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

Morning everyone! While everything is still crazy, make sure you’re looking after yourself and your family. Get outdoors if you have a yard or a garden, go for socially distanced walks or runs if it is safe and legal to do so.

Practice your flair and learn new recipes and techniques to use when everything is back open.

While the world is locked down and bars in many areas are closed, bartenders can continue to build their profile and skill set from home. In today’s video we’re touching on just a few ways you can stay front of mind for your guests and potential employers when the pandemic is over (or at least controlled!)

BarSmarts free (use “TRYBARSMARTS” at Checkout)

A Bar Above course (Affiliate Link)

Lynnette Marrero & Ryan Chetiyawardana Teach Mixology (Affiliate Link)

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David Eden-Sangwell is a 20 year veteran of the bar industry. Working across the UK, Dubai, and Europe behind the bar as well as with marketing experience with multiple drinks brands, premium bars and even the UK’s biggest drinks wholesaler. Bartenderhq.com offers content creation services, social media management, menu and training consultancy for pubs, bars, restaurants and drinks brands. We’d love to chat about creating content and getting attention to your bar or drinks brand, email [email protected] for a consultation.

Super quick chat today. The UK has ordered everyone who can to stay at home until further notice with an initial review in three weeks.

Sorry we’re late today, word came through that my role is “furloughed” for now meaning that my partial salary is coming in from the Government while the company is widely shut down. That meant I had to spend a little time this morning to get everything finalised!

If you’re living in an area that is also on a Stay at Home order, please observe it. Its not for you but to protect the vulnerable in society, like my son.

We’ll be back tomorrow with more, and we’ll be refocusing on drinks and surviving the lock down. See you then!

On today’s Bartender’s Breakfast:

UK Bar industry is on lockdown

All public gatherings closed. Thats bars, restaurants, pubs, gyms, theatres and leisure centres. Some bars are offering take away services or delivery with the stock they have but all gatherings are off.

Should the Olympics be cancelled?

The International Olympics Committee is still dragging its feet on what to do in the face of the crisis. Should the Olympics be cancelled or at least postponed like Euro 2020?

Making the most of time at home Quarantini Challenge

Join us on Social for the Quarantini Challenge – making cupboard foraged drinks from home while we can’t get out and about.

Find us online at http://bartenderhq.com

Tweet me your thoughts on this video http://twitter.com/bartenderhq

Join the conversation on Facebook http://facebook.com/bartenderhq

Find us on Instagram http://instagram.com/bartenderhqpics

Linked in https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidsangwell/

TikTok: https://vm.tiktok.com/Q4uAbq/

Your daily update on what’s happening within the UK’s bar world as we get through the Corona Crisis.

Government Update

At the time of recording, there is still government advice in place to avoid pubs, bars, restaurants and theatres but no formal order to close. This has made it very difficult for many to decide on the right course of action. Closing without a mandate may make insurance claims for interruption to business difficult, and staying open means paying staff who may not be serving anyone.

Restaurant and Bar Closures Accelerate

Multiple large operators have announced their closure for the foreseeable future including TGI Friday’s, London Cocktail Club, The Botanist and more. We expect this list to grow day by day.

LWC Begins Direct to Consumer Deliveries

Among others, LWC has pivoted their business to deliver direct to consumers as well as continuing to support the on-trade customers who are still trading. They’re utilising their existing network to deliver to your door. Check it out here: https://www.lwc-drinks.co.uk/alcoholhomedeliveryservice/

Wider Industry Support

Multiple distilleries are now producing alcohol to be used in sanitisers and hand gels to support the healthcare effort across the country. Its great to see the way the industry is stepping up to support this.

Quarantini Challenge

To help engage bartenders across the country and hopefully raise morale, we’re launching the Quarantini Challenge – Making a straight up cocktail using what you can find around the house. Think of it as cupboard foraging! We’re aiming to help raise awareness and money for WeAreTipJar too!

Finding Temporary Work for Hospitality Workers

For bartenders and other hospitality staff who have already been displaced, there appear to be a number of roles currently recruiting, primarily in Retail, delivery and cleaning right now.

Hey friends – This is Bartender’s Breakfast. We’ll be sharing the latest updates for the bar industry on what’s going on with Coronavirus and what you can do to keep a shred of normality in your life.

We’re aiming to do the show daily at 11am and of course, right now things are changing super quickly.

We need your feedback on what you need from the show and how we can make it as useful for you as possible.

Due to our location in the UK there will certainly be a focus on what is happening here, though I would hope much of the Bartender’s Breakfast can be useful wherever you are in the world.

These are challenging times for the industry but there is support out there that bartenders and businesses can tap into so that as many of us as possible come out unscathed.

Enjoy the show!

On our podcasts we want YOU to start doing – and tag whatever you do with #MyBartenderLife so that I can see your passion for bartending. Whether your passion is for Craft Beers, Craft Cocktails, bartending at speed, owning the party, I want to know.

So get posting your thoughts on the bar industry, your walk to work and when and where you’re working, and don’t forget to tag!

* Find us online at http://bartenderhq.com* Tweet me your thoughts on this video http://twitter.com/bartenderhq* Join the conversation on Facebook http://facebook.com/bartenderhq* Find us on Instagram http://instagram.com/bartenderhqpics* Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidsangwell/* TikTok: https://vm.tiktok.com/Q4uAbq/

David Eden-Sangwell is a 20 year veteran of the bar industry. Working across the UK, Dubai, and Europe behind the bar as well as with marketing experience with multiple drinks brands, premium bars and even the UK’s biggest drinks wholesaler.

Bartenderhq.com offers content creation services, social media management, menu and training consultancy for pubs, bars, restaurants and drinks brands. We’d love to chat about creating content and getting attention to your bar or drinks brand, email [email protected] for a consultation.

On this week’s show we reached out to the Worldwide Bartender Community and Happy Bartenders Thrive on Facebook to get some questions to answer for you!

Ford from the Worldwide Bartender Community asks:

“Advice for Bar Managers please”

Decide if you’re on Defence or Offence from day one.

Playing Defence as a Bar manager

* Careful margin management* Concern about theft* Micromanaging bar team

On the Offence

* Maximising sales* Hiring fast, firing fast* Training your team so you can trust and empower them* Focusing on guest experience & reputation* Using your network (and building it) – No different to any other business

Lilly from Happy Bartenders Thrive asks:

“Can you give advice on staying in the game and keeping energy levels up during bar shifts?”

* Self care – fitness, wellness* Loving what you do – Owning your relationship with guests

Ehren from Happy Bartenders Thrive asks:

“Thoughts on poaching bartenders from other bars?”

* Why don’t the bartenders want to stay where they are?* If the bar is paying their bartenders what they’re worth and taking care of them, they won’t risk going* If you’ve not earned the loyalty of the bartenders, you don’t deserve to keep them. Good bars will welcome great staff moving on to better roles as it reflects well on them.  

We’re in conversation with Jumbles St Pierre in this week’s podcast talking FLAIR CAMP! In 2020 Flair Camp is expanding from its one week into a full on world tour with different legendary instructors at each location.

Who are you?

So my name is Jumbles and yes that is my real name. 

I have been Teaching at Flair Camp since 2016 but I have been turning up uninvited since the first year way back in 2012. Since then, the last week of September has been my favourite week of the year. Every year.

What is Flair Camp?

The four founders Tom, Pedro, Tomek + Marek combine for 7 Roadhouse World Championships and over 250 1st place trophies in competitions world-wide, stretched over almost 2 decades.  The incredible talent, knowledge and experience of the four founders create a core so passionate it’s contagious.  Each of them has left their own unique mark on the landscape of Flair Bartending and each has their own unique way of Teaching. 

Flair Camp has grown every single year since its inception. Led by the core team and incredible guest teachers PLUS the amalgamation of 50+ Bartenders at each camp, creates an energy so special it’s hard to describe. 

Left to right, Marek, Jumbles, Tom, Tomek & Pedro flair camp 2019

So do you just teach Bartending tricks?

No, the week long event in the end of September is not just about learning new tricks. You will be exposed to all aspects of Bartending through our diverse training sessions. Mixology, Bartending Shows, Cocktails, ingredients, Free Pouring Skills, Music Interaction through Choreography and Freestyle, Liquid Manipulation, Shaker Skills, Craft and Exhibition Tricks and Style (to name a few!).

We teach in groups that cover ALL levels, from a complete beginner, to a competing pro. The students themselves are a blend of experience, by sharing ideas they also develop together through synergy.  

More students continue to experience the best week of the year and we couldn’t be happier.

Jumbles going through pouring, drink making and speed of service

Why are you going on the Flair Camp World Tour?

The idea of Flair Camp going on a World Tour has been in our minds for a few years already. We know the salary of the Bartender isn’t the highest, and we know how impossible it must be for some people to come to us. So we decided to go to the people.

Flair camp 2014 when it used to be in Portugal 

What exactly is the Flair Camp World Tour?

The World Tour will offer bartenders spread across all corners of the globe the chance to experience a taste of the Flair Camp week. The tour has a mix of 1/2 day master classes and you can see all the live dates, locations and teachers right here www.flaircamp.com/world-tour . If you didn’t see your country on the list, leave a comment and if there are enough comments we can come to you too!

I will teach alongside a Legend of the Bartending Industry residing in each country we visit. Yes, I know how lucky I am. The idea is a few years old, so the excitement has been building up inside me for a while. And what an epic start to the World Tour, in London with my big brother Tommy D.

Jumbles & Tom showing how to balance glassware on your chin

I love teaching with Tom because he has the same passion in teach Flair Bartending the right way.

On this week’s podcast we’re talking dehydrated fruit garnishes and why every bar needs a dehydrator in their arsenal.

Fruit dehydrators are a great option for bars in terms of reducing food waste while making drinks more attractive to the guest. Dehydrated fruits last far longer than fresh fruit, while retaining much of the flavour and becoming more aromatic in many cases.

There are plenty of options to explore, from citrus wheels to cinnamon apple slices, pineapple wheels and much more. Dehydrated fruits allow bars to offer a much wider range of flavours and garnishes without the waste.

Equipment Options:

Low Cost Dehydrator

Oypla Electrical Food Dehydrator Machine with Thermostat Control

Mid Range Dehydrator

Bvivoa Food Dehydrator Fruit-Meat Dryer with Temperature Control, 5 Stackable Trays, BPA-Free (5 Trays 2, 35-70°C)

Professional Dehydrator

BioChef Savana Food Dehydrator with 6, 9 or 12 Stainless Steel Trays, Timer & Preset Drying Modes (6 Tray)

Tips in the UK Vs USA

In the show we also answered a question from our Worldwide Bartender Community on Facebook about the difference between working in the UK and USA in terms of tipping culture.