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

Sam’s away in Japan so this week, Rob Patchett is filling his seat, and we’re talking craft spirits, distilling, wine and terrible Old Fashioneds.

Rob has been in the business longer than me, and has followed a different path. He’s a qualified Sommelier as well as a former bartender and now works with Gin and Whisky, so will soon also be a qualified distiller!

Inside the world of Rob Patchett

We talk about the UK bar scene around Independent bars and chains as well as getting a little insight into the world of Rob Patchett.

If you want to hear more from Rob, especially about Cotswolds Gin or Whisky (or wine), you can find him on social media or tweet us @BartenderHQ

Find Rob:

RobPatchett09 on Instagram

Its December 31st (at the time of writing and recording) so Happy New Year! Its also my 36th birthday, so double celebrations for me, as every year.

Congratulations on making it through the holiday season, its time for you to kick back and enjoy yourselves.

January can often be quiet for bars, not least because of Dry January these days, so its a great time to reflect on what worked and what didn’t over December. Its the perfect time to make changes to systems and practices to improve ready for when things pick up again, as well as improve your own knowledge.

Have card payments ruined tipping?

One thing I’ve read a lot of this week online is how contactless payments at the bar have made cards more convenient than cash and that has killed tips. I’ve been saying this would happen for a while, and I do think its an issue for bars that needs to be addressed. Not because the bar is responsible for making up the difference, but if the real world earnings of good bartenders fall, they’ll be less likely to stick around.

I have some thoughts on how we can fix this, but I’d rather get some numbers crunched before I share my thoughts. Until then, I’d love to hear from you your thoughts on how tips have changed. Should it be a service charge included in bills these days? Should tips be split equally through the whole team, front and back of house? Is there another factor beyond card payments that i’m missing? Let me know on Twitter @BartenderHQ or drop me an email – address in the podcast!

Anyway, Happy New Year, and we’ll speak again soon!

 

Happy Christmas! You’ve made it! On today’s show we’re back with me, David Eden-Sangwell and Samuel Boulton, the Vermouth Ambassador to talk drinks trends.

The Vanguard Bar, Birmingham

We start off with a quick update of Sam’s Vanguard Bar project which will be opening early in 2018 when he returns from Japan. Due to some delays with building works at the site the venue won’t be open for Christmas, but will open fully in January after successful pop up style testing nights in December 2017. The Vanguard will feature modern cocktails and Mead to a soundtrack of chilled hip-hop.

Drinks Trends 2017 Prediction Review

After a thorough search of the first couple of results on Google, we’re looking through 31Dover.com‘s Drinks Trends for 2017 post from the beginning of last year. Its always tricky to get right, so we’re seeing how they did in retrospect. The following is the text from their article which we’re discussing, so you can read along and find all the products that we’re chatting about.

1. THE GREAT BRITISH TAKE OFF ✅

There’s a couple of factors at play here to suggest it’s going to be a big year for British booze. Firstly, there’s been a steady increase in sales of English fizz, with the category emerging as one of the most exciting and promising developments in the wine world. Chapel Down are set to replace Bollinger as the official sponsor of the Oxford & Cambridge boat race, rumours are circulating that Nyetimber have some tricks up their sleeve and Gusbourne are going from strength to strength.

With Brexit too, and potential price increases on imports, there’s opportunity for British brands to make some noise with a twist on tradition. Already Tarquin’s Cornish Pastis, Dark Matter’s Scottish Spiced Rum and Somerset Cider Brandy are competing with traditionally imported product.

2. FLAVOUR BEHAVIOUR ❌

2016 saw a huge increase in sales of flavoured spirits. Warner Edwards Rhubarb Gin saw a sales increase of over 700% on 31Dover.com, and their new botanical release, Melissa Gin was launched to great acclaim. The flavour of the summer, Pink Grapefruit, was imagined as a new Gin by Chase Distillery and a Vodka by Ciroc.

For 2017, new flavoured variants will be in abundance – but not just white spirits and citrus combinations. From beetroot, pomegranate and aloe vera, to cola & apricot and elderflower & grape, the flavours universe is expanding in every direction across all categories.

Just-drinks commentator Richard Corbett describes flavours in soft drinks as “the key focal point of innovation, created in response to broadening consumer tastes and expectations”. As customers become more adventurous, with palates opened up to world cuisine,

Hey Bartenders!

Just a quick update on what’s been going on in the world of BartenderHQ and my job situation. Don’t worry, its good news, life has just been pretty crazy!

I was on the brink of redundancy, and somehow found myself in a better paid job from the same company (with a few more miles on the car!) as the Spirits Development Manager in our company. Its a hell of an honour and a challenge, but I’ve been super busy all month getting things in place to help our sales guys have an easier time out and about.

Thank yous

Dave Tsouvalaris for letting me use his mobile bar from Flair Inc at the Moxy in Stratford

Chris Tunstall for last week’s show (ABarAbove)

Gary Vaynerchuk for inspiration

Audiobooks?

Want to get your hands on a free audiobook? Head over to bartenderhq.com/audiobooks for a free audiobook from Audible when you try their service. Cancel anytime and keep any books you have. We get a little support too towards keeping the show running!

Chris Tunstall from Mixology Talk and A Bar Above joins us on this podcast. This is part two of our chat (Part one will be on their site) and we just wander aimlessly through the world of bars and cocktails.

We talk about Top Shelf Bar supplies, their new store on Amazon offering professional equipment for home bartenders and pros alike.

We also talk about the Mixology Course that they’ve created, life as a full time bar media player and much more.

Grab yourself an Old Fashioned and put up your feet. Join us for a chat!

Creating a menu for a bar is a lot of work, but luckily Samuel and I are both pretty experienced with it. Drinks menu Development involves a lot of testing, market analysis and research.

The Vanguard is the most exciting bar to open in Birmingham in recent memory. Combining Modern cocktails and Mead, The Vanguard will be a brand new experience in the city.

Current Drinks Menu Development

Samuel is currently experimenting with Milk Punches – clear drinks where milk is used to clarify other ingredients. You’ll need citrus and a decent amount of time but we’ll be experimenting more here!

Gary Vee pairs wines and breakfast cereal

Ever wanted to pair Lucky Charms and Champagne? Let Mr Wine Library himself, Gary Vaynerchuk show you how.

On this week’s main podcast, we have good news and bad news. Samuel is opening his own bar, and I’m probably being made redundant. Redundancy sucks.

The Vanguard at 1000 Trades

The Vanguard will mix modern cocktails and mead, while not serving normal beers or wines at the venue. Guests will be able to order these at 1000 Trades below, but not in The Vanguard itself. Gosnell’s Meads will fill their place in the bar along with bespoke cocktails, the majority of which will be pre-batched for speed of service. The aim is to have drinks on the table within a minute of ordering,

The Vanguard is set in a second floor room with listed windows from the industrial revolution in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter.

Redundancy

In the bad news category, my current job is coming to an end at the end of October. I’ll be working to spread the word about The Vanguard before it opens in the mean time but I’m also looking for opportunities. Let me know if you hear of anything!

*Update!*

On Tuesday 31st of October I accepted a new role that keeps me with Catalyst Brands – a big step up but I’m super excited – details to follow!

(That okay Shaun?)

We’re excited to announce that Samuel Boulton – The Vermouth Ambassador is in the process of opening his own bar in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter. The Vanguard Bar at 1000 Trades will offer modern cocktails and Mead.

– PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release 19th October 2017

Samuel Boulton is excited to announce the upcoming opening of his new venture The Vanguard Cocktail Bar and Meadery. This is a collaborative venture between Samuel Boulton, a professional cocktail consultant from Birmingham and 1000 Trades located in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter.

Samuel, who has previously launched a Kaffir Lime Leaf Liqueur in 2016 with Gabriel Boudier Liquers, has now set his eye on the Birmingham bar scene.

The Vanguard is set to become a local hotspot providing visitors and cocktails lovers alike with an interesting take on the modern cocktail experience with a mix of Hip Hop, cocktails and Mead.

Based out of the established 1000 Trades, an independent neighbourhood bar and kitchen. 1000 Trades brought new life to the Grade II listed building on Frederick Street in June 2016.

Owner Samuel Boulton says “I have wanted to set up my own venture for a while and the collaboration with 1000 Trades only seems right. Their existing business is established and growing each week, our offer will complement theirs tremendously and hopefully add another great venue to the JQ”.

The Vanguard’s menu will feature an array of artisan spirits and creative cocktails but will focus on giving the consumer a relaxed and enjoyable cocktail experience.

As well as offering a broad range of cocktails to suit all tastes, The Vanguard will specialise in a forgotten beverage, Mead. Mead is an alcoholic beverage created by fermenting honey with water, sometimes with various fruits, spices, grains or hops, and dates back over 9,000 years.

Birmingham’s first Meadery and one of only a few in the UK, The Vanguard at 1000 Trades is due to open to the public by December 2017.

Opening Hours: Tuesday 4pm – 11pm Wednesday 4pm – 11pm

Thursday Friday Saturday

4pm – Midnight

4pm – Midnight

4pm – Midnight

For more information please contact Samuel Boulton or David Eden-Sangwell on [email protected] or visit www.vanguardbar.co.uk

We’ll be catching up on the long form weekend podcast, so make sure you’re subscribed on iTunes so you don’t miss out!

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The Manhattan is a quintessential cocktail classic, and our friends at Vya Vermouth have named October as Manhattan Month. Who are we to argue!

50:50 Manhattan Cocktail Recipe

* 1½oz (45ml) Vya Sweet Vermouth

* 1½oz (45ml) Rye Whiskey

* 3 dashes Regan’s Orange Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail or coupe glass. Garnish with a twist of orange.

This 50:50 Manhattan is a take on the sweet Manhattan recipe, a perfect Manhattan would use a mix of sweet and dry vermouths and a dry manhattan would use just dry vermouth. Most people use less vermouth in total, but this is generally a throw back to when vermouth was often oxidised, so people often used less of it. Today, bartenders generally understand how to keep their vermouth fresh or at least are able to use it while its at its best.

BartenderHQ is a community of bartenders working together for the greater good. We want to help bars and bartenders reach their fullest potential. Short Sips is a daily podcast from BartenderHQ where we share quick and actionable tips, philosophy nuggets to get you thinking and ways to make your bar and shift even better.

There are hundreds of thousands of cocktails that have been created over the years. Most are variations on something that came before and you can make the most of that by learning similarities between drinks instead of whole recipes, and you’ll save a huge amount of time.

Most cocktails have close relations to others. That’s just a fact. Is a Daiquiri not basically a rum sour? Is a Margarita a million miles away in terms of inspiriation? How much different is a Gin Rickey? They’re all a spirit mixed with citrus and somehow sweetened. You can take advantage of this by learning one recipe and then how you change it to another, instead of a whole new recipe. Of course, this is a bit of a simplification, but you’ll be surprised how many cocktails you can break down in this way. There are probably 100 variations on the Long Island Ice Tea for example. You’d never learn each from scratch, but remember them as variations, as differences from drink to drink.

Learning Drinks Groups

This applies to so many drinks, you’ll be smashing through learning drinks faster than you ever imagined.

If you want more information on the subject, check out my full eBook on the subject here.