…

On next week’s show we’ll be talking about another bartending competition, the Monkey Shoulder Ultimate Bartender Championship – so hit Subscribe on the Youtube channel so you don’t miss it!