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

How can having a following as a bartender make you more money? Regardless of the tipping culture in your country, we’re going to cover why your personal brand is vital to your earnings.

I’m David Eden Sangwell from BartenderHQ and I’ve worked in every position you can imagine in the drinks industry since 2000.

In 2010 I was headhunted to work in Dubai, helping to open a luxury hotel on the palm, but that wouldn’t have happened without building my reputation as a bartender, and today it couldn’t be easier to do. But what does that even mean, and how can it make you more money?

The job of a bartender is to make your bar money.

I talked at length before about how a bartender’s role is not service or even drinks making at its core, but making a profit for the business you’re in. Those other things are vital of course, but they’re the means to create sustainable revenue for the bar. Guests won’t come back if the service is bad, they won’t bring more friends and won’t recommend you.

While you’re doing this however, you should also be thinking about your personal brand too, your reputation as a bartender. Even if you have no interest in leaving the bar you work in today, there could easily be a change of management or even the bar closing down, so its vital to position yourself for when you do finally move on.

So where do you start? Maybe you already have. If you have guests who come in regularly and know your name, and perhaps come in because you’re on shift, you’re well on your way. The difficulty, is having a way of showing what you’ve built, and making it transferable if you leave, and that is one of the focuses for what we’re doing in formalising you’re bartender brand.

Let your guests find you online – Facebook Page

It’s vitally important that you have an online presence on social media platforms for your guests to follow. The best bang for your buck will certainly be Facebook and instagram.

As far as Facebook goes, you’ll almost certainly already have an account, if not, set up your personal account now. What you’ll need to set up however is a Page, which your personal account will manage. This is where you’ll direct anyone who wants to follow your bartending content.

Having this page will allow you to keep your more personal content private if you choose to, like family life, but remember regardless of your privacy settings, anything you put online could find its way out. Anything related to bartending or building your brand can go on the page and be shared on your personal account with your friends and family too.

Next step, Instagram.

You can certainly use a single Instagram account for everything but as with Facebook you may want to keep some things private. If so, go ahead and create a second account, or feel free to just use one, your call. Try to use your actual name of possible for your handle, as then if you leave the industry the followers can easily come with you. Not something I got right with @BartenderHQPics!

What to post to build your following?

So this is a huge topic and will massively depend on where you are in your bartending career, but the beat advice I can give is from Gary Vaynerchuk. 

Document, not create.-Gary Vaynerchuk

Regardless of if you’re just starting out as a bartender or you’ve been doing it 20 years, what you’re doing and your own story is what you should p...

The BartenderHQ Podcast is back and this week we’re talking Mead with Modern Mead Co Creator Samuel Boulton of The Vanguard in Birmingham. Sam is a former host for the podcast with me, so its great to catch up!

https://www.facebook.com/modernmeadco/

Sam’s bar, The Vanguard at 1000 Trades in Birmingham has had great success in terms of introducing new consumers to Mead with their great range and flight offer. The next logical step for Sam was to create a new Mead to fill a gap in the market.

Following a successful crowdfunding campaign, The Modern Mead Co should be shipping their first bottles within the next two months so check out their website for the best way to get your hands on some.

https://modernmeadco.co.uk

We were looking to relaunch the podcast and website today, but we’ve had really bad news in my personal life. Details in the podcast, but we will be back. Thank you for your patience.

Our occasional co-host Samuel David Boulton has got a lot of coverage over the past couple of weeks for mead. Working with English Heritage, the biggest seller of mead in the country he’s been featured in national press and now on the Radio too.

This week’s podcast shares his segment from Talk Radio’s Paul Ross show. Sam explains some of the history of Mead as well as how to use it in cocktails and more about the Vanguard’s journey.

On this week’s podcast we talk to Fabiano Latham about the concept of Adventurivity and how bartenders can harness it to be more balanced and creative. Fabiano (Fabs) is the UK’s Reyka Vodka ambassador with William Grant and Sons.

The concept “Adventurivity”

Adventurivity = Adventure + Creativity. So what do we cover in our conversation?

* How adventure can help bartenders fulfil potential & create ambition

* The Doorstep mile concept, mile stones and success.

* How nature can help bartenders reach deeper thought and harness creativity.

* Biophilia 

* Organic compounds found in rain, trees & soil that boost creativity & moods.

* Attention restoration theory and how to use it.

Puffin Collins Cocktail Recipe

Inspired by Sugarpuff McStuffin

* One muddled tomato (preferably Icelandic grown with Geothermal energy – optional)

* 1¾oz (50ml) Reyka Vodka

* 1 oz (30ml) Grapefruit juice

* ⅔oz (20ml) Elderfolower Cordial

* Top with Soda

Collins glass, shake with ice and strain with fresh ice

You can find Fabiano online at @fabsting and @naturedweeb on instagram.

On the Podcast this week we have Matt and Nick from Mover and Shaker – creators of awesome bartender pins to pimp out your bar apron.

Mover and Shaker Pins

Mover and Shaker started life as a passion project for Nick and Matt and lead to a cult following of bartenders collecting the awesome pins, shirts and bar ware that the the guys now create. With new products released most weeks on a Sunday, there’s always something new to pick up from these guys!

Looking good behind the bar is always important, not only to your tips but also your self esteem so why not pick some up – they make a great talking point to break the ice with your guests.

Follow them on Instagram.com/moverandshakerco to keep up with their releases!

https://moverandshakerco.com

 

On this show we talk about why I love bartending over every other role in hospitality – End to end control.

Industry News from BartenderHQ

* Cocktails in Tablet form released

* Grant’s Distinction launched as India Exclusive

The Main Course – I Love Bartending – End to end control of the guest experience.

When you think about the job roles in a bar or restaurant, everyone has to rely on someone else to make their job work. Except one. The servers rely on bartenders and chefs to make the products that they sell. The hosts need waiters to look after guests once they’re seated. The chefs need waiters to take the orders and deliver the food. Bussers relay the tables for the hosts to seat and servers to serve.

However the bartenders will greet the guests as they arrive, get the guest’s order, produce the product, serve it and take payment. Even if everyone else in the restaurant or bar was gone, the bartenders would be able to complete their guest’s experience.

That’s not to say that bartenders aren’t a part of a team – having bar backs to support the bar is incredibly helpful especially during busy shifts. In bars that take reservations, the hosts may well greet guests and show them to their seats. Regardless, the bartender can complete their core role and deliver a guest’s experience alone if they have to, in a way that no-one else in the building can.

This is why I love bartending – you can control everything about the experience your guest has, from service and first impressions to product quality and delivery. The buck stops with the bartender.

On this podcast we go through the questions asked on our Flair Q&A for the Craft Bartender Community on Facebook, followed by the 5 moves to start with if you want to learn flair. It’s our primer on flair bartending.

Industry News from BartenderHQ

* Vegas Museum opens Prohibition Inspired Distillery

* Whistlepig Legend Dave Pickerell dies.

Your Primer on Flair Bartending

As anyone who’s listened to this podcast for any length of time will know, I love flair bartending. I’ve always championed flair as an art form as well as being a good business practice if it suits your bar.

During this podcast I’ll cover the questions raised and answered in our Q&A session on the Craft Bartender Community, as well as sharing my 5 recommended tricks you should learn first if you want to get into flair in a real way behind your bar. Think of these as an easy and safe way to dip your toe into the warm waters of flair bartending.

Want to learn more? Check out our YouTube channel. Or you can check our article on assembling a FREE Flair practice kit.

As a bartender, especially on busy shifts other than making drinks, you can often find yourself dealing with the issues that come up throughout the night. Whether its a customer complaint, out of stock item, long wait on food or slip or trip to deal with, we (and managers) see it all. But, are you solving the right problems in your bar?

Industry News:

* Find me a Gift launches Letterbox Vodka & Gin

* Aske & Stephenson install a Whisky vending machine at the Napoleon Hotel in Shoreditch

* Kraken Salvage Edition Rum fights plastic waste

This Week at BartenderHQ

This week I’ve been bartending again, with my first double shift at Fridays in 8 years, which hurts. I’ve also been over to Leicester with ODK Mixers which have been really well received over there, as well as mixing up drinks in the Shakespeare Memorial Room at the Library of Birmingham for leading hoteliers from the city.

I’ll also be doing a Questions and Answers session over on the Craft Bartender Community, run by the guys from Mixology Talk and A Bar Above answering all your burning questions on the world of flair bartending on Sunday 28th October at Midnight GMT.

Are you solving the right problems in your bar?

In this episode’s main event we talk about:

* Complaint handling – During a shift as well as after the fact.

* Slips and Trips

* Kitchen delays

* Out of stock items (the 86 list)

* High Turnover of staff

On this week’s podcast we ask the hard questions. Are your efforts to make the bar more profitable destroying your sales?

Industry News

* Bombay Sapphire launches Gin & Tonic Edible Paint* Havana Club launches Professional range* Lidl launches Unicorn inspired Gin* Bowmore Amazon Exclusive 19yr Whisky

At BartenderHQ

My shoulder injury is getting much better so I’ll be getting back to flair practice soon, though I won’t be entering the “That Flair Comp” in Manchester. Flair clips are going live over on our instagram!

Cost cutting for Bars

The main subject this week is how to avoid ruining the experience of your bar through cost cutting. We delve into the consequences of cutting labour, consumables, glassware and product on your bar’s bottom line.

Resources

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