This week we talk to Joe Raya, owner of the Gin

Joint in Charleston, South Carolina. 

He & his wife also make delicious syrups for bartenders called Tippleman’s.  There are 6 varieties and they are all awesome:

Sugar

Orxata

Honey

Oleo Saccharum

Smoked Maple

Its Bartender Journey Podcast # 129 !

First lets do a cocktail of the week!  Its a Bourbon/Maple Old Fashioned using

the Tippleman’s Barrel Smoked Maple syrup.  The syrup is made using barrels from Willett Distillery. I

used about ½ oz.  I happened to

have a lovely bottle of Willet Pot Still Reserve Bourbon, so I figured lets use

that in our Old Fashioned!  It’s a

pretty incredible Bourbon and it’s tempting to just drink it neat or with one

ice cube, but I used it anyway -- 2 oz of Willet Bourbon in my quite decedent

Old Fashioned.  I used Basement

Bitters from Tuttletown distillery. 

These are the guys that make the great Hudson Whiskey among other things

and their bitters are great!

If you don’t have any Tippleman’s syrups yet, consider

ordering some at tipplemans.com.  But meanwhile, try experimenting with a

good quality maple syrup in your old fashioned.  Grade B is what is recommended for using in cocktails.  You might consider mixing it with a

little hot water to make it easier to mix into your cocktail.  And if you don’t have the Basement

Bitters, try substituting other aromatic bitters – Angostura is of course an

awesome choice and widely available, but perhaps try experimenting with a few

other brands too!

To make an Old Fashioned – mix the sugar (or

syrup in this case) with the bitters in the bottom of your Old Fashioned or rocks

glass.  Add the whiskey and some

ice – ideally one big hand-cut ice cube and a twist.  Usually it would be an orange twist in an Old Fashioned,

especially if it were a Rye Old Fashioned, but I used lemon in this case.  A little extra citrus “zing” from the

limon goes better with the Bourbon and maple flavors.

Book of the week is Its All About The Guest by Steve Difillippo. 

The subtitle of this book is Exceeding

Expectations in Busines and in Life The Davio’s Way.

Steve is a great businessman.  In his book he has lots of great

lessons for us, including: “every decision you make: is this going to make

things better for the guest?”

There will always be demanding guests who are

ready to get upset about nothing. 

They will require a lot of attention, but you can’t let that distract

you from the other guests.

Figure out how much it costs to make what you

are selling, otherwise you may be loosing money without even knowing it.

Its not just WHAT you do, its how people

PERCEIVE what you do.

Our Toast this week: ‘tis better to spend money

like there's no tomorrow
 than to spend tonight like there's no money!