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

A brief overview of our trip to Employees Only NYC, Suffolk Arms, Carnaval Court with Tim Flippy Morris and much more!

On this week’s Podcast:

Apologies for the delay – with Weddings, Honeymoon and getting back to work its all been pretty crazy!

Here’s an overview of what we got up to, Employees Only with Steve Schneider, Suffolk Arms, Baker Street (the original Friday’s on 63rd & 1st), PDT and more in New York and Harrah’s Carnaval Court with Tim ‘Flippy’ Morris and company, Fuel Bar with Rodo Delpech, Penn & Teller, Piff the Magic Dragon and Mac King (indulging my magic passions too).

So sit back, relax and take it all in. If there’s anything you’re interested in hearing more about (or guests you want to see on the show) let me know and we’ll talk more in future shows!

BartenderHQ Shirts

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An update on what’s going on with the Central Flair Series Bartending competition both online and where we’ll be holding the events in future, Luna Nightclub in Solihull!

I also talk about how we’ve been updating the bars at Luna to make them more efficient and easier to work for the team. More to come too on next week’s podcast

Check out Luna on Facebook and follow for the latest on the Central Flair Series.

The BartenderHQ Podcast has been quiet for a couple of weeks – so here’s what’s been going on!

Reflex Arcadian, the home of the Central Flair Series has now closed down which was both my and my fiancee’s place of work, so everything has been pretty stressful and up in the air over the past couple of weeks, but I’m now in a new club not too far away, so look for things to improve with the podcast over the next couple of weeks.

The full details are in the show, but if you have any suggestions for what you’d like to see from BartenderHQ in future, let us know over on the Facebook Page and we’ll do what we can to taylor the show to what you guys need!

On this week’s show we look at the similarities between different cocktail recipes and how you can commit literally HUNDREDS of Drinks to memory easily with my technique. Learning cocktails will make you more money!

One of the hardest things I found early on about bartending was learning cocktails and be able to recall them under pressure at a moments notice. Over the years I learnt many techniques that helped to retain different drinks, from reducing the vast majority of drinks down to a short formula to using the PEG system, mnemonics and visualisation to allow me to remember over 600 cocktail recipes when competing in the TGI Friday’s Bartender Challenge competition.

These techniques will also earn you huge tips, not only because you won’t be stopping your service to look up drinks recipes, but you’ll be able to remember and recall the names of anyone you meet including guests after meeting them just once! Imagine blowing your guests minds with that the first time they meet you!

Sipsmith Gin Masterclass

We also touch on the fantastic Sipsmith Gin tasting session held at Birmingham’s Jekyll & Hyde bar last Monday and some of the information we were privileged to learn in the company of spirit and drinks historian Jared Brown. Find out more in our dedicated Sipsmith article here.

Want the Learning Cocktail SUPERPOWERS?

Those little tasters enough to make you hungry for some hardcore drinks memorisation? Then look no further, I’ve distilled all the best techniques and tips down into my eBook, Memorising Cocktails The Easy Way, so you’ll cut out all of the failed attempts and bad ideas, because I’ve already done all the hard work for you! Click below to find out all the details!

Memorising Cocktails The Easy Way

Rory Crawford spent four years in San Francisco working in technology banking and investing at J.P. Morgan and General Atlantic before co-founding BevSpot.com, designed for making your bar more profitable.

BevSpot gives you insights about what’s behind your bar, saving you time and money, streamlining your ordering, keeping track of offers and discounts, speeding up your stocktaking and inventory by inputting directly to the cloud and tracking your margins on every drink in your beverage program.

How does BevSpot help in making your bar more profitable?

By moving from clunky old interfaces to clean and fast apps that look more like twitter than Excel ’95, everything is clear and accessible wherever you are, so you can stay in control of your business and its costs. Save yourself hours every week that you can put into growing your bar’s social reach, bringing in more customers or simply spending more time with those who are important to you instead of in a cold cellar or sitting at the desk of your cramped back of house office.

So grab a properly priced beverage and enjoy our chat with Rory!

Even if you’re not in the market for a system like BevSpot right now, check out their excellent resources page where you’ll find case studies, drinks pricing calculators and downloadable ebooks covering running a more profitable bar and bar management.

Regardless of your role within your current bar, having a better understanding of the business side of running a bar or restaurant will make you more valuable to your current job and stand you in good stead when you’re looking to move up to the next level!

So you can book a free online demo of BevSpot’s system for making your bar more profitable today, click here to get in touch with Rory and his team!

Tom Cruse’s 1988 classic/guilty pleasure movie cocktail has probably spawned more flair bartenders than any other movie in history. I unashamedly love this movie, the soundtrack is amazing, so consider this to a love letter to this movie that has influenced a generation of flair bartender.

Its still impossible to work a shift flair bartending in the UK at least without at least the danger of being called Tom Cruise before the end of the night, and thats because Cocktail is still the main reference point that people understand for flair bartending.

So enjoy, be warned, its a long video, just under 2 hours in length and towards the end we’re getting a little drunk… There is also some strong language so watch at your own risk!

That being said, grab yourself a cocktail, cue up your copy of the movie Cocktail and watch along with us! Need the movie?

You can find our super popular article on the Last Barman Poet scene here.

On this week’s podcast we’re discussing a few of the details of the Central Flair Series and some of the lessons learned from getting the whole event from concept to actually happening!

So, for once I’ll not go on for ages, just sit back, relax and enjoy!

You can find full details on the Central Flair Series here.

On this week’s podcast I’m talking to Julia from ABarAbove.com and the Mixology Talk podcast about the Craft Bartender Summit, a free online bartender conference coming in April 2016!

What is the Craft Bartender Summit?

The Craft Bartender Summit is a conference created to make the best educational seminars available to all bartenders and hospitality professionals regardless of experience, budget or location.

In essence, the Craft Bartender Summit allows bartenders around the world, regardless of their funds or geographical location to access some of the best educators in the bar industry. As long as you have an internet connection you can benefit from all the content for free.

There are many bartending conferences around the world, from Tales of the Cocktail to Imbibe and the Nightclub and Bar show, but it can be expensive to travel across the country or even the world to attend these, which is where the summit comes in!

Check out the video or audio podcast to find out more from Julia Tunstall, the brains behind the whole event for more details and what you can expect from the Craft Bartender Summit.

With seminars on Hospitality, Products, Bar Career, Bar Business & Technique, its certainly an event not to be missed. You can reserve your place at the conference here.

You can find out more about the Craft Bartender Summit by following @ABarAbove on Twitter

Central Flair Series announces Bacardi as main sponsor

We’re delighted to announce that Bacardi have agreed to support the Central Flair Series, and will be the flair bottle of choice for the competition.

Bacardi has long been the favoured bottle of flair bartenders all over the world and has won more awards for its spirit than any other Rum in history!

Join us at Reflex Arcadian in Birmingham for Round 1 of the Central Flair Series on Monday 1st February from 7:30pm for a night of amazing flair bartending and some delicious Bacardi cocktails!

This week the UK Government released new advice on safe drinking limits for adult males and females, reducing the maximum recommended limit for men in line with the existing advice for women and recommending alcohol free days each week. (BBC Article)

Will this cause your bar to rethink their menu and offer lower alcohol drinks or increase your alcohol free options?

Podcasts for bartenders (and by bartenders)

2016 is a great year to be a bartender with a huge amount of free education online in terms of websites, blogs, podcasts and YouTube. Here are some of the best podcasts available at the start of 2016 on the subject of bars and bartending

Mixology Talk Podcast – A Bar Above

Mixology Talk is a great podcast for bartenders of any level with advice ranging from which pour spout to buy and how to take care of them right through to creating your own tinctures and bitters. They also have a superb course on cocktail ingredients and cocktail design which I highly recommend.

* Twitter @ABarAbove

* Podcast Mixology Talk

* Website ABarAbove.com

Bartender Journey Podcast

Brian Weber is a New York bartender with years of experience who works with Tales of the Cocktail on their premium podcast too, giving him easy access to some of the biggest names in bartending. Featuring regular interviews with distillers as well as bartenders, Brian really gets stuck into the meat of the topic. Notable for the great toasts which he ends each episode with too!

* Twitter @BarKeepTips

* Podcast Bartender Journey

* Website BartenderJourney.net

The Steve Schneider Show Podcast

Steve Schneider is one of the most prominent bartenders in the world and is constantly travelling to judge some of the top cocktail competitions worldwide. Employees Only in New York is the bar he calls home, as seen in the excellent movie ‘Hey Bartender’ and his podcast reflects the lifestyle side of top flight bartending as much as it talks about the drinks themselves. Always an entertaining listen with awesome stories and anecdotes from both Steve and his guests.

* Twitter @schneideyshow

* Podcast The Steve Schneider Show Podcast

* Website Schneideyshow.com

The Road Rash Podcast

Road Rash is the latest arrival to the podcast party, and its off to a great start! Bartender Russell Davis (who we interviewed last year) and Chef Brian Duffy, both featured on Spike TV’s Bar Rescue with Jon Taffer host the show talking about stories from their travels and interviewing eclectic guests. Its going to be great to see where this podcast goes so subscribe now!

* Twitter @RoadRashPod

* Podcast Road Rash Podcast

* Website RoadRashPod.com

Don’t Forget Us…

The BartenderHQ podcast is getting bigger every year, but there’s no show without you!

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On this week’s podcast we’re looking back at the emerging trends from 2015 in terms of bars, spirits and cocktail flavours, as well as taking a a look at where I think 2016 will take us.

Bar Trends 2016

As bars become more and more specialised offering menus based on single spirits, Gin parlours, Whiskey bars and Tiki bars to name but a few, as well as the proliferation of Speakeasies and other bars really taking a hold of the classic and pre-prohibition drinks, 2016 will see this trend continue with bars getting even more specific in their offerings.

Gin and Tonic specialists will branch away from cocktail focused Gin parlours for example, craft beer specialists will continue to thrive and perhaps even fork into stout bars, IPA bars etc.

Spirit Trends 2016

Following on from the increase in craft spirits and beers in 2015, more boutique distillates will come to market in 2016 and beyond, but moving away from the un-aged spirits like vodkas and gins and into segments like rums and whisk(e)y, with non-scotch single malts and single barrel craft style offerings gaining ground.

Quality Tequilas and Mezcal will gain far more following outside the Americas.

Cocktail Trends 2016

While 2015 has popularised the use of salt in cocktails in the craft movement, 2016 may well see it move into more mainstream outlets like Friday’s and other chains.

Use of Sherry and Port in cocktails will continue, along with an increase in the use of specific vintages of wines called for in recipes. Batching and barrel aged cocktails will also flourish, and there will likely be commercially available versions of these coming to market before the year is out.

Bartenders will continue to take cues from the bleeding edge of cuisine making use of the high end equipment like centrifuges and sou vie, but more will begin to spill over in the other direction with Chefs taking advantage of bar techniques such as creating perfectly clear ice for use in deserts.

The Gin & Tonic Experiment

In the coming weeks we’ll be creating a video testing as many service styles for the humble Gin & Tonic as possible – trying different garnish fruits, zests, herbs and production techniques to find the ultimate G&T. I’d love your contributions so please, drop us a message on Facebook or tweet me your favourite service for the classic gin and tonic!